BandWorks Pro Bands to Perform at Mosswood Park in Oakland!

Posted on September 18, 2012 by bandworks

Enjoy the rest of the good weather with these two BandWorks Pro Groups! Hang out, listen to great tunes, and rock all afternoon with Pheonix Uprising and In the Moment and others at:
Mosswood Park, 3612 Webster Street, Oakland – 12-6pm – ALL AGES! FREE!

Hey BandWorks fans! Check out these videos from the June Student Concerts!

Posted on June 28, 2012 by bandworks

Here’s a sampling of a few rockin’ BandWorks April Workshop student bands from around the Bay Area. Their concerts were in early June. Union Jack and The Shadows hail from San Rafael, The Specked Eggs from San Jose, and The What from Oakland. Have fun, and we’ll have more for you soon! Click on the links to watch/hear their videos!

Union Jack - At Ashkenaz - June 2012

The What - At Ashkenaz - June 2012

The Shadows - At Ashkenaz - June 2012

The Speckled Eggs - At Musik Ink - June 2012

Union Jack performing “Woman”

The What performing “Somebody I Used to Know”

The Shadows performing a song “Substitute”

The Speckled Eggs performing “School’s Out”

Posted on May 31, 2012 by bandworks

Ever been to the Hotel Utah in San Francisco? If not, Friday June 1 will be a great night (for anyone over 21) to experience it for the first time since BandWorks co-Founders/Directors Steve Gibson and Jeremy Steinkoler will be playing there with the Kevin Beadles Band. And, if you know Hotel Utah, it’ll just be a great way to kick off your weekend! Steve and Jeremy start at 9pm, and 3 terrific other bands will follow, including the headliner, The Real Numbers. Sounds like a fun night out!

A Mother’s Day Piece

Posted on May 14, 2012 by bandworks

Bad Mommy! February 2012 Constellation

How many of us have taken so many BandWorks classes that we have countless notebooks with tunes we’ve done through the years? Countless sheets of music, almost as many notebooks … unless of course, we’ve turned them in and now all that’s left is the paper. In a pile. In a heap. Waiting, wanting to be sorted through, re-lived, the sound and feel of it nudging its way into memory.

Did I do that? Did we do that? Oh, yeah. How did we end that? Was so&so in the group that time?

Oh. This is what it feels like to be in a band. A group. People with shared memories. Like a family. We are the family of BandWorks.

Gigs Galore!

Aside

February has been such a busy month for BandWorks with new bands starting and summer camp registrations coming in, we didn’t get a chance to get our usual Newsletter out, but here are some gigs by BandWorks alums and staff you won’t want to miss!

Jeremy Steinkoler, BandWorks co-Founder/Director
    Mo’Fone – Unique Band – 2 Saxes, Drums & Friends!
          Thu, 2/16, 8:30-9:30 pm - Special mardi gras show with Mindy Carter at
George’s Nightclub - 842 - 4th Street, San Rafael, CA – 21+,$12 advance, $15
         Fri, 2/17, 6-9 pm - Casa Sanchez, 2778 24th St., SF – All ages, $5
Kevin Beadles Band – +BW co-Founder/Director, Steve Gibson
Sat, 2/25, 8 pm – Winestyles, 11-B Town Sq. Place, Vacaville, CA – 21+, $5

Steve Studebaker, Alum – Blind to Reason
Fri, 2/17, 9pm- La Barca 2036 Lombard St San Francisco

Andrew Harris, Alum – Dads’ LPs
Fri, 2/24 - Hotel Utah, 500 4th Street, San Francisco – 21+, $8

Naomi Kayima,Alum – Basic Beat
Thu, 3/1 – Hosts Open Mic – Cafe Yesterday, 1122 University Ave, Berkeley – Try out
your new tune! Sign up 7pm. Drum kit and PA provided, but that’s it. More info: call 510-917-9994

Parents’ Perspective Revisited – Andrew Harris’ Dad Adds Some Thoughts

Posted on January 19, 2012 by bandworks

Dad's LPs Band Members, from left to right: Chris Gene, Andrew Harris, Jay Seals, John Morales

When we ran our first -ever Parents’ Perspective on their son Andrew Harris’ musical development in our January Newsletter, we just couldn’t fit it all in! Andrew’s Dad, Larry, got back with us and added some more thoughts:

We hope this doesn’t embarrass Andrew, but his dad says, “Andrew started by carrying around a plastic guitar at Grateful Dead shows at Shoreline in the early 90′s. When he graduated to a real guitar, he played at Jefferson Elementary School’s Mayfair and Solano Stroll with his first band called Red World with his brother Jacob as the drummer. They wrote their own songs, too! Then he joined Bandworks. Andrew was so lucky to have been able to play with the musically talented kids in Bandworks. To this day that was a dream come true and was a major influence for him, and he is still best of friends with many of the kids he met in BW. He got to play with Mike Ruby (now with the band Treehouse), Ryan Thomas, Jason Reeder, and other excellent BW students.

“And of course playing guitar at Cazadero Performing Arts Family Camp during epic jams sessions with BW co-Director, Steve Gibson (who we can’t thank enough!) really gave Andrew a sense of confidence and belonging”

Larry adds, “When Andrew went off to college, he formed Blue Street Junction at Humboldt State which is a funk/blue jam band. Andrew wrote all their original songs and was the leader of the band. He created a great following in Arcata. Now that he is back living in the Bay Area, he’s joined Dad’s LPs.

Overall, Larry says, “Bandworks made him an incredible guitar player, taught him how to form and lead a band, write music and songs. He made friendships, and BW gave him an opportunity to be in a music community. Andrew now gives guitar lessons and is a mentor to his peers as a guitarist and rising star with his first CD out on the market with his current band, Dad’s LPs.”

Andrew’s major influences are: His parents (of course!), his Uncle David who plays in a band in Portland called The Wej, Steve Gibson, his BW student peers, music teachers in the Berkeley Unified School District, and our good friend, New Monsoon guitarist, Jeff Miller.

If you want to catch Andrew Harris’ stellar guitar work, go to his next San Francisco performance with Dad’s LPs at the Hotel Utah on Friday, Feb. 24,2012. The last one was tons of fun, and we know this one will be, too!

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