Skip to Content

Pages of Life — Kolby following in dad’s footsteps

Kolby keeping family beat going!

Who is the youngest drummer in Callaway County? Little Kolby is sure trying to be in the band, and he just might make it! He loves the drums and I’m not sure they can interest him in another instrument.

His daddy, Kirt Kleindienst is the drummer for 54 Country, and little Kolby’s hero. I kidded Kirt and told him he may have to learn the fiddle or something else, his baby boy is moving in on him.

Kirt himself was drummer in our family band since he was 7 years old. He could play as well as any seasoned drummer even at that age, and everyone would try him out by requesting “Wipeout”. This is a song every drummer will be asked to play sometime in their career. It has a fast beat. He could always do it perfectly and awed the crowd.

Our son Randy also played guitar and sang in our band, the Country Rangers, when he was 7 years old. We are so happy to see the tradition of music carry on. It has been a family thing for several generations as David and I met when we were both hired in a band over 63 years ago.

Since his grandpa Randy, and Kirt his daddy, have their 54 Country Band playing at their hall in Kingdom City on Saturday Nights, I believe little Kolby will get to be an addition to that.

We were amazed to see Kolby on the drums playing. He doesn’t just beat them, he keeps time. And I said look at that! He puts it all in there, he uses all the drums in the big set. He even uses cymbals!

His Great Grandpa David and I stopped by one afternoon to check the 54 Country building. Just then Kirt came out packing little Kolby who had tears running down his cheeks. Kirt needed to leave, and Kolby wanted to keep playing drums. I asked Kolby what was wrong. I never see him crying.

It was so cute as he tried to tell his side of the story. He was silently sobbing a little and pointing at his dad and back at the building saying, “I want to drum”.

That’s something else too. Our kids, our grandkids, or our great grandchildren, have never thrown those kind of fits you see and hear in the store. Kolby was just letting a few tears slide as he told on his dad.

Of course I scolded his dad, our oldest grandson, while holding back a smile, and Kolby was listening. Soon the tears stopped, and he was smiling like he always does. When we left, he was waving, smiling, and said, like he always does, “Have a good day!”

Although Little Kolby is only 2 ½ years old he will amaze you. He knows his colors, can count to 15, and is a heart stopper with his sweetness. Usually, he will be singing when you see him, and I imagine he will be on stage with his grandpa Randy, and singing before you know it.

He loves going to watch his brothers, Caleb, Kaden, and Lane, play basketball and will cheer them on. You can hear the sweet little voice saying, “Good Job!!”, or if they miss, he says “Almost!” Already he can throw and hit a ball and make baskets. His dad Kirt, who was always in the paper when younger because of his skill in sports, is now a School Coach, so he is learning a lot from him.

Another day we stopped by 54 to check on it, our son Randy, his grandpa, and his grandma Christine, had stopped by too, just for a minute to do something. Kolby was with them and hurried over and tried to open the door to 54 Country and said, “It’s locked, I want to drum!” … Christine was talking and just handed him a couple of straws she had in her hand… He took them then said, I need drumsticks! Kids these days are so smart!

As we pulled away, Great Grandpa David said, “Well, why can’t he have his own drum set on the stage.?” Those little ones don’t know how they warm us older people’s hearts. After we see him, we will talk about all the cuteness until we see him again. I can sure see Little Kolby following in his dad’s footsteps with music and sports.

(Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child)

You can’t just let them grow wild like weeds, or they, and you, will suffer the consequences.

Thanks to his Daddy Kirt and Mama Alecia for training him, and his brothers, in the correct way.