Molly Escherich starting humming random songs when she was a toddler. She hummed so much, her family called her "Molly Hum-dinger."
She said she hated that nickname back then, but now she just thinks it's funny.
In second grade, she got a Karaoke machine for Christmas.
Then when Molly was in third grade, she got a $79 ukulele. But it wasn't given to her as a gift. She earned it by taking veggies from the garden, and painting rocks, then selling them to people at local pow-wows and at the Bay Mills Farmer's Market. After it was all said and done, she more than doubled her earnings by raking in $180.
"In third grade, I did a little piano lessons and did a talent show at school. When I was in fourth grade, the pandemic happened so I did online schooling and took lessons downtown at Crooked Music. Then I stopped with piano and just continued with ukulele. In fifth grade I got my first acoustic guitar," Molly said.
That first guitar changed Molly's perspective and focus on her passion.
"That's when she was able to spend more time learning a lot more songs. She strummed a lot of chords on the ukulele but it wasn't until she got to the acoustic where she was able to learn the songs the way she could. She Googled YouTube videos and learned how to play it better," said her mother, Tiffany.
"Guitar is my main instrument, then would be drums, then third is bass," Molly said.
She says her very first big community performance was Battle of the Bands at LSSU in 2023.
"I was really nervous. There were like so many 'what-ifs.' The bassist of Double Jack helped me with the nervousness. He was really funny. Actually, all the guys were funny," the 13-year-old Molly chuckled.
A year and a half later, she has gained popularity but still gets butterflies in her stomach while performing.
"I'm still nervous and I don't know why. It is more of a confidence thing than anything because more people know who I am and come watch me. But I am pretty happy where I am at right now. There are some things I need to do more. I wish I had more time to practice and do other things too," Molly said.
"I did shoveling a couple years ago because I didn't have a snowblower then so I could get an electric guitar and a keyboard. This year I wanted to get the amp so I started snow blowing. You can make money fast-blowing snow," Molly said.
"We could have bought her the keyboard or the electric guitar, but she wanted to earn it for herself," Tiffany said.
Without the generosity of Mark Engelhardt donating a snowblower earlier this season, Molly would still be using only a shovel to clear away the snow.
Up to Jan. 18, Molly has raked in, or should we say, shovelled in, $2,588 towards the new amp.
Some people would turn to GoFundMe to get financial support. Not Molly.
"If I want something, I am going to work for it. My opinion, if you say 'I had a GoFundMe and I got it', compared to 'I shovelled snow all winter and earned it', it makes a better story. More importantly, I am helping people and get the satisfaction of doing it. Plus helping the Tribal Elders, it's more about helping them than the money," Molly continued.
This winter has been brutal with the snow, and more recently, the bitter cold.
But Molly still is out there, hard at work, even though, she says sometimes she wonders why she subjects herself to the cold.
"Every day, yes. Especially when I am super sore from doing a couple houses the day before. My arms are hurting. My back is hurting," Molly said.
But then she thinks about that special amp.
"Eddie VanHalen 5150 amp. There's a gold one that is so pretty," Molly smiled.
The cost of the amp is already covered by the money she has earned up to this point, however, that is just for the head part. The cabinet that goes with it costs around $1,300.
Molly has applied for Interlochen Summer Camp for this year to further expand her passion in the music world.
How's that story for a hard-working, inspiring young musician?
You can follow Molly's journey on her Facebook page here.
