BandWorks Newsletter
Greetings Rockers!
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a conversation with another professional musician about who told me, “Man, I wish BandWorks was around when I was a kid.” I feel the same way. Sometimes the best motivation for personal growth is to have a team of talented people who are counting on you to do your best. And there’s nothing like having fun and rocking out on-stage to make practicing feel like less of a chore and more like something kids (and adults!) want to do! Many of us worked so hard to hone our skills and develop as musicians without the benefit of an organized program and supportive community of musicians like BandWorks. And now, with schools facing severe budget cutbacks, music programs are usually among the first to be canceled, which means programs like BandWorks are more critical than ever. Please help us spread the word about BandWorks to your friends, co-workers, and communities. Pass on the newsletter, refer people to the website, or just tell them about what a great experience BandWorks has been for you and your kids. If you’d like to get more involved, ask us how by contacting us at 510-843-BAND or info@bandworks.com.
Rock on,
Jeremy, Steve & Alan
BandWorks Co-Directors
P.S. We still have selected openings for certain weeks in our Intro to Rock Band Instruments, Rock Jam, CD Recording and Music of…series camps. Please check the schedule for your location and contact us to sign up today!
P.P.S. The June session begins the week of 6/15/09 and runs for six weeks. Click here for more info and sign up today.
BANDWORKS NEWS
Announcing BandWorks Pro!
Ready to take your band to the next level? We are now offering a new program called BandWorks Pro for those bands looking to get out of the garage and on to the local scene. We offer professional production to help so you can hone your original songs, tighten your set, and build your stage presence. We also offer a la carte services like CD recording, booking gigs, and creation of a press kit/demo package. If you’re interested in BandWorks Pro, contact the office at info@bandwrks.com or 510-843-2263 for more information.
BandWorks at Solano Stroll and East Bay Express Best of the Bay Party!
For the third straight year, BandWorks will have a stage and booth at the Solano Stroll, happening on Sunday, 9/13/09. Stop by and visit, send your friends over, and check out some of our top BandWorks bands rocking out all day long! We will also have a booth and bands performing at the East bay Express Best of the Bay Party at the Oakland museum on Friday, 8/7/09. This is a super fun party with loads of great stuff for the whole family. Please come by to support your fellow BandWorks musicians and drop by the booth!
BandWorks Hits the Street with Marching Band!
Join the BandWorks's first-ever Rock ‘n’ Roll Marching Band under the musical direction of BandWorks Co-Director Steve Gibson! Our first gig will be marching in the Solano Stroll on Sunday, 9/13/09. All instruments welcome. It is free and just for fun. Limited enrollment, register now. Contact the office at info@bandworks.com or 510-843-2263 for more information.
Open call for BandWorks Photos
We are looking for high quality photos of BandWorks concerts and rehearsals to add to our website. Please send us your favorites (to info@bandworks.com), and who knows – you may end up on the home page! [note: by sending us the photos you agree to let us use them for marketing purposes as we deem appropriate].
Golf Tournament Fundraiser a Great Success!
Thank you to all of our sponsors and participants at the 1st Annual BandWorks Golf Tournament Fundraiser! What a great time! In addition to braving the elements on a gusty, cold day with great spirits and golfing fortitude, we managed to raise over $2,500 for the BandWorks Scholarship Fund. Please take a moment to visit our sponsors below, or say thanks when you see them. Without them, we could never have pulled it off. We’ve already set the date for next year’s tournament, so mark your calendar for Monday, April 26, 2010! Next year we hope to expand the field to more golfers and sponsors, and will make all contributions and entry fees tax deductible.
Special thanks to:
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DC Metals
Bob & Linda Spencer
Tom & Michelle Horton
Sandy Jaffe
Stan Bunger
Important Dates
- April session concerts: 6/6/09 (San Rafael), 6/7 & 6/9/09 (Oakland)
- June session begins the week of 6/15/09
- June session early registration deadline: 6/1/09
- June session concerts: 7/26/09
- Summer Camp begins the week of 6/15/09. Register now!
TEACHER SPOTLIGHT
Vincent Spaulding
Though he embarked on his musical journey on the clarinet at the age of 13, it wasn’t until he switched to guitar that Vincent really found his passion. “I had to choose an instrument for orchestra in 8th grade, and clarinet was one of the only ones still available. Then one day there was this Easter assembly at school and there was a rock band playing at it. When I saw them, I knew that playing guitar was what I wanted to do.” Not long after, he went out and purchased his first electric guitar and amp from Prune Music, a local music store in Berkeley. His salesman was none other than guitar legend Joe Satriani. “Back then he was just Joe,” Vincent recalls.
