He Now Plays 19 Instruments and his Fan Base is Spreading from Dollywood to the Grand Old Opry
When Matthew Weaver realized one of his dreams and arrived at Appalachian State University to pursue his degree, he decided not to major in music.
After all, he can’t read music.
What he can do is play 19 different instruments in any key you suggest.
It didn’t take the university music department long to take notice. Dr. Charles Isley, longtime head of Hayes School of Music and now 91, discovered Weaver and offered this comment: “In over 40 years of teaching, you’re only the second person, in thousands and thousands of students, to do what you do. It’s rare.”
 Rowan County audiences at Piedmont Players’ favorite “Smoke on the Mountain” productions, agree. Weaver, now 39, credits Piedmont Players with helping him build a fan base. He played six instruments in the original “Smoke on the Mountain” show, and requests still come for repeat performances. That was followed by the Christmas “Smoke on the Mountain” show. He’s been in 16 Piedmont Players productions and hates that his schedule is too busy now for the local theater. He lives by a quote on a plaque given to him by the Players: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
He’s back in Salisbury for a concert Sunday, Dec. 4, at 3 p.m. in Keppel Auditorium with Rebecca Jones of Denton and Trevor McKenzie of Hillsville, VA. His new album, “An Afternoon with Matthew Weaver,” is due around Thanksgiving. It features his new original song, “I Have A Friend.” In December, he also ends his five-year journey at Appalachian, completing his degree – in Appalachian studies with a concentration in bluegrass, country and Appalachian music – and freeing him to focus on his extensive travel schedule.
In 2010, with his class schedule; teaching part-time at Appalachian in the bluegrass program; his position as music director at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which he has held for 13 years; and performances on the road, he played 450 times. Friday and Saturday shows, sometimes as far away as Indiana, Illinois or Arkansas, would find him back at Sacred Heart on Sunday for early mass. A group of musicians often travels with him, sometimes including Mike Craver of the original Red Clay Ramblers, who wrote “Smoke on the Mountain,” and McKenzie and Jones, both of whom he met at Appalachian. This year, he was a guest at the Grand Ole Opry twice, performing on stage.
“Music is my love, my life, my passion,” he says. “I’ve come a long way and there has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears. I am blessed with talent.”
Weaver’s roots in music go back to the mountains of Pennsylvania, where he was born into a musical family. A great-uncle, Tommy Schaffer, owned three music stores in Virginia, and Tommy Schaffer and the Blue Mountain Ramblers was one of the longest running live radio shows in Pennsylvania, on the air for more than 60 years.
“The whole family played by ear,” he says. “My grandmother, Mary, was piano player for the band.”
The piano remains Weaver’s favorite instrument, and he says he often feels his grandmother’s presence while playing. He even collects miniature pianos and estimates he has 50 to 60 of them.
Weaver was 3 years old when he first played the piano, using two fingers. His older sister, Mary Jean Hobart, was taking lessons, while Matthew was picking out melodies on his own. The family moved to Salisbury when Weaver was 6, and his dad, Sterling Weaver, bought him his first guitar and banjo. As a teenager, he performed in musicals and theater at East Rowan High School and played with local bands. From 2000 to 2006, he performed in the bluegrass and country music shows at Dollywood.
“People can’t figure out how I switch gears from ragtime to blues to jazz to rock and roll to country with no training and nothing in front of me,” he says. “I can carry on a full conversation with someone while I am playing and not miss a lick. It’s a God-given talent.”
Inspiration comes from his audiences and the people his music touches. He remembers a woman who approached him in tears after a recent performance. “Toward the end of the show, I played two hymns spontaneously. She told me that she had buried her mother that day and those were two of her mother’s favorite hymns. Her mother had had Alzheimer’s and she hadn’t been able to connect with her for several years. She said that the hymns gave her extra comfort and peace.”
 His journey is not easy. “I have moments of discouragement, but I read a lot of positive-thinking books,” he says. “The support I have from the church and choir is overwhelming, and everyone from the chancellor to the professors at Appalachian have supported me. I’m very blessed and very lucky. We’ve all been given different kinds of talent. We have to use them to the best of our ability and give it all we have.”
As he looks forward to a new year, Weaver turns another page: New dreams. New roads to travel. But with lots of friends and support from home. Eventually, he wants to establish a Music Education Foundation to help students follow their own dreams.
He believes in the beauty of dreams.
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