brms “battle of the bands” august 1st

Members of Unison at a 2008 Caterie Performance

Come see all 9 Young Bands perform at the Summer Slam “Battle of The Bands”!! In June, 40+ students of Baton Rouge Music Studios were divided into 9 bands. Through the Young Band Development Program’s initial summer camp (Garage Band 101), students were taught leadership and communication skills in order to work effectively in groups. They were then challenged to implement these skills for the next 7 weeks as they worked together in their groups to learn 2 cover songs and write one original song (through the guidance of BRMS instructors). As summer is wrapping up, the students will showcase the product of their efforts at The Manship Theatre Hartley Vey Workshop on August 1st. The showcase will take place in the form of a “Battle of the Bands” to create a competitive, but fun and educational environment. The winner of the BOB will get to record their original song at a professional studio and will receive 50 professionally replicated CDs complete with artwork. All runners up will receive a CD of their live performance. Come and support Baton Rouge’s musicians of tomorrow!

When: Saturday August 1st
Where: The Manship Hartley Vey Workshop (The Shaw Center for The Arts)
Time: 6pm-8pm
Cost: $10
Tickets available at www.manshiptheatre.org

flame shark’s “raw flowers” cd out July 21st

CD Cover Art By Erin Liljegren

In March 09, BRMS owner and director of programs, Doug Gay, recorded with Chicago-based band Flame Shark. Since the tracking work at Piety St. Studios in New Orleans, the band has worked feverishly on additional tracking, over-dubbing, mixing, and mastering between Chicago, IL, Madison, WI, and New Orleans, LA.
“Of all the sessions I’ve done over the years, this one was among my best experiences. Being a sideman and hired session musician makes the business side of things less complicated, but I miss recording with friends as an equal part of the creative product, a band that works and plays together all the time. In the 5 days I spent with the band, it felt like I was recording with ‘my band’ working together to produce something great, with equal say, and a shared vision. I look forward to working with them in August for some new material the band is recording soon after the marketing and promotional campaign for ‘Raw Flowers’ is underway. Their music is intelligent and meaningful, and the guys are great people.”

Flame Shark has so much material, they couldn’t even wait for the Raw Flowers release before setting up more sessions for another future release. Doug will be joining the band again in August for a 5 day rehearsal retreat in Wisconsin followed by a series of tracking sessions at Engine Studios in Chicago, IL. Check out Doug’s Video Blog Page (bottom of the “pages” list of links) to get a glimpse of the Raw Flowers adventure, and keep checking in for more blogs as Doug prepares for the August session work.

ready for an adventure?

Kindermusik - Starting June 15th, certified Kindermusik instructor Yannah Gustafson will take your little musicians on an adventure! Featuring classes “Creatures at the Ocean,” “Around the World,” and “On the Road.” Visit the Kindermusik website for more info or contact Yannah directly at 225.761.8438 memorylane@bellsouth.net!

music and leadership camp – FULL

REGISTRATION CLOSED! CAMP FULL!  Each summer, students can form new bands or stay in their spring semester bands. Summer slam kicks off with a week-long camp that teaches the students about leadership skills in addition to basic song writing and learning cover songs. After the camp, the bands continue to meet once a week to work on at least one original and two to three cover songs. Then, on August 1st… THE BATTLE OF THE BANDS!!! The winning band gets their original song recorded at a professional studio and recieves 50 professionally pressed CD’s complete with artwork and liner notes.  Email contact@brmusicstudios.com to sign up. Please see Terms & Policies for more info.

