Concerts fund music education, equipment

4/21/13

Written by:
Diana Wing
Guest Columnist

If your last concert experience hit a sour note — people munching, spilling their drinks and talking throughout the show — you may want to try a more intimate venue. Each month, LIVE The Music Foundation presents an evening of music in which an audience of less than 40 people can connect with the musicians in a candle-lit setting within The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music in Royal Oak.

“It’s fully produced. We have a full lighting rig and a PA system. You’d feel like you’re at a gigantic concert, but you get to shake hands with the person and chat about their music on the break. It’s almost like you have your own nightclub for the evening,” said Jason Gittinger, executive director of LIVE the Music Foundation and executive producer of The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music.

“Our live concert series is a great way for people to get together, connect with an artist and the music,” he said. “They are there to see that artist and hear their music in a way that you would with a symphony orchestra or an opera, only with contemporary music.”

As a LIVE The Music Foundation project, the concert series raises funds for equipment-related needs and music education scholarships at the school.

“There is a need all the time for people who can’t be here and need to be here, (like) the teenage girl who’s cutting herself and this is the highlight of her life but her parents have nothing. Up until the last year, there hasn’t been a vehicle to accept things to help people in that situation,” Gittinger said.

Foundation launch

In February of last year, Gittinger launched LIVE The Music Foundation with a special concert at the Magic Bag in Ferndale. Kevin Rushton, one of the first adult students at The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music, told Gittinger in November 2011 that he had a terminal illness, but he wanted to get back to playing in a band again. Gittinger created the concert experience so that Rushton, a bass player, would be able to play all of the songs he ever wanted to play with the school’s faculty group.

“It touched an amazing amount of people and generated enough money to buy a PA system for the Foundation,” said Gittinger, who noted that the nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization advocates for live music experiences to enhance people’s lives.

“I want music to be that positive, uplifting thing that keeps people from doing stupid things like alcohol and drugs,” he said. “Music propels people to come together in community with each other… An iPod is much cheaper, but live music brings people together in ways that an iPod cannot.”

Acoustic musicians JB Davies and Paul Gaughan perform at this month’s LIVE at The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music series, 8 p.m. Friday, April 26. Davies plays steel string guitar using a finger-style (no picks) technique. Gaughan, a singer-songwriter, draws inspiration from artists such as Neil Young, Paul Simon, Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt. His songs represent a variety of styles including folk, rock and country. The artists will perform some of Gaughan’s original material that evening.

Tickets for the event are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. For tickets, visit www.LiveTheMusicFoundation.org. The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music is located at 1109 S. Washington Ave. Gittinger, who quit his regular gig as drummer for the Mega 80′s, is chairing the Royal Oak Commission for the Arts and has spent countless volunteer hours gathering support and organizing a six-event, Thursday evening outdoor summer concert series for families, singles, seniors and professionals on the lawn of the library in Royal Oak. Not yet announced, the “hip” family-friendly acts were envisioned as highlighting the diversity and cultural roots of the community. Warm weather, the library lawn and live music — sounds great!

Dad Jason Gittinger, Founder of The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music

He’s a drummer, father and the dude behind a cool, community-focused music movement in southeast Michigan that’s all about dreams and family

Jason Gittinger has, quite possibly, the coolest job ever. The dad of Jazzy, 6, and Sammy, 4, founded and runs The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music.

Yep, that’s right – a bona fide school of rock. Set aside ideas of a slacker Jack Black type like in the movie, though: Gittinger’s driven by a sense of mission to help people realize their rock star dreams and more, both onstage and off.

“Our goal is, one, uniting people around music,” Gittinger says, “and two, we give people greater life skills by them doing something they didn’t think was possible: playing in a room by themselves.”

Jason Gittinger

Walk into the DSRP, as it’s known, in Royal Oak and it feels like you’ve stumbled into a warm, welcoming – and sometimes very loud – clubhouse. In one room you might find a nationally known jazz band rehearsing; in another, a kid barely old enough to see over the drum kit taking a lesson; next door, a group of middle-aged adults realizing their longtime rock ‘n’ roll dreams by forming a band.

