Guitar picks lead to Taylor Swift, prom invitation

By JEFF JARDINE
jjardine@modbee.com

E-Mail

Comments (0)

Text Size:

tool goes here

Some things to make your April 15th a bit less, well, taxing:

CAN'T HURT TO ASK -- You could say that when it comes to asking a girl to the prom, Modesto High junior Jon Key really knows how to pick 'em. Guitar pick 'em, actually.

This one will take some explaining.

On The Hive: Jeff Jardine's Blog

Jon's dad, Stephen Key, is an inventor and marketer who created a line of hologram guitar picks. His "Hot Picks" are embedded with images that change as you move the pick, giving them a motion- picture-like quality. They're modern technology's version of the old nickelodeon, sort of -- and without the nickel.

In February, Stephen received a call from Scott Swift. Swift's daughter, 18-year-old Taylor Swift, is one of the music industry's hottest young country crossover artists. Dad Swift spotted some of Key's hologram picks -- get this, at a Shell gas station in Tennessee -- and wanted to create a line to help promote his daughter's career.

Key developed a set of six Taylor Swift picks. With Taylor performing at Sacramento's Arco Arena last week, the Swifts invited Key and his family to be their guests at the concert, including a meet-and-greet just before the show. As it turned out, someone had overbooked the meet-and-greet, which is a fancy name for a photo and autograph session.

The Keys, along with family friend Grant Casey, got in long enough to meet, greet and receive a Taylor Swift calendar. But Stephen didn't have time to show his prototype picks to Taylor -- the very reason they were invited to the show.

So Andrea Swift, Taylor's mom, invited them back to her motor home for a visit after the performance.

Jon Key and his buddy, Grant, talked about what they'd say when they met her face to face.

Sometime during the conversation, Andrea Swift mentioned that Taylor missed out on her high school prom because of her performing commitments.

Jon, 17, decided to ask her to be his date to Modesto High's prom April 26.

"I was thinking I wanted to make this as cool as possible even though it's a weird question to ask," Jon said. "So I said, 'Now this is awkward. I'm going to ask you a question, but I don't want you to answer (aloud). Write your answer on my calendar. Do you want to go to my prom with me?"

Taylor laughed and said, "Really?"

"I said, 'Yes, of course,' " Jon said. "She wrote down 'Yes!!!' "

Yes, as in, you've got yourself a date -- until, that is, her mom got on the computer and discovered Taylor has a commitment that night, Stephen Key said.

Oh, well. It was a valiant try that made Stephen an even prouder papa. He's convinced, after seeing the show, that Taylor Swift will become a megastar and that Taylor Swift guitar picks will be a hot seller.

Jon, meanwhile, came away with an autographed calendar. He has a photo of himself and Taylor that could make millions of other teen boys absolutely jealous.

And he can always dream of the prom date that might have been.

To see the Taylor Swift

guitar pick prototypes, visit www.hotpicksusa.com/taylorswift.

FORECLOSURE BLUES -- When the subprime meltdown reached her east Modesto neighborhood in January, and an angry and displaced homeowner revolted by dumping the family's possessions in front of the house, Tommi Lou Carosella penned a song she titled "Foreclosure Blues."

"At first, I was really appalled," Carosella said. "Then I realized how people felt betrayed."

It took her about four hours to finish the lyrics, the chorus of which goes:

Say goodbye to the lenders, goodbye to my house.

Goodbye to my pickup truck, and goodbye to my spouse.

They sold away the future to make their bottom line look good.

Now there's lots of empty houses in every neighborhood.

She developed the tune in her head, and then hummed it over the phone to guitar-playing brother John Carosella of Los Altos.

"He picked it right up," she said about her first foray into songwriting. Her brother recorded the song, and launched it on YouTube in sound only a couple of months ago.

She then did a Google search to find photos of foreclosed homes, and her 17-year-old son, Connor Stone, taught her how to create a slide show.

"I'm sure some of them are copyrighted," she said, "but I don't think anybody's going to care."

The video posted Saturday evening, and already a teacher in Germany e-mailed to say he'll use it in his classroom. Carosella said.

To see the video, go to www.youtube.com and search for Foreclosure Blues.

Jeff Jardine's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in Local News. He can be reached at jjardine@modbee.com or 578-2383.