My beautiful friend Jeannie is a fireball of energy, passion, creativity, and enthusiasm.
When she pitched the idea to offer a class through our homeschool co-op
to give musically talented students an opportunity to showcase their talents in a concert,
it didn't occur to me to think it couldn't be done.
Confidently motivated by my personal lack of experience
with garage bands, public relations, promotions and concerts ...
and even more so by my confidence
that our co-op is FULL of incredibly gifted students, I signed on right away.
We auditioned several students, and some opted out for various reasons
- much to my disappointment - such awesome kids!
We finally settled in with two guitarists, a bassplayer/keyboardist, a drummer and a singer/keyboardist:
Justin's technical ability and lightening fast guitar riffs are flawless.
Nathan's eclectic guitar style offers a little something for guitar lovers of all genres.
Aavery's bassline keeps the guitar and drum worlds in rhythm and his keyboard flows richly.
Zach's drumline is high energy.
Kate's soulful voice and poignant original music put her in a class
with names so big, you wouldn't believe me if I told you.
We embarked on the concert project with weekly band practices,
meanwhile dodging scheduling conflicts with the concert date
in the likes of musical auditions, basketball tournaments, venue bookings and graduation ceremonies.
The first few practices were creatively chaotic.
We asked the kids to pull together four or five songs they already knew well
that they thought would work for the concert as solo performances,
and we also asked them to come up with a list of four or five suggestions for songs on which to collaborate.
It wasn't our objective to teach the kids to play -
just to give them an opportunity to put on a concert and show their stuff.
Narrowing things down and making song selections was a challenge.
Getting the timing and sound and order of songs lined out was complicated.
Fusing the opinions of five very talented musicians required tactical oversight.
Meshing five busy family schedules and additional band practices was tricky.
I kept thinking, "these are cooperative, teachable, reasonable young people, and we're just working on one show. How in the world do crazy rock and roll bands pull it together for world tours?"
Like everything else in this life, it's not nearly as easy as you would think.
But for an event where five awesomely talented, exceptional young people have opportunity to shine?
Definitely worth it.
That's not all this concert is about, though;
the proceeds will go to our co-op's Benevolence Fund.
In my experience, homeschool families are typically an independent bunch.
Certainly it takes independence to craft together an in-home educational experience
that serves the student well.
In my 15+ years of homeschooling, almost without exception
I've encountered the most humble, servant-hearted, generous people within the homeschool community.
The kind of people who stop class to offer tenderhearted prayer for a little girl's dog that died,
even though it died three years ago but she's still sad.
The kind of people who spend a weekend building mini replicas for their class of boys studying history.
The kind of people who treat your children like their own.
And the kind of people who,
even when facing down some of the scariest of life's scenarios,
have not the slightest desire to call attention to themselves.
So we'll let the kids take the spotlight on Friday night.
Crazy talent.
Amazing gifts.
Exciting ability.
All applied toward a cause that's beyond worthy of a little night music on a summer Friday night.
Want to come to this concert?
If you love live music, you should, please do!
Friday, June 6, 2014 at 8:00pm
(doors open at 7:30)
6633 Virginia Parkway, Suite 102
Tickets $10 at the door, or purchase online here:
I remember all the effort and struggles through the unknowns ... you were a true hero! Kudos!
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