Kid rocker

MOSCOW - Jaden Carlson has been playing guitar for six years. That may not sound like a real long time, but for Carlson, it's half her life.

The 12-year-old Boulder, Colo., musician will perform with her band today and Friday at John's Alley Tavern in Moscow.

"It happened quite abruptly," Carlson said of her interest in becoming a musician.

She was 6 years old and attending a Michael Franti and Spearhead concert.

"Basically, I was looking up at the band and I said: 'That's what I want to do.' "

And do it she has.

She started writing songs when she was 7, and in August, she released "Born to Fly," her third full-length CD of original music.

Carlson started out taking classical guitar lessons at 6, a decision she says has served her well. Now she plays everything from Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix to Dave Brubeck, John Coltrane, U2 and Eminem. On the second Tuesday of every month she plays jazz with a group called The Thurston Gang in Boulder.

"We play some pretty hard stuff," she said of the jazz jam sessions.

The self-described "music theory geek" is so proficient at her instrument she is now even giving guitar lessons to the drummer in her band.

Carlson has performed widely around Boulder as well as in Denver, Fort Collins, San Diego and at numerous festivals across the country. She has performed with the Fox Street All-Stars, Curtis Salgado, Melvin Seals and JGB, Groundation, and Michael Franti and Spearhead, among others.

The tour she started Wednesday in Billings, Mont., is her first "actual out-of-state tour," she said.

"We're on tour to get the experience and the exposure. I'm so excited."

She'll head out on another tour in April and another in May.

Carlson, who is a home-school student, has other interests besides music, including competitive cross-country skiing. She said she competed in six or seven races this winter and placed in the top three in all but one.

But no matter what hobbies and interests she may develop over the years, she says she's decided writing and performing music is going to be her life.

"I'm going to do it until I have to be propped up with a stick and I'm really old," she said.

"I was just born to do it."

Solan can be contacted at (208) 882-5561, ext. 235 or asolan@inland360.com.