Re: holy crap, what a nightmare
Paul Green, the guy who started the program, was the model for the Jack Black movie. Spin magazine sent James Lha of the Smashing Pumpkins to write an article about the first school, then VH1 sent a camera crew to videotape for a couple of days for a reality series. They stopped returning his phone calls and six months later, the Jack Black movie is announced. He had registered the schoolofrock.com domain years before, but who is going to try to sue Viacom?
There are 114 locations in the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The music directors at each school come up with two to five concert programs for each of three seasons a year. Beginners will play stuff like Black Sabbath while the more experienced kids will play more complex stuff. The older kids mentor the younger ones. The best kids from each school form a band and gig around town. The very best compete to join an "All-Star" band and go on tour - they'll be playing this year at Lollapaloosa and Gathering of the Vibes.
By the time they graduate from the program at 18, if they stick with it, they are skilled pros and generally equipped to step into a band with experience playing a wide range of music - two of Paul Green's original students formed two thirds of the Adrian Belew Power Trio.
