Guitar man
Ethan Branom rocks on for Quiznos Sub shop in Ontario

Ethan Branom jams on the corner of East Idaho Avenue and East Lane in Ontario. Branom plays his air guitar for an hour each day to advertise for Quiznos Subs. ‘I love it ... I’m like in my own little world,’ he said. ‘This is not just a job, it’s a hobby.’

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He is that “kid out there dancing,” Quiznos Subs Assistant Manager Miguel Barba said.

“I love it ... I’m like in my own little world,” Branom, 16, Ontario, said of his job advertising for Quiznos. “This is not just a job, it’s a hobby.”

Each day at 12:30 p.m. Branom loads up his equipment — earbuds, iPod shuffle, headphones, a gallon of water and a giant oval Quiznos banner — and heads to his next performance on his personal stage, the corner of East Lane and East Idaho Avenue.

Then, for the next hour, Branom “plays” songs by Metallica, Killswitch Engage, Tenacious D and other bands for his fans. He belts the lyrics he can without going falsetto and mouths the rest while picking his air guitar and pounding invisible drums. He also said he tried a power slide just once on the concrete.

“That hurts the most,” he said, revealing a purple scar on his calf. “And it failed miserably.”

This rockstar persona overtook Branom during his first day onstage for Quiznos, 203 East Lane N., Suite 5, Ontario.

He stood there wearing a giant cup suit and listening to a few tunes, then he decided to perform, giving people a reason to smile, he said.

“You know this is really boring, I’m gonna do what I love to do. So I started to jam,” Branom said of his first day when he danced 90 minutes, a half hour more than required. “‘Cause I listen to music all the time, my hearing is starting to go down (though).”

During his daily hour on the corner, Branom said he tried a few air instruments — saxophone, trumpet, harmonica and the accordion, “‘cause Weird Al rocks” — before picking the guitar and occasional drum, which he plays in the OHS band and marching band.

“Everybody loves the air guitar, so I stuck with it,” Branom, who will be a junior this fall at Ontario High School and class president, said. “Guitar is one of my passions. If I could learn how to play guitar, I would.”

He tried learning without success. Instead he plays Guitar Hero and dances on the corner.

On rainy days, his absolute favorite, he gives motorists a two or three hour show at full-on rockstar magnitude. In triple degree heat, he starts slow as sweat puddles on his skin.

“I don’t wanna kill myself just straight out of the gate,” Branom said, noting he trains for OHS’ football team each morning. “It’s a non-stop workout.”

Branom landed his perfect job in March. He had turned in a job application to Quiznos, hoping to be a chef as he wants to attend culinary school.

“‘We’re not hiring, but the cup suit is open,’ ” Branom said the manager told him.

Branom told her: “No way, give it to me.”

Suddenly, he said, the job he had envied as a kid driving past was his.

“I’m gonna have that job some day,” Branom said he would say as a kid. “And here I am.”

Quiznos manager Pedrla Acuna said Branom’s ad hoc rock show has boosted business.

“I can’t go anywhere without people saying, ‘You’re the Quiznos guy,’ ” Branom said. Even at football camp in Camby, Ore., a man approached the team as they chowed down at a Quiznos.

“‘You’re the guy who dances on the corner,’ ” Branom said the stranger told him after commenting Branom looked familiar.

Soon his identity will be cloaked, though, he said. Quiznos owner Rick Greif has ordered Branom a cape and costume to be “Q-man, defeating hunger one sandwich at a time,” Branom said, adding a buddy intends to make him a Zorro-style mask.

“People will say, ‘You’re the Quiznos guy.’ And I’ll say, ‘No I’m not,’ ’cause I’ll be in my secret identity,” he said.

A serially-happy guy, Branom, an honor roll student, said his life is football, school and Quiznos, with a daily performance at 5 p.m. during the school months. Also, he sings in the choir and competes in the javelin, shot-put and discus. In the fall, he will add classes at Treasure Valley Community College to obtain an associate’s degree before he graduates high school.

“(I’ll) go to football, go here (Quiznos), go to night classes. It’ll be a long day, but, in the end, it will be worth it,” Branom said. “If I ever leave, I get to train the new guy.”

After graduation, Branom said he hopes to play professional football, plan A.

If he doesn’t make it, then culinary school or, plan C, teaching kindergarten.

At performance time Thursday with the thermometer at 101 degrees, a customer warned Branom as he went onstage.

“You’re gonna bake out there,” she told him.

“No, I’m gonna have a great time,” he replied.