Wayland isn’t foreign to famous residents, but one in particular is actively helping to improve arts at Wayland High School. Scott Crago, drummer for the Eagles, recently donated tickets to the Eagle’s upcoming Long Road Out of Eden tour in order to raise money for the band program at WHS.

The fundraiser is a raffle for a first, second, and third place prize. The first place prize will be two VIP tickets and backstage passes to the Eagles concert with Keith Urban and the Dixie Chicks at Gillette this summer. A total of 300 tickets are available for purchase, and winners will be chosen on April 16th.

“I hope to raise awareness that the arts are important, that music in our community is important to our kids,” said Crago.

The raffle began Monday night at the Band concert in the Little Theatre, which featured the Concert Band, and the Wind Ensemble.

In 2007, the Eagles released their most recent album, Long Road Out of Eden, their first album of all-new material since 1979, which reached multi-platinum. This album led to their tour.

“I wanted to give back to the program a little because I’ve been lucky in my career. So I told myself if we ever came back [to the area] I would donate some tickets for a raffle to raise some money. When I found out that we were playing at Gillette, I figured it was the perfect opportunity.”

Crago has worked with different music classes at the high school on many different occasions. He aids students in looking for a different sound and learning more about their music and instruments. He grew up in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and played in his high school concert band, jazz band, and marching band.

He fell in love with the drums and decided that he wanted to make a career out of it. After graduating from the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Crago moved to Los Angeles to pursue music as a full time job.

“I went straight to LA when I was 22, and I literally starved for about three years,” he laughed. “I really struggled, but I knew I had to move to where the music was. There were a lot of great artists and opportunities for me to pursue out there.”

One thing led to another, and eventually Crago and his band, Venice, were signed to a label and played two shows a night. Famous ’70s artists were among the crowds at his concerts. Musicians such as  Stevie Nicks, Jackson Browne, Bob Seeger, David Crosby, and Don Henley began to recognize Crago.

“That band, Venice, had a Southern California sound to it, and these famous artists liked the way I played drums, so Stevie Nicks asked me to work with her,” said Crago. “I ended up touring with her.”

Later, he met musician Don Henley, one of his idols and a founding member of the Eagles, at a dinner with Stevie Nicks. Crago told Henley to let him know if a drumming opportunity ever came up. “I was going after everything, every door that opened a little I would try to kick it open further,” Crago said.

A year after his dinner with Henley, Crago received a phone call from the musician that led to his Eagles audition in late 1993. “It was strange,” he said. “The Eagles broke up in 1980, and I graduated high school in 1982, so I was in 10th grade, and the Eagles had already broken up, and I listened to them because they were America’s great band.”

Crago received the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to join the iconic American band. He  has been playing and touring as an Eagle since then. They travel up to 150-200 days in a year.

Because of his background, Crago is excited to give back to a program similar to the one in which he started his career. “The arts in general are so important to a well balanced person,” he said. “I think music translates to everyone, internationally and worldwide. Whether it’s an emotional feeling, or a lyric that you hear, or a beat that makes you want to dance. It is just a natural instinct to want to listen to and like music.”

His goal for the fundraiser is to raise money for the program in order to further the education of Wayland band students. “This is for the future of the program, to help our kids be able to do what they want to do without having to struggle with not being able to afford something they need,” he said.

Raffle tickets are $20 each, and will be sold in the Commons during lunch on April 13th and 14th. They will also be available at Sudbury Pearle Vision, Sudbury Crossing Shopping Plaza from April 5th to April 16th.

The drawing will be on Friday, April 16th at 2:15 PM. Winners will be notified by telephone. Contact Kathy Curtin at 508-243-9258 or via email at [email protected] with questions.