It didn’t take Vincent long to start digging in to the burgeoning rock music scene at the time. “I started listening to Hendrix, Iron Butterfly, a lot of guitar music back in the 60’s. My older stepbrother was listening to that stuff and he turned me on to a lot of it." Still in high school, Vincent took a few lessons with local teacher Jim Gleason, but mostly ended up teaching himself how to play. “I scratched a lot of Hendrix and James Brown records to death. I would go to clubs where bands were playing and I would often ask guitar players how they played stuff. I learned a lot from asking people.”
Vincent was also fortunate enough to be enrolled at an experimental high school in the Bay Area called Odyssey. For an entire year, he got the opportunity to play music every day as part of his different curriculum. “Back then it was me, Rodney Franklin, Charles Green, John Bendick – it was located at Lawrence Hall of Science. We didn’t do any schoolwork, we just played music all day long….I ended up recording with Rodney, he got pretty big with a record deal.” Then at age 16 he was accepted into the mu sic program for talented young teens at the University of California, Berkeley.
After graduating Berkeley High School, Vincent attended SF State to major in guitar performance, but did a couple of stints at other colleges. During that time he got an offer to tour in Japan for six months with his band, after which he earned a certificate at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. He also got to record on Rodney Franklin’s first two albums and with Adam Deritz (currently of Counting Crows). He played around the Bay Area with Orlando Julius’ band (a member of Fela Kuti’s band from Nigeria), Jeff Narell, Zulu Spear, and others. After a period gigging around the Bay Area, he joined the Navy Band. "We were stationed in Naples, Italy for four years then two years on Treasure Island. We toured all over the Mediterranean."
About eight years ago Vincent got married, and had a daughter soon afterward. Adjusting to a new lifestyle, he started teaching more and gigging less frequently. For the past several years he has been teaching full time at the New Mozart School in Palo Alto. About two years ago he joined the BandWorks faculty, which has had a significant impact on him. “BandWorks has really helped me learn how to work with people better – especially kids – in a band situation. I’m a lot more confident working with groups of people now, and I credit a lot of that to BandWorks. It’s helped me all around in my teaching everywhere, and also keeps me in touch with what’s going on musically today. The kids are at a whole different level today. I’m constantly learning about different styles of music. It keeps me fresh. It’s really been great to be able to continue to work in that kind of environment. I look forward to it every time throughout the year. When I came up, these opportunities were really hard to find. An organization like BandWorks is really great for kids, especially today – a lot of things are built around the technology of video games and such, and it’s good that the music is still happening and accessible and interactive. I’m so grateful to be able to be a part of it. I’m not getting any younger, you know? BandWorks helps keep me young, helps keep me a part of what’s going on. When I hit the room with the kids, it’s like I’m right there with them. And I get to relate to them and them to me and I feel just as young as they are. I don’t think I’d get to feel that way if I wasn’t working with kids.”
Vincent is now working on composing new music and hopes to get back out into the recording and concert scene with a new project in the near future.
His advice for younger musicians? “Don’t limit yourself to any one style. Try to keep an open mind with all different types of music. Take advantage of all the new technology that’s out there. When I was coming up they only had records. Now there’s YouTube, books, videos, so many ways to learn. Music is a social thing to do, and it really helps to be social around other kids in a cool way. It really helped me grow as a person to play with my peers growing up. Now that there’s BandWorks, it’s a perfect way for kids to get involved with music.”
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Lauren Bradford
Even though she’s been singing since the age of two, 16-year old singer and drummer Lauren Bradford has really begun to hit her stride in the past couple of years. She sings in the Sasha Lopez Band (a standout BandWorks band), and recently placed second out of 150 singers in a talent contest in Los Angeles. She also has been taking drum lessons for the past four years. “I always liked the idea of playing the drums, and I finally got around to doing it. It just felt like a good fit. I take singing more seriously; I pay way more attention to details with my singing and have worked on it way more. Drums I practice when I have the time.”
Lauren began taking voice lessons at the age of 13, and has studied with top voice teachers at the Voice Studio in San Francisco. She has been trained in a very specific vocal method called speech level singing, which focuses on techniques to ensure that you don’t strain your voice but still sing with power and grace. “That’s all I practice now,” she says. She sang in church from the age of 10, and also sang in her high school choir.
Last year, Lauren participated in a singing and performing competition in Los Angeles. She got to go to LA for an entire week (and miss school) to compete with hundreds of performers (including about 150 singers) in a talent search contest. She placed second. “Everything I do I look at as an experience. Participating in the competition made me feel like I had another valuable experience that would help me. And it was fun – I got to perform in front of a bunch of people, which I always like doing. It was cool to get another kind of performing experience under my belt.”
Lauren hooked up with BandWorks and found a great fit with her current band, the Sasha Lopez Band. She got started with BandWorks originally on the recommendation of her drum teacher, Dawn Richardson. As it turned out, there was an opening for a singer but not a drummer. “BandWorks has been really helpful. I hadn’t really worked with a serious band, but now I do and all the musicians are really good and also take the music seriously. You really learn how to work with other people and not just worry about your own thing.” After several BandWorks sessions together, Lauren is able to see how much the band has evolved. “I think the band has really come a long way. When we first started we didn’t really know each other. Now we’re more connected and we get along really well, and we’re working through songs faster. We kind of know where each other is at, and we’re on the same page with things. We’re working more on originals now, trying to get together a set of original tunes together.”
