Ellis Kell, Terry Hanson, and six other local musicians performed at the River Music Experience in Davenport to benefit Rock Island's Thurgood Marshall school, raising funds to bring musicians and artists to students who lack creative outlets. Thurgood Marshall has students who have had family, behavioral, or truancy issues.
Teacher Linda Golden said exposing students to local artists does wonders for the students, many of whom have had a rocky start but are committed to turning their lives around. "That is an incredibly good way to fight truancy," she said. "Anything that helps students graduate helps our community." (Nicole Lauer, QC Dispatch-Argus, Nov 7)
When you go to a concert that has a spectacular pyrotechnic display, complete with lights and lasers, that take a crew 15 hours to set up, what are you expecting to hear? What about when the guitarists come in with long hair and you see famous musicians like Aerosmith and Joan Jett joining them on stage? Are you expecting to hear classical music? Probably not, but that is just what you will get with The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. (Listen to some selections below.)
Come one, come all to The Mill in Iowa City for the Weekend Warrior concert THIS Sunday, October 18th at 7:00PM!!
Weekend Warrior concerts have grown so large over the last few years we can expect 100-200 in the audience. It has become a major event and is ridiculously fun! Come out and support live music and West Music! The food at The Mill is great, the bands have a great variety of music. Here’s a rundown of the groups you will see Sunday night:
West Music Cedar Falls is proud to present three brand new Weekend Warrior Bands. Performing live:
Jameson's Public House in Waterloo.
Phone: 319-233-0701
310 East 4th Street Waterloo, IA www.jamesonspublichouse.com/
Weekend Warriors is a program at West Music that brings musicians together to form bands under the direction of a coach. It's a great way for beginning musicians or those returning to music to get the chance to play in a band.
We will start the evening with a special performance from "The Sleepy Bones Allison Trio," whose lead guitar player, Paul, is 6 years old and will be performing a selection of blues songs on guitar.
Coach Nathan Dalziel will start the show with his band The Headliners a jazz group of young musicians from ages of 8 to 14. Members of the band include Angelle Waltz on vocals, Robbie Young on keyboard, Alex Roelfsema on saxophone, Emily Bingham on trombone, Julie Doyle on bass guitar, and A'Daris Washington on drums. Expect a foot-tapping good time from this group!
Extra Credit Project is a band of former Weekend Warriors who have been gigging regularly since their time with West Music. You can find out more about Extra Credit Project at their Facebook Fan Page, and more about becoming a Weekend Warrior yourself at Weekend Warriors.
This is the band Chicago with their song "Beginnings."
In 1967, Chicago musicians Walter Parazaider, Terry Kath, Danny Seraphine, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, Robert Lamm, and Peter Cetera formed a group with one dream: to integrate all the musical diversity from their beloved city and weave a new sound, a rock 'n' roll band with horns. Their dream turned into 20 Top Ten singles, 12 Top Ten albums (five of which were #1), and sales of more than 120 million records.
Sometimes, you just can’t fight Mother Nature! This was the case this past weekend at the Weststock summer event in Moline.
The day began with clouds and sprinkles. As I made my way from Coralville to Moline, the rain got heavier and the wind got stronger. By the time I reached my destination, the rain had slowed, but not stopped. The staff at the Moline West Music was ready to get the show on the road, but the weather had other ideas. We kept checking the radar, and it looked like we might not be able to pull it off.
Weekend Warriors is a program that was originated in Sacramento, California in 1993 by Skips Music, and was then adapted by NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants). It's a program designed with Baby Boomer age musicians in mind who used to be in bands in high school and college and want to form a band again and perform in front of an audience.
Since that time, the program has evolved into quite a large event with people of all ages--from preteens to senior citizens--coming together to form bands and perform at local venues.
Our first “Weststock” Music Festival was held this past Saturday (June 27th) in our Marion location parking lot. What a day!! 9 Bands, Great Music, Awesome weather, good food..what more could you ask for. The Spirit of Rock and Roll is alive and well in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with a new generation of players ready to do it “their way” with some still paying homage past artists and keeping music from acts like “The Who”, “Led Zeppelin” and “Mountain” alive for their counterparts to rock out to.
I get excited about events like this!! I felt privileged to listen to these young people. The youngest player we had was a 10 year old drummer…rocking out to “What I Like About You” by The Romantics. Then we had a group from Xavier High School blow us away with “Mississippi Queen” by Mountain and Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”. A couple of bands entertained us with their original songs, all put forth to us in a most professional manner…It could not have been any better.
Whether it was a Metal Band or Christian Rock Band, they were all empowered Saturday to perform for an actual audience. There is no competition at “Weststock”…no “Battle of the Bands”, just a day of music and fun…fellowship, if you will.
West Music Staff Blogs 
Ellis Kell, Terry Hanson, and six other local musicians performed at the River Music Experience in Davenport to benefit Rock Island's Thurgood Marshall school, raising funds to bring musicians and artists to students who lack creative outlets. Thurgood Marshall has students who have had family, behavioral, or truancy issues. 
Come one, come all to The Mill in Iowa City for the Weekend Warrior concert THIS Sunday, October 18th at 7:00PM!! 
West Music Cedar Falls is proud to present three brand new Weekend Warrior Bands. Performing live:
Coach Nathan Dalziel will start the show with his band The Headliners a jazz group of young musicians from ages of 8 to 14. Members of the band include Angelle Waltz on vocals, Robbie Young on keyboard, Alex Roelfsema on saxophone, Emily Bingham on trombone, Julie Doyle on bass guitar, and A'Daris Washington on drums. Expect a foot-tapping good time from this group!
Our first “Weststock” Music Festival was held this past Saturday (June 27th) in our Marion location parking lot. What a day!! 9 Bands, Great Music, Awesome weather, good food..what more could you ask for. The Spirit of Rock and Roll is alive and well in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with a new generation of players ready to do it “their way” with some still paying homage past artists and keeping music from acts like “The Who”, “Led Zeppelin” and “Mountain” alive for their counterparts to rock out to.