LoudounExtra.com
Elementary School Bands Rock the Stage at 9:30 Club
By Charity Corkey
Originally published at 11:26 a.m., May 18, 2009
Updated at 4:14 p.m., May 18, 2009
Amid dark lights and a screaming crowd, a band marched up the steps of the 9:30 Club stage, eager to enter the spotlight. But it wasn’t Radiohead, the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Bob Dylan. It was GLAM - three Loudoun County 8- year-olds ready to rock in sparkles.
The GLAM girls were just several of countless tweens Saturday and Sunday vying for the stage during Bach to Rock’s Battle of the Bands. A music school in the greater Washington region - with an emphasis on band formation and positive peer reinforcement – Bach to Rock holds Battle of the Band competitions as a final examination for students in the B2R Jam Band program.
“At B2R, music lessons are fun” said Jeff Levy, president and founder of the school. “The students are playing music they know … and they play it together. I think of Bach to Rock as the little league of music.”
Saturday afternoon at the 9:30 Club featured B2R’s elementary school division, including bands from Northern Virginia and Maryland.
Representing Loudoun were GLAM, MANEA, Four Foot Seven and MagNeTite.
MANEA, one of the bands from South Riding’s B2R program, performed “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and “Simple Man.” The band’s name, according to its drummer Adam Jones, is a combination of all of the members’ initials.
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Loudoun Children Rock Out in Battle of the Bands
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Elementary school band Four Foot Seven from South Riding performs May 16 at the 9:30 Club during Bach to Rock's Battle of the Bands. Pictured here are Jacob Bowman on drums, Berkley Scoggin on vocals, Aaron Grossman on bass and Justin Fribush on guitar. (Photo courtesy of Tracy Bowman)
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From left, Gigi Batsakis, Lauren “Chewy” King and Macy Freeman, members of the Loudoun County pop band GLAM, pose for photos after their May 16 performance at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. (Charity Corkey)
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Gigi Batsakis, on vocals, performs with her Loudoun County pop band GLAM at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., on May 16. Behind her, band member Lauren “Chewy” King performs on the drums. (Charity Corkey)
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Macy Freeman, 8, of South Riding, performs at the 9:30 club in Washington, D.C., with her band GLAM during the Bach to Rock's Battle of the Bands on May 16. (Charity Corkey)
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A third-grader at Little River Elementary, Jones picked up drumming lessons last September for a simple reason: “I like to hit stuff.”
Now, after playing in a band, he aspires to be a professional rock band drummer when he grows up.
“It was perfect,” he said of Saturday’s performance.
The GLAM girls - Macy Freeman, Lauren “Chewy” King, and Gigi Batsakis - also appeared confident with their onstage debut.
“It was cool,” said the group’s keyboardist, Freeman, who attends the third grade at Hutchison Farms Elementary and plans to play again next year.
Performing the Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat,” the girl’s got a little help on the electric guitar from “GLAM boy” – better known as their B2R music specialist Erik Nickerson.
“I’m amazed at how quickly they’re picking up songs,” said Nickerson, who coaches GLAM and a band from McLean.
In addition to teaching music lessons, B2R specialists create arrangements for bands appropriate to their ability levels, as well as coordinate outfits for performances and talk with the students about stage presence.
Following each performance at the club, the bands received brief comments from a panel of three judges, who point out their strengths and weaknesses. The winning band of each division will receive a plaque and the opportunity to record original material in B2R’s recording studios.
The middle school division on Sunday also featured five Loudoun County bands: Prodigy Child, Mixed Minorities, Publik Unrest, Off the Wall and Danger Prone.
UPDATE: None of the Loudoun bands made it into the top three for their age category.
On June 6, one Loudoun County high school band will compete in B2R’s high school division at the 9:30 Club. For more information on B2R’s Battle of the Bands, visit the Web site.
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