Mateo Castillo-Bonde, an 11-year-old from Minneapolis, left thousands at the State Fair Grandstand speechless, doing something most pre-teens his age do not. He played a guitar solo with the kind of precision that only comes from years of intensive practice. He did it in front of legendary producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Just like the audience, the musicians also forgot they were watching a kid who was figuring out the basics of guitar only a few years ago.
I’m a guitar player,” Mateo Castillo-Bonde told Fox 9. So the fact that he’s 11 and he can do that is, it’s pretty inspiring. Because they are guitar dudes, “I just like them.
“I just started playing,” he recalled. You know, he sang, he played the guitar and it was just amazing,” Mark Bonde, Mateo’s father, told the outlet. I feel like I can get my emotions out,” Mateo said. I didn’t think that they’d pick me for something like that,” Mateo said. And it felt really, really good afterwards,” Mateo said. “It seems like people liked it and, yeah, I don’t really know, but Terry said that he thought that I did really well, and that I should keep playing guitar,” Mateo recalled. He’s an inspiration,” she told the outlet.
Mateo Castillo-Bonde is a sixth-grader at Plymouth Middle School. Like most kids his age, Mateo’s room is filled with Legos and posters of his favourite bands. He plays guitar like a professional, even though it’s only been three years since he started taking guitar seriously. I don’t know what I am. His parents knew Mateo was serious about it, so they enrolled him in guitar lessons twice a week. “I think right away we noticed that he had an aptitude. His first recital, he played and, I mean, I was just blown away. He practised for endless hours. The progression has been steep. The performances started quietly: the national anthem before a Gopher women’s basketball game. Then came slots with the Purple Playground at Paisley Park, paying tribute to Prince’s legacy in Prince’s own studio. Each gig built confidence, muscle memory and passion. “It’s just really fun to play the guitar. That’s when they came to know about the ‘Minneapolis Mateo’. “I was shocked. They decided to bring the kid, and what happened after was, well, history. He played it right. Fans called it the highlight of the show. “It was crazy. It felt like all my practice led up to that moment. Mateo’s mum, Jenny Castillo, was equally moved by what has transpired. “For him to be able to get up and play in front of thousands and thousands of people like that is something that most grown people can’t do.
Jam and Lewis were headlining a homecoming concert, and they wanted to honour Jellybean Johnson, the guitarist who played on Janet Jackson’s ‘Black Cat’ and died last year.
