Taryn Serwatowski is more than just a Buddy Holly fan. She’s a disciple. Buddy’s music, she explains, “never fails to brighten my day.” Author
“I love Buddy,” intones a young female voice from Lincoln, Nebraska though my iPhone. “His voice is pure, sincere, and original. He never fails to make me happy. No matter what I’m doing or what is wrong in my life, Buddy makes it right.”
Taryn Serwatowski is more than a fan. She is a disciple. She has loved Buddy Holly since the moment she heard his voice. “I was fifteen and sitting in my bedroom listening to the radio. ‘That’ll Be the Day’ came on the air and it was love at first sound. I was hooked. In school I became known as ‘The Buddy Holly Girl.’ When I graduated from high school, I walked on stage to get my diploma and when my principal handed it to me and shook my hand, he screamed, ‘Buddy Holly Lives!’ Buddy changed my life.”
Buddy is no passing phase for Taryn, who is now a graduate student at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, where she is studying meteorology and climatology. Obviously very bright, Taryn teaches two undergraduate classes and carries a full load. After completing her graduate degree she says she will either apply for work with the Federal Aviation Administration or continue on to get her doctorate. And when studies become tough and times get hard? “I turn to Buddy.”
Taryn Serwatowski is more than just a Buddy Holly fan. She’s a disciple. Buddy’s music, she explains, “never fails to brighten my day.” Author
In 1995, she explained, “my dad and I went on a Rock & Roll road trip. We left our home in Almont, Michigan, and drove to Lubbock to see all the Buddy sites, ending with the cemetery. It was an emotional event and a great father-daughter experience. My dad never criticized me for my love of Buddy. He embraced it.”
“And I know you’ve heard John Mueller,” I said.
“I am too young to have met Buddy, but I have met John Mueller. John’s music is just like Buddy. When I first met John I was blown away by the resemblance. Being around John is the closest I’ll come in this lifetime to being with Buddy.”
“What is it about Buddy’s music that keeps you coming back for more?” I asked.
“The sound of Buddy’s music never fails to brighten my day,” Taryn answers with a smile in her voice. “I have said that Buddy is always with me in my heart and mind, but 2010 was a difficult year for me, so I decided to make Buddy part of me in another way.”
Taryn made a trip to a tattoo shop, where she asked to have Buddy’s smiling face inked into her back and shoulder—almost full-size. Taryn can’t seem to get Buddy out of her head and heart, and now she can’t get him off her back!
“Buddy makes me feel unique and he is now part of my physical identity,” she continued. “Buddy Holly is the true love of my life. I was just born too late.”