In 2007, current St. Edward’s University student Andrew Stone moved to Austin, Texas, with nothing but a goal to play as much music as possible. Stone was raised in Hawaii but moved when its “small punk scene” proved too limiting for his ambitions.

Knowing no one in the city and never having been to Texas before, Stone walked off the plane with no idea of how things would turn out. Within four days, he had found an apartment and started a new life.

Stone seems to have been destined to be a musician from birth. He comes from a strong musical background: he was taught to play the piano at four and the violin a few years later, but he fell in love with a red electric guitar when he was eight. Stone claims to have always known that his future was going to be dedicated to music.

Passing up the chance to attend Berklee School of Music in Boston, Mass., Stone instead moved to a strange new city to pursue the experience of playing music.

“I felt like I’d learn more if I just came here to Austin and started playing than I would ever at any school,” Stone said.

Stone is very committed to his musical career and following his motto.

“You can be as busy as you want to be, and I want to be busy,” he said.

Stone is currently playing two or three shows a week and trying to branch out as much as possible.

“I try to play one night downtown, one night at a coffee shop, and then another day I’ll play at a hookah bar,” he said.

The newest addition to Stone’s ensemble is his brother, Christopher Paige, on the drums. Their musical style is alternative melodic rock, and Stone’s influences include Jeff Buckley, Led Zeppelin, U2 and the White Stripes.

Stone is the embodiment of a struggling artist just trying to follow his passion, flipping burgers by day and performing by night.

You can catch Stone at many locations in Austin. The upcoming show Stone expressed being most excited about is his Oct. 18 performance at Momo’s. For a full list of his shows, you can visit his Facebook page.

Stone is strongly devoted to his music and is optimistic about his future.

“I’m going up,” he said. “As high as I can go.”