Don’t mistake Wyatt Pike’s mellow and kind demeanor for a lack of perseverance. His mother Heather explains that the 18-year-old Park City native has always been tenacious when it comes to pursuing his passions. “When he was three, he would carry around his guitar and a little rug he could set up for impromptu performances,” she says. “Music has always been a constant in his life, and he always comes back to it.”

That wee guitar has morphed into a grown-up, electric version, and Pike has expanded his repertoire from singing and playing guitar to rocking the bass, drums, and piano (though he’s still a guitarist and vocalist at heart).

A recent high school graduate, he found ways to feed his passion through his teens—working and interning for Mountain Town Music (a prolific presenter of local live music), volunteering at KPCW radio as a DJ, and playing with local bands whenever he had the chance. And he ventured beyond the Park City bubble, attending a summer program with the Berklee College of Music.

His boss at Mountain Town Music, Brian Richards, has watched him evolve through music since he started volunteering for the organization at age 12. “Wyatt is a charismatic, effervescent, and engaging dude,” he says. “He is a self-starter, and I can always count on him to show up and get the job done.”

Surprisingly, Wyatt believed music would ultimately take a backseat to attending business school, a post-grad plan that seemed etched in stone—well, until he played bass this past summer with popular Utah band The Backseat Lovers, performing to crowds of hundreds of teens. “We played all kinds of shows, and the crowds were totally getting into it. Performing live in front of them was like a natural high, like you are floating,” he says with a smile. “It’s cool to see my generation getting into live music.”

That feeling and that experience led to a recalibration of plans. Business school has turned into a “gap year” for Pike—and a new plan to put his music first in 2020. He’s setting his sights on recording an album of originals, playing music as much as possible, and applying to Berklee College of Music.

“The dream,” he says, “has always been to make music I write—that I love, and that other people love.”

Catch Wyatt Pike (wyattpike.com) at Melvin’s Public House in Heber City and other area hot spots.