Pladd Dot Music's The School of Rock and Roll band is ready for a new year of performances at community events and your favorite restaurants.
According to Mary Hannah Samples, Music Education Coordinator and Director of the School of Rock and Roll, the band is a small division within the main School of Music program at Pladd Dot.
The band, made up of local youth, frequently plays gigs at Eagle Creek Brewing Company and Nonna Picci, as well as at community events. They've even started an alumni association for past members to meet the new members at an annual event and perform together.
Pladd Dot owner, Chris Mitchell, has helped the children of Statesboro develop their talent and love for music for many years, even well before Pladd Dot opened. He taught private lessons for a long time, and Samples was one of his guitar students. He was also her chorus teacher at Southeast Bulloch High School.
Mitchell eventually founded Pladd Dot Music and started a program called Rock Band in 2003.
The School of Rock and Roll started later, in 2009, to give kids a chance to learn from one another and develop leadership, team work, stage presence, confidence, and more. Any Pladd Dot student can audition for the band.
"If we have a student who is doing really well on their instrument and they've played a couple of recitals and that's gone well, they're usually hungry for more."
Mary Hannah Samples
Pladd Dot Music is located at 38 North Main Street. They offer lessons in guitar, bass, drums, piano, voice, and music composition. They instruct more than 175 students weekly, making them the largest independent music school in Statesboro.
Currently, the School of Rock and Roll program has students ages nine to 18 years old. These students take 30 minute one-on-one weekly lessons with their instructors and have 1-hour band rehearsals in the evenings twice a month. Their next performance will be at GreenFest in February, and in April, they'll play at Relay for Life.
For more information on upcoming School of Rock and Roll performances, follow them on Facebook.
