PUHI — Students of Bandwagon Studios will perform a free jam concert from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Kukui Grove Center. The concert is an opportunity for Bandwagon students of all ages to perform songs they have been practicing.
PUHI — Students of Bandwagon Studios will perform a free jam concert from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Kukui Grove Center.
The concert is an opportunity for Bandwagon students of all ages to perform songs they have been practicing. A mobile Bandwagon will be parked inside the mall and available for people to check out the music center.
“We think giving kids a stage to play on regularly is an integral part of their development as musicians and performers,” said Jeremy Hartshorn, music instructor and CEO of Bandwagon. “We also want to give the community a taste of what we are doing and give new kids a chance to explore the buses.”
This is the second Bandwagon jam hosted at Kukui Grove.
Bandwagon founder Jeremy Hartshorn has been nominated for the GRAMMY Music Teacher Award. He works with around 100 kids per week in groups of up to six people and ages 4 to 50.
Hartshorn taught private music lessons for several years, and said logistics were a problem for students and parents. He purchased a former airport shuttle bus and converted it into a mobile music education center with instruments, recording equipment and a sound booth for vocals.
There are now two buses that roam from Kekaha to Princeville. The tutoring stops include Lihu’e, Wailua, Kapa‘a, Anahola, Kilauea, Princeville, Po‘ipu and Kalaheo. They teach drums, bass, guitar, piano, ukulele, violin, banjo, sight-reading, music theory, digital recording and songwriting to kids that would otherwise have a hard time commuting to the after-school program.
“Private sponsors help pay for quite a few of our kids who are financially challenged,” Hartshorn said. “Many of our kids have advanced over the last year and are now recording their songs in our new recording facility called The Poolhouse.”
Hartshorn and his spouse Julie also operate Small Town Coffee Shop in Kapa‘a.
Info: 634-4040 and visit www.bandwagonstudios.com.