 

ALL SLOTS ARE FILLED FOR SUMMER SLAM!!!     SEE YOU IN THE FALL!!!!

young band at fest for all 2009

Come out to Fest For All on May 2nd and 3rd to see our 7 Young Bands perform the Music of The Beatles! The students have been working hard. Dancers from the Mid City Dance Project will be dancing to select songs. Fest For All is located at 3rd and North downtown. Click on the icon to learn more about Fest For All, and to learn how to potentially win a VESPA! The performance schedule for Young Band is as follows:

SATURDAY MAY 2ND
Life Silence, Amped, High Voltage, Unison, Steel – 12:30 – 2:30
Unison, Steel, Amped – 4pm-4:40pm

SUNDAY MAY 3RD
The No Names and The Time Travelers – 4:20-5pm

an evening of jazz

Back by popular demand, the Dunham band department presents “An Evening of Jazz” on Thursday, April 2 from 7pm – 9 pm in the gym.

The jazz showcase teams Dunham band students with professional musicians from the Baton Rouge area for an evening of contemporary and classic jazz favorites. Local jazz musician Michael Foster will serve as emcee with special guest artists including members of the Michael Foster Project, Ernest Jackson, Duane Huff, Jason Marchand, Chuck Brooks and Dunham’s own John Gray and Doug Gay! The event also features a silent auction featuring a golf package, music lessons, artwork, and more!

doug posting video blogs for upcoming session work with chicago-based band

Chicago based band Flame Shark is coming to Louisiana from Friday March 13th to Wednesday March 18th to record tracks for their upcoming CD Raw Flowers. As the band is currently in between drummers, lead singer Justin Janhke asked BRMS Owner Doug Gay to perform as session drummer on the CD.
 

 

 

I found this to be a perfect opportunity to show all of the students at Baton Rouge Music Studios one of the things I do professionally in the music business that they rarely, if ever, get to see. Students can always come to a gig in a public venue, but most of them have never even seen the inside of a professional recording studio, much less get to be a fly on the wall during real session work at a legendary studio such as Piety Street Studios who has recorded big bands like The Dixie Chicks, The Shins, and The Black Eyed Peas, not to mention just about every jazz legend the city of New Orleans has produced.

So, Doug decided to start a video blog page that will bring the students from preproduction to postproduction; from the process of working out parts through demo work and emailing, to rehearsing before the session once the band is in B.R., to the session work in N.O. and eventually a wrap up blog once the CD is finished and on the market. Scrub Brush Productions, a New Orleans based production company specializing in music videos, will be recording Doug and the band on the night of March 17th for a new music video. Check out the video blog and stop in time to time to be kept up to date throughout the process! Click here to check out Doug’s Video Blog!

In the News!

The LSU Daily Reveille has written an article about BRMS! Doug Gay, Josh Nee, and Jason Wilson were interviewed about how they became involved in the studio and their roles within the studio community. Check out the Reveille’s “Baton Rouge Music Studios Focuses on Structured Learning in Community Setting” article and accompanying video here!

Welcome Young Band 2009!

BRMS welcomes this semester’s Young Band Development Program Students! Appearing in the picture are about half of our student-base this semester. Be on the look out for upcoming shows in March and May! To click here to learn more about the YBDP and to learn about our Summer Slam camp called Garage Band 101 – Music and Leadership Camp. ROCK!

New Beginner Class Underway

Monday, Jan 5^th marked the first day of our beginner class. The class has currently has 11 students who play drums and guitar. The students are all learning the foundational elements of music together, and will have a performance in May to showcase what they have learned throughout the semester.

BRMS Programs Director Doug Gay explains why he implemented this beginner class format:

 

Not only can the foundations of music be taught to multiple students at the same time, but they are learned in environment that is more interesting and fun when multiple students are involved. We are not just teaching beginning theory and technique, we are forming relationships among the students; relationships that we hope will carry over into our Young Band Development Program when these students are ready to jump to the next level. And having the students play their instrument with other musicians on different instruments will make the transition to a band feel totally natural. My hope is that these students become friends and start inviting each other to jam at each other’s homes. By the time they’re ready to jump into Young Band, they’ll understand each other in a way that will allow the social aspect of Young Band to run smoother so we can focus on the music more than social conflict among the students, an issue we often face when putting different students together to function as a group.

