Guitar hero for a new generation

Teen musicians, including a 17-year-old with a gift for guitar-playing, will rock the stage Wednesday at The Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach to benefit Hope House Foundation. The local nonprofit organization helps adults with developmental disabilities.

Smithfield singer/songwriter Bria Kelly and her band will be joined by Maryland-based soul guitarist Nate Foley. Kelly met Foley when the duo were selected to attend Grammy Camp in California earlier this year.

Foley started playing guitar when he was 7. "My dad listens to a lot of the Isley Brothers. So I guess I got influenced by listening to Ernie Isley," said Foley, reached by phone at his Rockville home.

After studying classical music, Foley switched to R&B and funk, which he says is the basis for his sound - a jazz, funk and rock fusion.

The high school senior, who plans to study contemporary music on the West Coast when he continues his education, has performed at the Apollo Theater in New York 10 times. In 2008 and 2010, he won the Apollo's Amateur Night competition titles in the children and adult categories, respectively. Foley made his latest visit to the legendary theater this month to perform his winning rendition of "Maggot Brain" - a Funkadelic classic - in the "Stars of Tomorrow" showcase.

"By playing at the Apollo, I really learned how to sell what I was playing and to communicate my emotion without any words, just straight-up guitar," he said. (Visit YouTube to view videos of his Apollo performances.)

With a five-song CD of covers already available on iTunes, Foley and his band will release a 10-song disc of originals next year.

At the "Hope House Rocks The Jewish Mother" benefit, Foley will also be joined by percussionist Matt Cole of mOcean, bass player Jake Fultz of Carbon Jam and the youthful Virginia Beach band ZigZag.

Patty Jenkins, (757) 446-2298, patty.jenkins@pilotonline.com