Photo by Ben Schwartz Brandon Baxter

When he joins area band Chance on the Wild West Arena stage Saturday night before an estimated crowd in excess of 3000 people, Brandon Baxter, 16, won’t have butterflies in his stomach.

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“I get 10 times more excited than anything,” he said in regard to performing in front of large crowds.

Baxter will only be a junior this fall at North Platte High School, but he is no stranger to the spotlight. He has played the lead in "Mame" at the Neville Center and ‘Footloose’ at the school, and his band Thin Ice won the battle of the bands at the NPHS talent show during the last school year.

Baxter says his uncle, Dr. Kim Baxter, who is a member of Chance, has been asking him about joining the band onstage for about a year and a half. This weekend it will happen for the first time as they open for Rodney Atkins as part of the U.S. Cellular Summer Jam Concert Series.

Baxter will be playing the saxophone Saturday night, but he is also a talented pianist and singer. He started playing the saxophone in sixth grade, and now is able to play alto, tenor, and soprano.

He received the music for the performance a week ago and has been practicing every day, and he participated in a rehearsal with the full band. Baxter says he is comfortable with his position in the brass section.

He lists as his favorite performers the Scorpions, Billy Joel, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, but says that his father, Brian Baxter, is his main inspiration musically. Baxter’s favorite genres to play include progressive rock and the blues.

Though he plans on continuing to focus on his music through high school and into college, it is not the only interest he has.

Baxter carries a 4.0 grade point average, and his favorite class is World History. He is also eagerly anticipating the upcoming high school football season.

His own band, Thin Ice, is made up of Baxter and three classmates, and hopes to perform at the upcoming Railfest.