Stringonometry, a band of four high school seniors from Thomasville and Tallahassee, Florida, are set to perform in the Georgia on My Mind concert being held on May 10 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. 

The band is comprised of Drew Parker, guitar and vocals, Jaden Sanzo, cello, Everett Sanzo, violin, and Simon Holden-Schnock, mandolin. Having played for years together, Parker said that he, Jaden and Everett met in 2015 at the Thomasville Center of the Arts, where they practiced music together.

“The director of the music academy started doing little things where we’d go to, the Bookshelf and just play background music for the Bookshelf for a couple hours, so we all started playing together and we went like, ‘hey, we sound kinda good,’” Parker said.

Practicing and playing gigs together since, the three came up with the name Stringonometry with the help of the Sanzos’ mother, a pun on Trigonometry and the string instruments the band is comprised of. 

Holden-Schnock, according to the band, got involved after the band went to a youth ensemble in Tallahassee run by a man named Mickey Abraham, where they met.

“I got involved through the youth group that Mickey had and, I just kinda connected with them through there,” he said.

Invited to play a few gigs, Holden-Schnock said that he was down. Soon enough, he was a full member of the band. 

According to Parker, the band mostly plays bluegrass, swing, and a few country songs, mostly Johnny Cash. 

“We have a good mix in there,” he said. 

The band’s original instrumental song, “Wahalaw Rd.” was written by Holden-Schnock and named after the street he lives on in Tallahassee. They first performed the song at a gig at the Tallahassee Fairgrounds. 

Over the years, the band has matured, going from young kids who just want to be loud and heard to bandmates that get everything across to one another with a simple nod of the head. Over the years, according to the band, they learned a lot about each other.

“With each gig, we learned more about everybody else’s playing style…their strengths and weaknesses,” Jaden Sanzo said. 

Getting involved in the the Georgia on My Mind concert, according to the band, all started with Lisa Love, the Georgia Music Foundation director, who spoke with them after one of their gigs about her connections and the Georgia on My Mind concert in Nashville.

“She gave us her card and we didn’t hear from her for a while, for a long time, we kinda thought it just fizzled off, you know, some kind of nothing really,” Parker said, “A month or two ago, she contacted my dad out of the blue with the details and asked, you know, if we were still up for it.”

The band, as a whole, are excited to be involved. 

“We’re really excited about it,” Parker said. 

The concert coincides with the last week of the band’s senior year in high school, giving the seniors a lot of things to consider. 

“It’s just, um, surreal just like having our last week of high school, like, coming up so fast and that’s when the gig is,” Everett Sanzo said, “I know there’s not going to be a lot we’re going to be doing at school during the last week, but it’s just those last few days that are, like, just…yeah, meaningful.”

The event marks a new chapter for the band as its members prepare for college, such as Jaden Sanzo, who will be attending Florida State University this June. However, the band isn’t letting distance truly break them up. 

“I guess you could say this might kinda be the last big thing we do, but I wouldn’t say we’re gonna stop. We’ll always, we’ll always come back, meet up and probably play together more,” Parker said. 

The others agreed, making it clear that the Georgia on My Mind concert wouldn’t be the last time they saw each other.

“I can still see us meeting up every now and then,” Everett Sanzo said. 

The concert will have the band performing from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on the PNC Plaza at the Ryman Auditorium before the main show begins.

“Kinda like the openers, almost, for the rest of the night,” Parker said. 

Payton Fletcher can be reached at 229-226-2