COTTAGE GROVE – Doodling in church is generally frowned upon, but it wound up being a wonderful thing for Ian Clevenger.

“Ian sat in the pew in front of me in church – he was in middle school then – and he kept drawing pictures of guitars,” his friend, Phil Carson, recalled Saturday at The Axe and Fiddle.

“Then I said, Ian, instead of just drawing guitars, why don’t we learn how to play guitars. I had never played a musical instrument in my life. But Ian needed somebody to push him along a little bit. Ian is a much better guitar player than I am, so I wound up playing bass.”

That’s how they got started, and they are happy supporters of MEPAA (Music Education & Performing Artists Association), which sponsored Saturday’s annual Kidz Rock event at the Axe.

“I never had the opportunity to take music lessons or play music when I was growing up,” Carson said, “so we started coming (to MEPAA), and it gives me an opportunity to bring other people into music that maybe can’t afford the instruments or the lessons, so I support them monetarily, and I bring in instruments when somebody needs an instrument.”

“(MEPAA) gave me an opportunity to learn how to be a leader of a band,” Clevenger said. “And it taught me how to be a musician among musicians, and taught me how bands work.

“My goal, at the end of the day, when it comes to music, is to teach other people how to play. And share music with like-minded individuals who want to play as I do.”

The band that Clevenger leads, along with Carson, is called Ian W. & Friends. They were one of seven bands to grace the stage Saturday. All proceeds were to provide free instruments, repairs, and instruction for needy families and underrepresented young musicians.

The other bands to perform were Anna Star, Orias, The Indestructibles, The American Idiots, S.O.N.G. (Sirens of the Next Generation), and The Friday Crew.

One of the big deals about MEPAA is its disability program.

“We have kids with challenges who come in and have a great time,” Carson said. “They feel comfortable here, and they fit right in. Sometimes it’s the only thing they really have to look forward to. Maybe they live in a home or halfway house, and they don’t always have a lot of joy in their lives.”

Getting serious

Clevenger said he started trying to teach himself how to play guitar in seventh grade – but it didn’t go very well. He didn’t know how to play any chords, but he’d been singing for a long time.

“Then Phil saw me drawing pictures in church, and we both signed up for guitar lessons, and I started practicing every day, and I got a lot better,” he said.

“My half-brother used to play guitar at family gatherings during the Christmas season, and there was an Australian kids’ band called The Wiggles, and the guitar player, Murray Cook, was one of my favorite guitar players growing up. … And it wasn’t until I got sick with food poisoning that I started listening to old Wiggles music and I started taking guitar seriously.”

An old, beat-up guitar that his half-brother had used for a while became his new friend. Now, Clevenger is a guitar collector. At 21 years old, he now has 31 guitars. His favorites are his old 1960 Kingston acoustic, a red 57 Stratocaster (which he purchased from Carson), an old Ibanez, and a white Stratocaster.

Carson, meanwhile, who has his own blues show every Thursday night from 8-10 on KWVA FM 88.1, has 13 bass guitars and 12 guitars.

He said he enjoys the freedom to play what he wants on Thursdays, including local artists like Brian James, Deb Cleveland, and Carsie Blanton, a former Eugene resident. Sometimes he does entire shows of protest songs.

“These music programs are so important for kids,” Carson said. “They keep cutting programs for music and art. One of the schools I work with they’re losing the music teacher. Another one is losing the librarian. Those are devastating losses.”

“It’s about you …”

Playing guitar with the band S.O.N.G. has been a whole lot of fun for Kyla Holman, a 15-year-old sophomore at Thurston High School.

“I’ve played clarinet in my school band since the sixth grade,” Holman said. “And that was always so rigid. It was really hard when I started doing lessons, figuring out how things work, because it’s not sheet music telling you what to do. We have stuff with lyrics, of course, but it’s not telling you what to do. This is so much fun. This is free, and it’s about you and what you want to do and that kind of thing.

“Because of how MEPAA is, it really uplifts and supports musicians and encourages them to feel comfortable. Unlike the way school is, where you have to do such-and-such at this time.

“It’s structured in a way that isn’t super structured. A huge focus of MEPAA is supporting the disabled. We have a great ADA program; it’s all about having music for everyone.”

Girlz Rock, a subsidiary of Kidz Rock, just celebrated its 20th anniversary, and Holman is a board representative.

“It’s all about advocating for other musicians,” Holman said. “Most of my experience is going to meetings. If I weren’t on the board, I wouldn’t get to see all the wonderful contributions from the community. We get a ton of instruments and other equipment donated by the community. So that’s pretty cool to see.”