Braden Carei, track

Nothing against sports, but sports are only part of Braden Carei’s story.
Carei, son of Joe and Stacy Carei of Uniontown and a 4.25 GPA student, runs cross country and track and field for the Red Raiders and won the WPIAL Diving Championship this winter, so he has the credentials as an athlete. That, along with his high academic standing, were enough to have Carei selected as Uniontown’s male spring sports pick in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program.
But, as radio personality Paul Harvey used to say, here’s the rest of the story.
Carei plans to attend Belmont University in Nashville to study music business and audio engineering on a partial track scholarship (400, pole vault and possibly decathlon). Through the years (he is only a high school senior, don’t forget), Carei has learned to play 11 instruments, started a band with some classmates at Uniontown and hopes to work on the business end of the music industry.
“There are a lot of schools who have the programs, but I specifically chose there because it is Music City,” Carei said. “They have a lot of great internships down there, they offer a lot of different opportunities that you wouldn’t see in a smaller town or just anywhere else, really. They also offer programs where you can go to New York City or LA and you have a chance to do internships with people there.”
But Carei didn’t want to wait for those internships to get started in the music industry. After studying abroad, Carei teamed with three classmates to form the band Pencil Fish.
“Austin Wivell and I got together with Gerald Ellington and Katie Nicholson and formed the band,” he said. “We play pop rock, popular stuff. I play guitar and vocals, Katie is our lead vocalist, Gerald is our drummer and Austin is our bass player.”
Song writing may be where Carei ends up as a professional, but he isn’t about to rule out anything.
“I have a lot of big ideas for my future, but it really just ends up where it takes me through college,” he said. “I’ll be doing a dual major, with business and audio engineering, which is more about sounds, the sound boards, I’ll be learning about that. People who do the recordings, I’ll be learning that, too. I’m really into that stuff, but I also like to get out there and play. I also like to talk to people and promote things, so I just want to open up my horizon. That way, when it comes time, I’ll find that place that really fits all of my abilities.”
Carei’s dad has always been known locally for his running and as a chef. Joe Carei has owned a few restaurants and is in the catering business now. It was a different relative who opened Braden’s eyes to music.
“My grandpa has always been a musician and he really influenced me in that area,” Carei said. “He actually got me playing my first instrument, the violin, when I was 6 or 7. That’s what really set me off on music.”
He also plays the piano, bass, harmonica, ukulele, saxophone, banjo, trumpet, drums and the pipa, a Chinese string instrument.
Carei’s most memorable sports moment for the Red Raiders was winning the WPIAL gold medal in diving. And, he appreciates the hard work his dad did to help him get there.
“I really developed my skills and was able clinch the championship. It’s a big gold medal. My dad is the diving coach, as well,” Carei said. “He is self taught because a few years ago, we weren’t getting a lot of time on the board because the coaches we had had swimming backgrounds and they didn’t have much knowledge in diving. So, he came in and said ‘I’ll take the time and learn if they get on the board more.’ That’s where he started and this year, he came back and he really helped a lot. We would go to WVU and train with their coach. My dad was able to learn a lot from going there with us, watching what he was looking for because the coach knew what the judges were looking for and he reinforced those things in every practice.”