This class is a MUST for all musicians age 7-12 who have little to no prior experience on guitar, bass, or drums. But don’t just take our word for it. Here are a couple of parent comments concerning the new group beginner class:

Danny liked his individual lessons and learned a great deal, but he LOVED the group.  I played an instrument throughout school but I learned some new things from your lesson and thoroughly enjoyed it. 
- Janet Norris, Grandmother of Danny Norris 

Anna loved the class & can’t wait for the next.
- Cheryl Lin, Mother of Anna Lin

[Dino] is really enjoying the lessons, and plans to come as often as possible.
– Albert Pellissier, Father of Dino Pellissier

There’s still time to join the class with very little catch up work, but hurry! You don’t want to start the class and be too behind! Contact BRMS to sign up today!

Border’s Bookstore Christmas Showcase

Our young muscians brought the Christmas spirit to Border’s Bookstore (behind The Mall of Louisiana in The Boulevard) on Sunday, December 14th at 4pm. Click on the pic to the right to see some pics of the performances.

BRMS Tshirts are HERE!

We’ve got the Rocker Kid and the BRMS Logo tshirts for sale now! Sizes are youth S, M, L and adult S, M, L. T-shirts are $18… You can inquire about the tshirts at the front desk. (P.S. They make great Christmas presents!)

A FANTASTIC EVENT!! YBDP STUDENTS SHOULD BE PROUD!

Those who missed the all ages show with 6 Pack Deep on Saturday night (12.20.2008) REALLY missed out! The young musicians BROUGHT IT! We want to thank 6 Pack Deep and The Caterie for making Saturday night happen – we all had a great time and it was amazing to see the young musicians performing to a packed house, with a live dancing crowd, professional sound and lights, and yes…even a fog machine!  We will be posting video soon so that everyone can see that these shows bring more than expected (click here for videos and here for pics). The young musicians work incredibly hard and their collective musical product rivals some professional bands in the area. Over 200 audience members came to support our students, and they all brought a positive energy that helped the students perform their best. We hope that every member of the BRMS family will get to see one of YBDP’s upcoming shows in hopes that it will inspire them to take lessons to the next level. Performing at this level with a group peers is something  that EVERY BRMS student should have a chance to do. This show was incredible for the students, the parents, the professional musicians, and all others who played a part in the event. Thanks to Ursin and the parents, and congratulations to the students!!!!

To our brms family…

Doug in Studio with Gill Landry

Doug is recording this weekend with Gill Landry in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The two are recording some of Gill’s original tunes as demos for some of his upcoming album work and for ideas that may end up on a possible future album. Check out Gill’s Debut Album, The Ballad of Lawless Soirez on Amazon.com! Gill is not only a solo recording artist, but is also currently on tour with the Old Crow Medicine Show (OCMS video, OCMS website, OCMS myspace).

BRMS Instructor Reaping Rewards from Hard Work!

BRMS Bass Guitar and Drum Set instructor Josh Nee just got off a North American tour with local band We Landed on The Moon AND his band Man Plus Building’s album “Because My Name Is Lion” was just honored as one of 225 Magazine’s Most Intriguing Albums of 2008! BRMS is incredibly blessed to have instructors like Josh who are working hard at living life as full time professional musicians and using their experience to teach our students. Thanks Josh for being you, and congratulations on all of your recent achievements!! Click Man Plus Building’s CD pic below to see them on 225’s website or check them out in the January 2009 issue.  Also, sign up for our newsletter in order to receive our next issue which will include an interview of Josh talking about his experiences while on his North American Tour with We Landed On The Moon. To hear music from Josh’s bands, learn more about their history, and check out local performance dates, visit www.myspace.com/manplusbuilding and www.myspace.com/welandedonthemoon. Man Plus Building CDs are on sale at the studio. Want to learn more about Josh’s experience? Check out BRMS’s new feature “Sweet 16: Q&A” here.