It even houses a “shrine to my 2-year-old self,” as Gittinger quips, complete with a Muppet-looking “Puppet Jason” (aka PJ) and a pint-sized, sparkly, pale blue vest and bowtie, in a frame. He indeed wore it as a tyke while playing the drums – which you can see in the photos right below it.

“When a parent asks, ‘What’s your musical background?’” he says, “I point and say, ‘I’ve been playing a loooong time!”

Lots of small fries definitely rock out here. There are private lessons, but the adult band programs set DSRP apart. Gittinger and his crack staff set up aspiring musicians with other players to form a band – a more viable alternative to putting an ad in the local entertainment weekly or tacking up fliers at music stores. Most are older and have families, so the “random coincidence” method doesn’t work as well.

And, as a longtime musician, Gittinger has a good read on musical chemistry and plays matchmaker accordingly.

Influences range from Pat Benetar to Green Day and a lot of originals. A few times a year, the DSRP bands perform publicly; student bands are all over the metro area at local festivals and on local TV, too.

“I wanted to surround myself with people that care as much as I do,” Gittinger says. “If that means they’re 7 years old, that’s awesome – if they are 70 and just starting out, that’s also awesome. We’re looking to grow their knowledge base as well as foster an unquenchable thirst and curiosity for everything – not just music.”

Gittinger launched the DSRP five years ago, in March of 2008. After years as a professional drummer – including a just-concluded 10-year stint behind the kit for the wildly popular1980s cover band The Mega 80′s – and as a new dad, he was looking for the next phase in his career. He and wife Sherry, who he met when they both had summer gigs at Cedar Point (she was a singer/dancer), created DSRP in a former bike shop and had a good base of students right away.

“I knew I can’t do (drumming) forever, but I do not have any marketable skills I could use to get a real job,” he says with a laugh – although, as it turns out, he’s become an accomplished jack-of-all-trades at the school.

Jazzy was a toddler at the time and Sammy was on the way. Both parents have structured their lives in such a way that the girls are always there, doing homework, taking lessons or charming visitors. “They have lots of friends here,” he says. “A lot of the parents have known them since they were babies; since our staff are mentor figures to their kids, the parents are the same to my kids, too. They have a lot of aunts and uncles here.”

Every Thursday, he has “Jazzy, Sammy and Daddy Day.” Sherry goes into the office and gets uninterrupted work done while he takes the girls out for fun. They go everywhere from monster truck rallies to the play area at Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills.

Jason’s Faves

It’s not much different from how Gittinger grew up. Both his parents were musicians: Mom taught music at the local school, and dad tuned pianos, fixed organs and more. Both played in a wedding band and the local community band, too.

“They didn’t make a ton of money, but we had music and we had each other – and, dare I say, we’re in the same boat at the moment.”

Starting DSRP during the worst economy since the Great Depression might have seemed risky. But they felt the time was right for a place that was trying to do what they’re now accomplishing. There’s a “yearning for a sense of community,” Gittinger says. “This place is sort of a refuge for people, in music terms, like another place might be in religious terms.”

His latest project is the Live the Music Foundation. It’s a nonprofit that provides tuition help, and sometimes equipment, to students who have shown a real commitment to improving as musicians but can’t afford it. Starting it has been Gittinger’s plan from the get-go, but it took a special connection to one student to get it off the ground.

Kevin Rushton was one of DSRP’s first adult students. Last year, he stopped to Gittinger’s office and told him he had cancer – and a few months to live. In his honor, the faculty put on a “bucket list” concert, which drew people from all over the world to see Kevin’s band play. It raised the money to start the foundation. And it showed the sense of community among musicians, Gittinger says.

“It’s giving people the ability to step outside their comfort zone,” he says. “In a band, you learn that ‘I give a little bit of myself to these people and they’ll give some of themselves to me, and what we can create collectively is going to be so much better.’”

