BOY, CAN THIS KID PLAY!; 11-YEAR-OLD BLUEGRASS FIDDLER WOWS 'EM WITH HIS LIGHTNING-QUICK BOW WORK.

Byline: Carol Bidwell Staff Writer

With his head down, a slight frown of concentration on his face and his eyes focused on an imaginary something only he can see, Tommy Drenten makes beautiful music.

Sawing away with a pint-size horsehair bow on a half-adult-size fiddle, the 11-year-old Sun Valley boy coaxes the sound of generations of square dances, barn raisings and bluegrass competitions out of the instrument.

It's music America grew up on, and Tommy's growing up on it, too.

``My mom used to always play Garth Brooks (songs), and I liked that kind of music,'' Tommy said, lounging little boy-like with his feet higher than his head after ripping through a half-dozen toe-tapping tunes. ``I like to play blues sometimes, and bluegrass with my dad. And I play a little gospel.''

``He used to say he wanted to play with Garth Brooks in his band, and that he would play for free,'' said Lorraine Drenten, Tommy's mom, with a laugh. ``I told him, `When you get hired by Garth Brooks, tell him you don't want any money. But tell him your mother goes with you.' ''

Tommy's interest in music was evident when he was only 3, fueled by his mom's love of country music, the piano-playing talents of his 12-year-old sister, Samantha, and the weekly jam sessions hosted at home by his dad, Edward, an accountant who plays banjo and bass fiddle.

But it wasn't until he was 6 that he wanted to make music himself.

At a bluegrass festival at Lake Casitas, a Ventura County gathering place for down-home music-makers, he stopped at a booth selling fiddles. (A fiddle is the same as a violin, Tommy explained. ``The only difference is the music that comes out of it. A violin plays serious music. A fiddle plays bluegrass.'')

``Can I hold one?'' he asked the vendor. Running his hands over the smooth wood, he was intrigued. He didn't even try to play it, but handed it back.

A few days later, he startled his parents.

``I said, `I want to play the fiddle,' '' Tommy recalled. ``They didn't think I was serious.''

``We thought it was a fluke,'' said his mom, a hairdresser. ``But he kept it up.''

So they took him to see Frank Javorsek, whose Blue Ridge Pickin' Parlor in Canoga Park is a mecca for those who want to learn to play a host of stringed instruments popular with bluegrass and country music aficionados.

``He had a feel for it from the beginning,'' said Javorsek. ``He was playing simple tunes within a couple of weeks, and now he's working on more difficult stuff. He's one of my better students, but there's no end to the learning.''

Most kids' parents push them to take lessons, whether the child really wants to or not. But Tommy's one kid who has the fiddle in his blood, who fiddles because he loves the sound the instrument makes.

``He's done real well, but he's going to do even better,'' the instructor predicted. ``If he sticks with it, he'll do real well.''

With five years of weekly lessons under his belt, Tommy says he's still learning the fine points of fiddling, even though he's in demand to sit in with adult bands.

At a gig in Thousand Oaks last winter, the pint-sized fiddler in jeans, boots and wide-brimmed cowboy hat wowed an audience of several hundred people when he appeared with a handful of adult music-makers, all of them over 6 feet tall. The audience whistled and applauded as Tommy, never lifting his head to scan the audience, fiddled his way through song after song.

He's also played a few benefits, a slew of parties, a couple of weddings (``I got to play `Here Comes the Bride' and a lot of other stuff''), opened last year's Santa Barbara Horse Show with ``The Star-Spangled Banner,'' and even performed at the funeral of a Kentucky native who lived next door.

``Henry used to love to listen to Tommy play,'' said Lorraine Drenten. ``He'd sit on his porch and listen by the hour, or he'd come over here and say, `Get that fiddle goin' and make some music.' And Tommy'd play for as long as he'd listen. Henry used to say it reminded him of being back home.''

Judges, too, have been captivated by the boy's playing. In 1997, he took first place in the Junior Junior Division of the California State Old Time Fiddlers Association competition in Bakersfield, and a fourth place in competition at the Los Angeles County Fair. In 1998, he took first place in the Beginners Division at the CSOTFA competition in Julian, Calif., and first for beginners in the 37th Topanga Fiddle Contest and Folk Arts Festival.

In February, he took first place in the Junior Beginning category at a competition sponsored by the Bluegrass Association of Southern California, and he's currently practicing for an Oct. 24 bluegrass contest sponsored by a Sun Valley church.

He's never had stage fright, he bragged.

``For some reason, playing for a lot of people has never been a big deal for me,'' Tommy said with a shrug, the picture of a calm, cool professional.

``My dad always gets nervous and when he gets out there. He messes up. His hands shake. Why should I be nervous? They're just people.''

But he looks shamefaced as his mother reminds him of the first time, a few years ago, he performed with an adult bluegrass band.

``It came time to play and he looked at me and said, `I think I'm going to throw up,' '' said Lorraine Drenten, laughing. ``But he played anyway and did an awesome job.''

Once the music starts, Tommy says, he forgets there's an audience listening.

``I like fast songs,'' he said, demonstrating his lickety-split bowing. ``People like to dance and it makes me feel good to make them feel good.''

``He gets going really fast and everybody just whoops and hollers,'' said his mom with a grin.

Tommy is a sixth-grader this year at Millikan Middle School in Sherman Oaks, and when he's not studying or fiddling around, he collects Pokemon cards, plays video games, watches ``The Simpsons'' on TV, and rides his pony, Sizzle. And he's looking forward to learning to play the drum set he got for his birthday in July.

Although his life now is filled with music, it's not something he intends to make a living at. At least, right now.

``I want to be an NBA basketball player, probably for the Lakers,'' he said, his eyes shining. ``Or design video games.''

Whatever he does is fine with his parents, as long as his grades are respectable and he's happy.

``Tommy plays the fiddle, but he's into 99 other things,'' said his mom. ``You have to let him be a kid.''

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PHOTO Tommy Drenten

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer