LISTEN to "Under the Dock"
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Apple Music
JohnnyWalylko.com
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ABOUT Under The Dock
Under the Dock is a song that celebrates a relationship. The singer starts off as a promiscuous "young boy," dancing with friends and swimming with snakes. When he runs into a pair of "popping brown eyes in a Blackhawk's hat," he "had to ask her where her love was at."
It's not just a love story though. When the chorus hits, the romantic fantasy quickly switches to an insight and zoomed-out look at life: "but what we were, fades away. But you my friend, stays the same." This suggests that although life is continuing to change they grow together staying constant and reliable.
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Awarded The Mildred H. Posvar Scholarship
I am immensely grateful to announce that I was awarded the Mildred H. Posvar Scholarship, which will allow me to continue my music studies at the University of Pittsburgh. I've been unbelievably blessed. I walked through the doors of the music building on a whim. I just wanted to check out what was happening there. Music is so mystical to me, so when I walked in I was in awe of the music being made from the practice rooms. It's a messy story of how I got from there to being awarded this scholarship, but it would have never happened without Dr. Adriana Helbig. She provided the support I needed to go for it. When I walked into her 3rd floor office, I had no music resume. Just a hunger to learn and be a part of what was going on there. Since then, I've learned and gained inspiration from the university's wonderful professors, such as the legendary Joe Negri, Richard Teaster, Dr. Susan Rice, Dr. Philip Thompson to name a few.
I figured I'd attach the application letter that I submitted to win this scholarship:
Music Scholarship
Receiving a music scholarship would allow me to fully pursue my senior project, Project 52, because I would not have to work a second part-time job to fund it. Project 52 is the most intense endeavor I have yet to pursue, hence, I need to put all of my available focus and time into it. It consists of releasing 52 songs over the course of a year, every Friday, starting on July 7, 2017 and ending June 29, 2018. In addition, I will be having a concert at the end of the year in Bellefield (turned out being Frick Fine Arts), which will be open to the public. This will allow those who have followed my project to hear the songs live and spontaneously because the set-list will be completely created by the audience. Optional donations will be taken at the door to benefit Pittsburgh Children Hospital.
In order for this project to be successful, it will take a lot of things such as commitment, not only from myself, but also from other instrumentalists playing on the tracks, my mixing producer, and my media team. I expect to expand my following through this endeavor, but my main goal is to push myself as a writer and recording artist. I’ve been writing since I first picked up the guitar about ten years ago and there is nothing that I find more fascinating and surreal.
Music became a serious thing for me last April. I was pursuing a Psychology degree, but the more I studied psychology, the more I began psychoanalysing myself, realizing that I should actually be studying music. At that time, I lacked confidence. I didn’t grow up studying music. Instead, I focused on sports.
My father sent me to IMG Sports Academy in Bradenton, FL, where I pursued baseball. After high school, I joined the Navy as a SEAL candidate. After being medically dropped for a heart condition, I came back to my hometown of Johnstown, PA, and began taking classes at Pitt-Johnstown, where I wrestled and competed in Mixed Martial Arts. To help pay for school, I joined the Army National Guard. Immediately after Basic Training, I transferred out to Pitt-Main Campus to pursue an Army ROTC scholarship. After my knees began swelling during runs, a MRI uncovered that the cartilage in both knees had worn out. I was a semester away from commissioning as an officer when I was dropped from ROTC and simultaneously hung up the gloves on my MMA career with a 7-1 record.
As life seems to work, my medical interruption turned into a blessing. It opened the gate to studying music and pursuing a career as a professional songwriter.
This past summer, I was living in Fort Worth, TX, treating music as if it was fulltime job. My girlfriend was on an internship, so I went down with no other itinerary except to study and write music. Every morning, when she walked out the door to go to work, I would begin my workday of studying and writing. When she came home from work, I’d put the guitar down (or at least she would ask me to). For money, I street-performed in Downtown, Fort Worth (which was illegal).
I came back to Pitt ready to tackle music classes, and miraculously, won Pitt’s Battle of the Bands in September. I was so surprised, that I had left before they announced the winner. When someone told me that I had won, I thought they were joking.
Since winning the Battle of the Bands in September, I’ve played eight concerts, five private gigs, and have built my social media platforms for the release of Project 52. With a music scholarship, I would be able to fund Project 52 without a part-time job (besides the Army National Guard). My dream is to write songs that inspire others, and Project 52 is my gateway. Since time is the most valuable resource we have, please consider investing in me, and allowing me to fully concentrate on this project. My end goal is to have enough success as a musician, that I would have the resources to support children in hospitals as well as to help protect the environment. At my last show, I donated half of my ticket profits to Pittsburgh’s Children’s Hospital, which is the same hospital that fixed my heart condition that got me medically dropped from the Navy.