CARS AND MUSIC: How auto show music comes together.

Join us as we look into what goes on behind the scenes at a big auto show event. Paul Guzzone, in Detroit as a music composer/producer for General Motors’auto show events, will be on hand to give us insight into how Detroit’s largest event comes together. Hear how the music comes to fruition from simple discussion to fully produced event with all of the international press watching!

PAUL GUZZONE:

As one of the most respected composer-producers in the events field Paul Guzzone has created everything from award-winning sound designs for Chevrolet to large-scale spectacles inspired by exotic locales for IBM. His music has been heard at the Big Apple Circus; at the 1998 Nagano Olympics; on Showtime, Comedy Central and CNN International; and in spots for Trident, Dannon and numerous other products. He has worked with musicians in Dubai, the Bahamas, Hawaii, and Japan, and for several years he has music directed the opening of the Lotusphere international tech conference, now known as IBM Connect. Companies that Paul has produced music events for: IBM, IBM Lotus, Xerox, TV Land / Nick at Nite, Random House Audio Books, Follett Corporation, UBS Financial, SAP, Doosan, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, Detroit Institute of Arts . . . and many more!

WHEN:

THURSDAY JANUARY 10th 5:00pm

WHERE:
The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music
1109 South Washington
Royal Oak, Michigan 48067
ADMISSION:  FREE

In 2003, the movie The School of Rock was a hit with music and movie lovers everywhere. But Jack Black and the theatrical fusion of school and rock ‘n’ roll have nothing on what Jason Gittinger and his Detroit School of Rock and Pop are doing today in real life.

Raised in a family of musicians, Gittinger was introduced to the drums at age 2. Not surprisingly, he learned as a young man how music instruction can dramatically broaden one’s capacity for learning and self-confidence.

“Obviously there was a movie that inspired people to do this type of thing,” Gittinger says of his music school. “But my goal has always been to connect as many people as possible to the one thing that helped me the most as a kid. And that is learning to play a musical instrument.”

To that end, the Detroit School of Rock and Pop has been cultivating a productive musical environment for kids and adults across the community of Royal Oak, Michigan since the school was founded in 2008.

“It’s not so much about the music in particular,” Gittinger explains, “it’s about learning the process of paying attention to details.”

These days, The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music plays home to concerts, provides music lessons, and even holds art exhibits featuring the work of renowned local and national artists. As a result, Gittinger and his organization continue to make dreams come true for the school’s 100 students — half of whom are children.

Unfortunately, keeping the school’s recording studio as fresh and invigorated as the student body itself requires some expensive upkeep from time to time. That’s why Gittinger recently brought a dream of his own to Intuit’s Small Business Big Wishes campaign.

“On Monday evenings,” the school founder wrote in his wish entry, “we offer the opportunity for kids to come learn how recording works in our recording studio. Our studio computer is on its last legs. We need to update it to a Mac Pro so that we can keep our students engaged and productive with their music.”

This week, Jason Gittinger learned that Intuit is going to help his school rock on by granting his wish.

“My goal,” Gittinger says with gratitude, “is to inspire both kids and adults to have that passion for something in life before they get too old. We can give them the tools to do anything they want someday.”

Do You Have a Small Business Wish?

Have a wish? It just may come true! During the month of December, Intuit will grant one wish a day for 15 days to deserving small businesses. Submit your wish online for a chance to win. Winners will be selected based on the number of votes each wish receives, the wish’s feasibility, and the transformational impact it would have on the business. To learn more, click here.

ABOUT MICHAEL ESSANY:

Reprinted from intuit.com - Read more: http://blog.intuit.com/local/intuit-grants-wish-to-help-school-rock-on/#ixzz2F9tSv382

In December of 2012 The Detroit School of Rock and Pop Music was selected as a recipient of the Intuit Small Business Big Wishes campaign. This is our thank you to Intuit for their support of our school and of small businesses all over. Thanks Intuit!