Stephanie Ramsay / For The Post / sr270905@ohiou.edu

Three-year-old Oliver Pyle plays some of his favorite songs during a concert at Donkey Coffee and Espresso. The show included many favorites such as “One Two Buckle My Shoe” and “Funky Music.”

Oliver Pyle arrived at Donkey Coffee and Espresso, 17 1/2 W. Washington St., May 4 for his second-ever show in eccentric rock star style. He wore white beads, a black Johnny Cash T-shirt and a blue wig.

He had a rock star persona to match, too.

Before the show, he zipped from customer to customer, saying hello to as many of them as he could. He eventually made his way to the back room where his drum set awaited him on the stage. He climbed behind it, greeted the audience with a loud “hello” and showed off his drumming skills, all before his two bandmates joined him.

Once the band assembled on stage, a song was chosen. It was a rock rendition of “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” the children’s nursery rhyme.

It was an appropriate choice because Oliver Pyle — confident, charismatic rock star — turns 3 years old Saturday.

Accompanied by parents Chris and Angie Pyle — Dad sings and plays guitar while Mom plays keyboard — Oliver and the Pyle Drivers cover a diverse range of music, including children’s nursery rhymes and songs by well-known bands such as U2.

Aside from being in a band with their son, Chris and Angie Pyle also are the owners of Donkey.

A musical background

Oliver, who was adopted by Chris and Angie Pyle as a 3-day-old infant, seemed destined for music, Chris Pyle said.

When the couple went to see Oliver as a newborn in the hospital, they believed it was fate that Oliver became their son. They found him lying in his crib wearing John Lennon pajamas in the hospital.

“I thought, ‘This is from God,’ ” Chris Pyle said.

Oliver — who began learning how to play the drums about a year ago — received a brand new drum set about two months ago. Chris Pyle bought the drums while his wife and Oliver were away and hid them in the attic of their house. However, he could not resist the temptation to give Oliver the drums right away.

When prompted to guess the present, which Chris Pyle hid under a sheet, Oliver replied, “A toy cake with monsters in it.”

The future of the ‘rock ’n’ roll dude’

Chris Pyle is co-owner of 3 Elliott Studio, and he wants to make an album with his son. He hopes that it will be out sometime early next year. He also plans to let Oliver select the name for the album and imagines that it will be “something ridiculous.”

“Having a 4-year-old saying names for albums will be pretty nuts,” he said.

The band also plans to play at least one show every quarter unless more are demanded by fans.

Though Angie Pyle is glad that music allows Oliver to express his creativity, she worries about him eventually getting too involved in the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle.

“I’m not eager for him to be a rock ’n’ roll dude,” she said. “It’s time well spent — being in a band, being creative — but there’s a flipside.”

Angie Pyle’s hope for Oliver is that he will be a good person.

“I always tell him I want him to love God and love people,” she said.

Oliver enjoys socializing with Donkey’s customers and is in tune to what’s going on around him.

When discussing the band U2, Oliver commented on Bono’s humanitarian causes, Chris Pyle said.

“Bono sings really well, and he cares about the children who don’t have food,” Oliver told him.

Marshall Lilly, a friend of Chris Pyle’s who has come to know the family, said that Oliver is a “well-mannered, polite little kid” and that he hopes to expand Oliver’s musical taste to include bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.

“I want to get him into ’80s metal because his dad hates that stuff,” he said.

Lilly calls Oliver “the coolest 3-year-old I’ve ever met” and said that he is extremely comfortable around Oliver, even though he feels awkward around other children.

“Fifteen years from now, he’ll be Athens’ big celebrity,” Lilly said. “He’ll be the guy everybody knows and everybody likes.”