A local musician has spread his wings and set his career in flight. Rus Reppert, who plays regularly at Bridgeport Farmers Market and other local and regional venues has landed a pretty lucky industry break.

 

A music video featuring Reppert singing the ‘70s classic rock tune, “Fly Like an Eagle,” has been picked up by Candyrat Records, a label known for the viral success of its YouTube page.

 

“CandyRat Records is probably the largest acoustic guitar record label in the world,” Reppert said. “Some of the people on their label are literally the best and biggest acoustic guitarists on the planet.”

 

To date, the label’s top video has reached 50 million views.

 

Reppert’s may not go that viral, but it’s well on its way to success. As of Friday, he was pretty happy

 

“My video could not be in better hands. It’s only been up for a few hours and already has more hits than everything else in my life combined,” he said. “And the fan base is already global. I’ve had comments from people in Russia, Indonesia, Brazil and all over the world.”

 

As of late-Friday morning, the video had nearly 2,000 views and by Saturday morning, it had reached 6,000 and was climbing fast.

Reppert said it has been his dream to be recognized around the world for his dedication to the guitar. With unwavering intention – and a lot of luck – he is finally getting that opportunity, he said.

 

“It’s been a goal of mine for about 10 years,” he said. “It’s always been my impression that I’d have to record a CD and spend a lot of money to actually get on CandyRat, but it turns out, a video did the trick and it didn’t cost me a dime.”

 

In the making of the video, Reppert teamed up with a couple of other well-known area musicians, Jason Adams and Zach McCord.

“We got together to experiment with some of Jason’s new video equipment and they had an idea to film in an old warehouse in Glen Elk. He had done stuff in there before,” Reppert said. “We happened to have a lot of technical difficulty throughout the day and only had time for one shoot.”

 

And it was a good one.

 

“The lucky stars aligned and we got a good video and a good performance all at the same time,” said Reppert about the video which was shot Dec. 23. He remembers the date because following the shoot, he did his Christmas shopping, he said.

 

The video also came at a good time as, across the globe, there has been a resurgence and renewed interest in acoustic guitar music,” Reppert said.

 

Doing business as Adams Film, Adams is a very talented videographer who has shot top-notch entertainment videos in Nashville, New York and Los Angeles.

 

“And he also plays the drums,” Reppert said. “I played music with him before I even knew he did video.”

 

Adams shot and edited the video and McCord, who now owns Blue Ridge Recording, worked with Reppert to mix the audio.

 

“Jason and I had been itching to do some sort of live one-take – or something along those lines – but we needed someone to play,” McCord said. “He said he knew a guy who was really talented, called Rus and then we got to work!”

 

With that piece of the puzzle in place, Reppert had an in with CandyRat because he and the record label president Rob Poland had a mutual friend, Spencer Elliott.

 

“Spencer is one of the finest guitarists in the country and he knew Rob and hooked us up about six months ago,” Reppert said.

Reppert sent Poland the video and “he loved it” Reppert said.

 

“I cannot overstate what an honor it is to have my video side-by-side with the best guitarists in the world,” he said. “I would like to thank everyone who has believed in me over the years.”

 

Hopefully, Reppert’s video will go viral and open up some major opportunities for him, he said.

 

“Hopefully it will give me opportunity to travel abroad and play – Europe and Asia and all over  the U.S. – to places I’ve never been,” he said.

 

But even if that does not happen, the video does acknowledge Reppert’s efforts over the past three decades.

 

“To even be mentioned on this label with the world’s best guitarists, I’m very pleased,” he said.

 

Reppert is resident artist and musical director at Bridgeport Farmers Market.

 

“I started out in a folding chair in the parking lot at Bridgeport High School,” said Reppert about the market’s early days. “Now we are at Charles Pointe and have all different kinds of music – jazz, Celtic, Appalachian, bluegrass, folk, Hungarian and gypsy rock. It’s definitely a music program that has grown a bit.”

 

Reppert also plays at Cody’s at White Oaks, 88 Restaurant & Lounge in Buckhannon and Ken’s Irish Pub near Deep Creek, Md. This weekend, he played at the Fireside Grille in Charleston with two other CandyRat artists, Spencer Elliott and Mike Dawes.

 

Reppert’s day job is doing technical work for the West Virginia Lottery.

 

See Reppert singing the Steve Miller Band cover "Fly Like an Eagle" below.