It’s tough enough for adult local musicians to find venues to play in
this valley, and for teenagers, that hunt is even harder. The schools
have (shrinking) music programs, and fairs, jam nights and even finding
an empty shed in which to practice are few and far between.

That’s why Battle of the Bands organizers Dan “Pastor Mustard” Sadowsky
and Chris “Biff” Phillips are hosting their 10th annual version of the
event to make sure funds from the six-hour music smorgasbord go back
into the schools to subsidize what this duo calls “anemic music
education.”

“We’re putting talent from the Roaring Fork Valley on stage and saying
to the world, look at this energetic, rockin’ youth we have,” says
Sadowsky. “We want good music in the schools.”

After just returning from New Orleans — a city that’s fabric is
stitched with syncopated notes and groove-hewn threads — Sadowsky says
that musical history is dependent on tradition and pride: two
characteristics that come from an involved and supportive community.

“There are legendary dudes going into the schools to play with young
kids,” he says, and “the community IDs with that. ... It’s a
long-standing tradition.”

As national education funding is slashed, music and art classes are the
first to take the hit. While numerous studies show that a diversity in
learning, i.e. arts education, means students are likely to perform
better in their core subjects and be more involved with their
communities, it’s an area that continues to downward spiral and
students must look to unconventional resources as an outlet.

In this valley, although many of the schools are fortunate to have at
least a music teacher, loud, experimental,
play-in-the-garage-so-the-parents-don’t-get-pissed bands are still,
playing in the garage.

Battle of the Bands is a chance for these musicians to come out from the basement.

In its fledgling days, it was a place for more traditional
trombone-and-marching-type school bands to strut their stuff, but it’s
shifting to embrace, and perhaps become, a garage-band-only event, says
Phillips. But, the intention will still be to support in-school music
education.

Aspen High School junior Dominic Franklin, and his band Common House,
tied for first place in last year’s BOB. Their group — which is named
after the Hunter Creek Longhouse location in which they practice —
actually has the opportunity to play festivals like Carbondale’s
Mountain Fair and occassional sessions at Steve’s Guitars.

“Every time you play live, you learn a little something about making
the show better,” he says. “Battle of the Bands is cool because you get
to watch everybody from the other schools.”

Since fifth grade, he’s been in school music programs and
extracurricularly taken drum lessons. But, a lot of that learning comes
from practice; something he and his band do almost every day in the
Hunter Creek common house.

“Usually it’s just jam sessions, and we’ll play a song we’ve been
itching to play all day,” says Franklin. “We practice there every day
we can.”

And although BOB has been a Roaring Fork-only event in the past, this
time around invitations have been extended to those in outlying areas.
Steve Ivey, a director for the music program at the Logan School in
Denver, is bringing his school group, Paper Jam, up this weekend. He
started the experimental music class three years ago, and it’s since
grown.

“That’s the whole point,” he says. “It’s some sort of accessible way of
getting kids interested in playing at the schools because it’s not a
big part of it ( the curriculum) anywhere.”

Because they same students have been playing together for three years, he says the crowd could be “surprised.”

“They’re still a kid band, but they can play,” he says. “They enjoy it ... and they are learning a lot about working together.”

With only 12 minutes on stage, a trip from the Front Range to the High
Country is a trek for middle-schoolers, but well worth the experience.
And for the majority of musicians who are hailing from this valley,
even their dozen minutes up in front is a highlight.

Twelve minutes is all the event can afford, with more than 30 bands
sandwiched into six hours of live music. Ranging across the board from
jazzy and laid-back to trash-your-purple-mohawk-around metal, the music
is all over the place.

But, what it does have in common is a chance for student musicians to
take the stage, in hopes that the occasion will become a norm.

christine@aspendailynews.com [1]