Kyle DeGrenier is a senior at Abington High School who has talent unlike few his age. DeGrenier began his high school career as a three sport athlete, playing football, hockey, and lacrosse. But he realized that he was wasting his time playing sports and decided to sacrifice his free time to doing what he really loved, making music.

“My inspiration to pick up a guitar came from the fact that I really enjoy music from genres that are very guitar based,” DeGrenier said. He first decided to learn how to play guitar in the spring of seventh grade. Since picking up the guitar, DeGrenier has gone only a few days without playing.

DeGrenier made his live debut performance in eighth grade at Abington’s old Frolio Middle School for an end-of-the-year-event. He continued to play for his family members and classmates a few times in middle school, but things did not get really serious until high school. 

When DeGrenier was a sophomore, he got introduced to a group of guys who called themselves “Missing Strings.”  The band was not serious about their music production by any means until DeGrenier joined. It was then they noticed DeGrenier’s incredible skills and realized that they may have something going for them. 

The band first heard about DeGrenier’s talents through a mutual friend, Chloe McAuliffe, a 2018 graduate of Abington. DeGrenier said that, “Chloe mentioned to them that I wanted to join a band. A few days later at football practice they just asked me.”

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The other members of the band included Abington student-athletes Dylan Magararu ’19, Mark Cellini ’18, and Dylan Gately ’18. Not long after being introduced to them, DeGrenier was given the opportunity to play in front of “Missing Strings.” They were impressed that he he could play behind his head. DeGrenier said, “They thought I was good because they just weren’t as good as me; I took it more serious than them.”

Needless to say DeGrenier was officially in the band. Acquiring him was the push the band needed in order to become a legit group of musicians.

Gathering and making music became a daily routine for “Missing Strings.” DeGrenier got his well-deserved role as lead guitarist and began improvising riffs that the rest of the guys could build off of and, in the end, create a half-decent song they could perform to a small crowd.

After less than five months of being an official band, “Missing Strings” released their first single “Park Ave” to streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. 

Some venues DeGrenier went on to play 15 shows at were “The Orpheum” in Foxboro and “The Middle East” in Cambridge, a famous spot for start-up bands. The first “Missing Strings” concert was at “The Shop Underground” in Taunton. That highly anticipated debut brought in over 65 fans of the band. When asked about the experience, DeGrenier said, “It was electric.” 

“Missing Strings” no longer produces music nor performs at venues due to three fourths of the band having graduated from high school and moving away for college.  DeGrenier said he was unsure if there would be anymore recording sessions with “Missing Strings.” The likelihood of another album, or even just a single, seems unlikely since DeGrenier will be attending college next September. 

I highly recommend adding “Missing Strings” to your list of frequent searches on Spotify or Apple Music. Their debut album “LoLo” is also a must-hear.