If you’ve ever been greeted by a warm smile from a girl with dainty curls and a bubbly personality, chances are you’ve met sophomore Allie Schaefer, a new student this year from Virginia. What you might not know, however, is that she is also a talented guitarist who recently performed a solo at the Winter Concert in the STEAM Center.

Before moving to Florida, Schaefer lived in Virginia with her mom, dad, brother and sister–where her love for her guitar first began.

Music has always been a part of her life. Whether she’s humming a song in the back of her mind or listening to songs throughout the day, it has always been a part of her daily routine.

“Apparently the first thing I do when I wake up is sing,” Schaefer said, recalling something her mother once told her. 

In the summer of 2024, Schaefer began learning the ukulele. That Christmas, she was given a guitar and, by spring of 2025, she had started seriously teaching herself how to play. 

Back in Virginia, her mom performed in a guitar duo, where they’d perform original songs and have gigs every other Wednesday night at an open mic. 

Schaefer explained that, despite her family’s history in music, she considered herself independent in her relationship with the guitar. 

“She [Allie’s mother] wanted me to explore for myself,” Schaefer said. “This was for the best because, if someone was telling me what to do, I would not have stuck with it.”

Once Schaefer picked up the general idea of how to play the guitar, her mother invited her to open for her gigs, during their mic check. 

She performed covers of songs, such as “Name” by The Goo Goo Dolls, “Scott Street” by Phoebe Bridgers, “Imagine” by John Lennon, and “Emmylou” by First Aid Kit—songs from three of her favorite artists. 

Now, after playing the guitar for nearly a year, Allie and her mother are looking for gigs in Florida to play together. 

However, when she’s not looking for gigs, Allie is uploading videos to her socials, such as her Instagram account, of her strumming along to covers and singing original songs. 

One of her most cherished original is “Shenandoah,” based on the Shenandoah River Schaefer visited in Virginia. 

She explained that, at first, the song was just about the beauty of the word Shenandoah, but ultimately transformed into a personal experience, featuring themes about childhood friends and melancholic memories.

She relates her genre of music with artists like Phoebe Bridgers, who tends to have a singer-songwriter, folk-like sound to her songs.

Allie explained how Bridgers’ songs shy away purposely being catchy, and feature a progression, like a story going through Freytag’s Pyramid.

Schaefer aims to do the same in her own music.  

“I really like to try and create a picture in someone’s head because I’d like it to be a story,” Schaefer said.

Schaefer excels at making her songs personal and meaningful. When asked if she could find one word to summarize her relationship with music, Schafer replied with “friend.” 

“I’m the kind of person that always has a song playing in the back of my head,” Schaefer said. “It’s kind of like I have a friend.”

Band Director Ms. Julianne Hambrick also highlighted Schafer’s fascinating ability to personalize not only her original songs but also ones done by other musicians. 

Hambrick mentioned that they’ve held open mic days during class before in both the middle and high school classes, reserving a certain day—typically on a Friday—to allow students the option to share their talents.

Schaefer was one of the students that performed, where she shared one of her original songs. 

Hambrick said that one of Schaefer’s best musical traits was wielding the ability to make any song her own. She offered the song Schaefer performed at the Winter Concert, “Yellow” by Coldplay, to explain how she managed to transform the original driven-beat, harsh strumming, into a finger -picking, “meditative” version. 

“After her performance at the concert, I told Mrs. Conn that I would buy her album right now,” Hambrick said with a smile on her face. 

While she most definitely has the ability to go professional, Schaefer stated that that was never her true intent from when she first picked up the guitar, to now. 

“I never want to put that pressure on myself, to be honest,” Schaefer said. “The more pressure I put on myself, it doesn’t become something I love. It’s something I love, because I don’t have to do it, and it’s not my job.”