Rock & Roll After School

Opening June 15 in Phoenixville, PA

Rock & Roll After School is Area’s Newest and Most Innovative Music School for Kids

State-of-the-art school will open on June 15 in Phoenixville
PHOENIXVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA – MAY 14, 2009 – Rock & Roll After School, the innovative new music school where kids ages 8 to 18 can learn to play, perform and create their own music, will open on Monday, June 15 at 400 Franklin Avenue in Phoenixville, PA.

Unlike traditional music schools or lessons, Rock & Roll After School functions as combination music school and after-school community center - where kids interact as they explore their musical pursuits, and where they learn to write and play their own music.

In addition to instruction in guitar, bass, keyboards and drums by such accomplished and recognized musicians as Music Director/Instructor Michael O’Brien (Jealousy Curve), John Lilley (The Hooters) and John Faye (IKE, The Caulfields), Rock & Roll After School also features instruction in DJ techniques and voice. Students are taught music theory and musicianship, as well as songwriting and performance, and perform their original works alongside other selections during concerts held throughout the year. Master classes, workshops and special events are designed to enhance each student’s experience and musical endeavors, and to encompass all popular music genres.

Rock & Roll After School’s brand new, state-of-the art, 5,850-square foot facility features 8 private lesson rooms, a “quiet room” for homework study, a group “hangout room,” and a 4,000-square foot, 300-person capacity performance venue complete with professional staging, 24-channel sound board, and lighting. Expansive, colorful, custom wall murals highlight the school’s open and inviting spaces.

To provide the most professional instruments and equipment, Rock & Roll After School President Erin Riley has secured sponsorships from companies including Bugera amps, D'Addario strings, DW drums, Gallien-Krueger bass amps, Hercules, KORG, Rhythm Tech, Sabian cymbals, Seymour Duncan, Toca Percussion, Ultrasone headphones and Vater drumsticks.

Riley brings more than 30 years’ experience in radio, music and entertainment to Rock and Roll After School (www.rockandrollafterschool.com), which she was inspired to create following her teenage son’s positive experiences in learning piano and guitar. “I’ve seen how learning to play, perform and create music is so enormously empowering for kids,” said Riley, whose goal in establishing Rock & Roll After School is to pass on her love of music in a fun, safe environment that encourages the future rockers of America. “At Rock & Roll After School, they’re learning in a professional, stimulating setting, and are communicating with each other in person, not on the Internet,” she added.

Rock & Roll After School is located at 400 Franklin Avenue (in Franklin Commons), Phoenixville, Pennsylvania 19460 and is convenient to major routes including the PA Turnpike, I-76, and routes 422, 29, 202, 23 and 113, as well as SEPTA bus and R5 rail service. The hours are 3-8 pm Monday through Friday, and 11am-4pm Saturday. The phone number is 610.983.4650. Rock & Roll After School is not affiliated with any other music school. Complete registration information, photos and more can be found at www.rockandrollafterschool.com.

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About Erin Riley, President, Rock & Roll After School:

Erin Riley began as a disc jockey at the legendary KROQ/Los Angeles before becoming music director for WMMR/Philadelphia, for which she was recognized with Gavin Report’s “Music Director of the Year” award three times, and Billboard’s “Music Director of the Year” award. As executive director of the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS, the organization that produces the GRAMMY Awards), Riley increased membership by more than 300% and maintained a 98% annual retention rate, making it one of the most successful chapters in the GRAMMY family. Riley also produced and hosted Xtra Local on WXPN/ Philadelphia, showcasing independent music, and produced the station’s highly successful Singer-Songwriter Weekend music festivals on the Delaware River waterfront. She has also worked extensively in concert, theatre and special event production and marketing for commercial as well as non-profit concerns. More information about Erin can be found at http://erinriley.com.

Photos, media tours and interviews are available upon request. Please contact:

Elise Brown, Drummer PR
elise@drummerpr.com
215.990.6955 or 609.890.8487


Listen / Download:
AC/DC - Let There Be Rock

Long Live the Queen

Queen in the 1980's

My brother recently sent the following email.

OK. What gives? I have and enjoy Queen up to and including Jazz and then they fall off my radar. Let's say you're walking down the street and some guy comes up to, points a gun at your eye and says, "What are your favorite tunes off The Game, Flash Gordon, Hot Space and The Works?" What do you say?

My answer:

Oh, that's easy...

Every song on The Game is really good. The big hits were "Another Bites the Dust," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." Sequentially, The Game is perfect. Every song is perfectly placed. I recommend listening to it in its entirety. The Game is last great Queen album.

"Put out the Fire" from Hot Space. Actually, it was more like Hot Shit. I thought Hot Space was trying too hard to sound like "Another Bites the Dust". This song is the only song that sounded like a true Queen tune. The Queen / Bowie classic, "Under Pressure," came from those sessions too.

I always enjoyed "Flash" as a song.

The Works was spotty but it did contain "Radio GaGa," "I Want to Break Free," and the fantastic "Hammer to Fall."

A Little Magic contained "One Vision."

1989's The Miracle contained "I Want it All" and 1991's Innuendo had the awesome "Headlong." Both songs feature some great guitar work and post-AIDS Freddie does a great job with the vocals.

You also might want to check out a tune from Roger Taylor's Fun In Space called "Airheads."

I had so much fun answering the question that I sent it to other Queen fans.

Bob Andreano's answer:

I say, Sir, download the following songs:

1) ALL of The Game

from Hot Space:
2) Staying Power
3) Back Chat
4) Body Language (yes, I think it's worth it)
5) Under Pressure

from The Works:
6) Radio Ga Ga *
7) Hammer To Fall +
8) Is This the World We Created

from A Kind Of Magic:
9) One Vision (7" or 12" version)

ESSENTIAL B-SIDES (!):
10) A Human Body
11) Soul Brother
12) I Go Crazy (12" or 7" version - both as sick)

alternate B-side:
13) Blurred Vision (One Vision instrumental remix)

from Roger Taylor's Fun In Space LP:
14) Beautiful Dreams

* alternate version:
the Live Aid performance

+ alternate versions:
a) the Live Aid performance
b) 12" promo only "Head Bangers Mix"

Erin Riley's answer:

Impossible to choose between individual Queen songs.

In order of my favorite LP's:

1. The Game
2. The Works
3. Flash Gordon - Hot Space tied for last

Beth Mann's answer:

I think I’d first have say, “What kind of strange ass mugger are you?”

Then I’d say:

The Game – "Play the Game" (one of my fave intros, a few of my fave lines “When you’re feeling down and your resistance is low, light another cigarette and let yourself go” and just love the sentiment of it.)

Flash Gordon – Damn, that’s tough. There’s a pretty little instrumental piece I remember in it. I think its called The Kiss? I don’t know if I’d even like it now. The theme song, I suppose, for kitsch value. It’s pretty theme songy – dramatic and superhero written all over it.

The Works – I Want to Break Free...I guess.

Hot Space – I know, its a easy choice, but "Under Pressure." I still can enjoy that song, after all of these years. And not too many songs exemplify today’s world, today’s pressures, like that one...at least to me.

I don’t know. I might have to take the bullet.

How would you answer my brother's question?