SAGINAW, MI — Lionel “LJ” Baldwin Jr. is a tenth-grader with a 4.214 GPA and an accomplished student athlete and musician.
When he’s not studying, playing football or basketball, wrestling, running track, or playing saxophone in the Arthur Hill High School band, you might find the 15-year-old performing on a sidewalk somewhere in Saginaw.
Baldwin began performing his “sidewalk serenades” for Mother’s Day 2020 as a way to bring some socially-distant joy to people during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and earn some extra money.
“A lot of people because of the pandemic were not congregating and we could not be close to them,” he said. “My mother (Arshen Baldwin) actually had the great idea to start playing for people on their sidewalks — not too close, not too far — and just bring some happiness back because it was a very sad time.”
They promoted the $25 “sidewalk serenades for Mother’s Day” on social media and were soon booked up.
“We actually just drove around Saginaw for that entire day playing for a lot of peoples’ mothers and just hopefully making their Mother’s Day better,” Lionel “LJ” Baldwin Jr. said. “By the end of the day, I had played for about 16 people around Saginaw.”
His business has been growing ever since.
Lionel “LJ” Baldwin Jr. performs on the street in Frankenmuth every weekend, and clients have hired him for birthdays and other special occasions. He recently performed for Saginaw Mayor Brenda Moore’s birthday, surprising her between meetings, and for a group of COVID-19 nurses.
His song list numbers about 60 titles now. His favorite is ”If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys.
“It really speaks to me,” he said. “It says in the song that the superficial things in life don’t matter and it’s more about if you have that person in your life that just makes you feel better and can push you to motivate you, but it’s not about the material things. So that’s really my favorite song, as I can put a lot of my emotions and past experience in life into that song.”
Arshen Baldwin said her son is a hard worker and a perfectionist, and it shows. In addition to the high school band, Lionel “LJ” Baldwin Jr. plays for the local NAACP ACT-SO Jazz Ensemble, representing branch 3152, and is a National NAACP ACT-SO competitor, after having won the local competition. He is competing nationally in the contemporary music-instrumental category.
“I’m extremely proud of him,” Arshen Baldwin said. “He practices for hours. Anything he decides that he’s going to do, he tries and he works really hard to be the best at it, and that makes me more proud than anything, just to see the level of dedication that he puts into it.”
After high school, Lionel “LJ” Baldwin Jr. aspires to become a lawyer and continue studying music and playing the saxophone. He said he appreciates the support Saginaw has shown him.
“I’m very appreciative of the people in the community who have supported me,” he said. “I’m just really grateful that people were able to enjoy my music.”
Pricing for Sidewalk Serenades starts at $35, and at least 48 hours notice is preferred. Find Lionel “LJ” Baldwin Jr. on Facebook to learn more.
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