Her aspirations for the future? “I’d like to take singing as far as I can, do as much as I can with it. I’m thinking about going to music school in London or somewhere else in England to study vocal performance and music. I figure if I have to go to college, I may as well do something I really love. I’d like to make it my career if I can.”
Her advice for other aspiring musicians? “Once you’re ready to start doing music, you should find out right away whether you like it or not. Stop right away if it’s not the right instrument for you. Once you find the thing you want to do, go into it full on. Don’t waste money on lessons on an instrument you don’t want. But once you find the one you want to play, pursue it full on.”
UPCOMING GIGS
Matthew Heulitt
Monday, May 25
Narada Michael Walden Band
Benefit concert for Christopher Rodriguez: Sting, Kathleen Battle, Earl Klugh, & more
Davies Symphony Hall, 8pm
201 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, CA
$75-$250, All Ages!
www.naradamichaelwaldenfoundation.com
Matthew Heulitt
Tuesday, May 26
Charlie Wilson’s War
Yoshi’s Lounge, 9pm
1330 Fillmore St., San Francisco, CA
$3, 21+
www.myspace.com/cwwband
Lawr Michaels & Bill Alberti
Saturday, May 30
Biletones, 8:30 pm
Rooster’s Roadhouse
1700 Clement (at Grand)
Alameda, CA 94501
510-233-7961
All ages
Matthew Heulitt
Saturday, May 30
MoeTar
Starry Plough, 8pm
3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA
$10, 21+
www.moetar.com
Matthew Heulitt
Friday, June 5
MCH Trio
Cafe Divino, 8pm
37 Caledonia St., Sausalito, CA
All Ages! Free!
www.myspace.com/mattheulitt
Deirdre Lynds
Friday, June 12
Headshear
Kimo's, 10pm
1351 Polk at Pine, SF
www.kimosbarsf.com
21+, $5
Veronika Safarova
Sunday, June 15
Valerie Orth Band (www.myspace.com/vlomusic)
Harmony Festival, Goddess Stage
Sonoma County Fairgrounds, 5pm
1350 Bennett Valley Rd, Santa Rosa, CA
All Ages! Prices vary
www.harmonyfestival.com
Jeremy Steinkoler
Friday, June 19
Kevin Beadles Band (www.kevinbeadles.com)
Roundup Saloon, 9 pm
3553 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette, CA, 94549
Free! 21+
(925) 284-4817
Veronika Safarova
Saturday, June 20
Valerie Orth Band (www.myspace.com/vlomusic)
Blake’s On Telegraph, 9pm
2367 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley, CA
All Ages! $10
Jeremy Steinkoler
Thursday, June 25
Mo'Fone (www.mofone.net)
San Francisco Jazz Festival
Stanford Shopping Center, 6 pm
Free! All Ages!
www.sfjazz.org
Veronika Safarova
Friday, July 3
Valerie Orth Band w/ Jen Foster (www.myspace.com/vlomusic)
Dolores Park Café, 7:30pm
$5-$10, All Ages!
www.doloresparkcafe.org
Jeremy Steinkoler
Saturday, July 4
Mo'Fone (www.mofone.net)
Berkeley 4th of July Festival, 3 pm
Berkeley Marina
Free! All Ages!
To list upcoming shows in the BandWorks Newsletter, please include the following information, in this order (bands must include a student or teacher from BandWorks):
Student or teacher’s name
Date
Band name (Band website)
Venue, Time
Venue Address
Cover charge, Age restrictions
Venue website
Venue phone number
Send all upcoming gig info to info@bandworks.com
GEAR FOR SALE
To list any gear for sale, please send posting requests to info@bandworks.com. Be sure to include your contact information.
MUSICIANS WANTED
BandWorks is committed to helping musicians in our community find other musicians to play with. Whether you’re looking to start a new band, hook up with some people to jam with, or find a didgeridoo player for your band, check the Musicians Wanted listings in each issue of the BandWorks Newsletter. If you’d like to add a listing to the newsletter, please include the following:
Your Name
Contact email
Phone (optional)
Description (you’re seeking a band, a band is seeking players, etc.)
Style of music
Age and experience level
Send all posting requests to info@bandworks.com.
PRIVACY POLICY
Your privacy is very important to us. BandWorks will not under any circumstances sell, share, or otherwise give your contact information to any other organization or service. When you sign up to receive the bi-monthly BandWorks Newsletter, you will not be subscribed to the BandWorks general mailing list. If you'd like to subscribe to the general mailing list for information about BandWorks programs, please email us at info@bandworks.com.