Weekend Warriors Program
So You Wanna Be a Rock N' Roll Star
Have you ever heard the opening riff to “Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison or “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry and wished you strap on a Fender and play it too? Do you wish you could find a few like-minded musicians to accompany your version of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect?” Are you looking for a hobby that’s a fun way to melt stress as well as meet other people? If the answer’s “yes” to any of those questions, you could be a Weekend Warrior.
The Weekend Warriors program, developed by the music retailers’ association NAMM, is designed to encourage music making by non-active or beginner musicians. Its primary goal is for musicians to have fun jamming, getting to know other musicians, and learning to play together. Whether you’re a construction worker, a nurse, or a bank teller, in Weekend Warriors, everybody, regardless of musical experience, has a chance to rock, without the hassles of stardom!
“People sign up from all walks of life,” explains Shannon Price, coordinator (her musicians call her “Coach”) of Weekend Warriors at West Music in Coralville, Iowa, one of several programs throughout the country. “We have computer repairmen who play rock and roll and teachers who want to be crooners. We even have an entire family of five, the Andersons, who play. It’s fun for them all, and good for their self-esteem.”
To become a Weekend Warrior you need very little skill and even less equipment. If you’re a guitarist, all you need is three or four basic chords, says Price, and she’ll teach you the rest. If you have no equipment, West Music will provide whatever you need—guitars, amps, drums, keyboards—along with a rehearsal space and guidance from the Coach.
“I found my Warriors to be very open students,” says Price. “What they need to learn most of all is band dynamics, and that’s where I come in. I have a blast. It’s really rewarding to see what happens in the rehearsal room.”
One of Price’s most enthusiastic Warriors is Bruce Anderson, a geriatric nurse practitioner and director of Iowa City Hospice. Anderson discovered the program thanks to his 15-year-old son Joe, who was taking guitar lessons at West Music. Anderson said he hadn’t played music in a band since grade school when he last put down his trombone, but one Valentine’s Day his wife, Amy, also a Warrior, surprised him with the gift of a Fender Squire bass. Now Anderson can’t get enough of the program, playing his favorites, songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd and Black Sabbath, in a band called The Swampers and looking forward to learning a little Bruce Springsteen and maybe some Green Day.
“Weekend Warriors has taught me team building skills and learning to work with other band members, but the biggest thing I’ve learned is not to be afraid to try something new, which is also a good lesson for my kids,” says Anderson.
The Andersons, who also include youngest son and drummer Jake, 13, and daughter and singer Kate, 17, don’t play together in the program, although their basement is slowly transforming itself a family jam room, complete with PA system, drum kit, and guitars.
“The neighbors are okay with us practicing. In fact they want to see us play, so we’re planning a neighborhood concert,” says Anderson. “Actually, we have a flat roof on our house, so I’m thinking we’ll have a Beatles-style roof top concert!”
Price, who is a professional musician, has run the West Music Weekend Warriors program for several years, having been offered the job when she relocated to Iowa. The program is put on four times a year and usually attracts around 20 musicians. Each session begins with a meet-and-greet so Price can divide up her musicians into bands with similar tastes, either blues or rock or jazz. Each eight-week long session culminates in a public performance at The Mill in Iowa City or outdoors at Coralville Park.
You might think that playing a gig after eight weeks of rehearsals with musicians you’ve never met before is enough to put some people off, but Shannon’s Warriors, despite a few nerves, say the experience is a rewarding one.
“I don’t really get nervous doing shows for Weekend Warriors,” says Michael Baxter, a retired professor from the Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa, and a five-time Warrior veteran. “The program is about being an amateur, and I never wanted to be anything else. Besides, the gig is in front of family and friends; it’s a really forgiving audience. No matter how well I do, people come up to me in the street after and congratulate me. That’s something I never thought I’d have.”
Price explains that musicians entering her program often discover things about themselves they never knew, another way Weekend Warriors instills self-confidence.
“We had one woman join, school teacher Ryan NeuCollins, who likes to sing Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald tunes,” says Price. “The first time she did Warriors she sang some pop and then some blues, and she discovered she could really belt it out!”
Price said it’s common for singers to be afraid of their own voices, but the friendly and relaxing atmosphere of a Warriors rehearsal is the ideal place to experiment in the knowledge that no one will laugh or throw down their ax and storm out.
NeuCollins, who teaches ninth grade English at Muscatine High School, now has formed a small jazz-blues combo outside the Warriors program and is looking forward to playing a few gigs. Although NeuCollins has taken Weekend Warriors further than most, she originally joined as a way to meet new friends.
“I started singing because I wanted a hobby, and I enjoyed singing when I was a girl,” said NeuCollins. “I joined Weekend Warriors because I wanted to connect with other musicians. The program is a great way to meet other fun and interesting people of different skill levels, tastes, and ages. There’s something for everyone.”
According to Price, the most popular reason people join Weekend Warriors is to melt away the stress of the work place. “It’s a wellness-oriented thing,” explains Price.
Anderson is typical of the Warriors who find the stress-busting aspect of music making beneficial. Anderson describes his work at the hospice as “serious,” but playing in The Swampers is an excellent way to leave his work behind. “I’m not into sports, so music making is a good hobby for me, and it’s a good way to meet others because you always can talk about music,” observes Anderson.
Baxter, the retired professor “with a little bit of Elvis in him,” says music making has helped him handle the challenges in his life. As he puts it, “I’ve noticed that since I’ve been getting together once a week with other musicians, my life seems less stressful. It’s just that simple.”
Having moved to Iowa City, Baxter says he was looking around for people to make music with when he saw a poster in a grocery store advertising Weekend Warriors: “It was a perfect match for me. Up until then I’d been singing here and there, singing to my wife, or with friends in bars.”
Most importantly for Baxter, music making became a way for him cope with his diagnosis of leukemia, which is now in remission. It has also proven, as with Anderson, a good way to connect with his family. In fact, Baxter’s first audience was his wife, Intesar, who settled in Iowa City more than 20 years ago having arrived from Iraq for medical treatment.
“Intesar inspired me to sing, because she’s a real belly dancer!” explains Baxter. “I sometimes sing an Elvis song for her called ‘Little Egypt.’ And we’ve performed as a family, my wife and I joined by her two daughters, Hannah and Ghezwa. One time we sang at an Iraqi-style Hafla celebration. I rented an Elvis costume, my wife wore her belly dancing outfit, and the two girls danced as harem maidens.”
Baxter puts some of his success as a singer down to Price, whom he says coaches him not only about his voice but about which are the right songs to choose. Baxter says he had a comfort zone of Elvis songs he preferred to sing, but Price coaxed him to try new things, including “Trouble” from Elvis’ ’68 Comeback Special as well as tunes by Roy Orbison and Dean Martin.
“At the end of the day Shannon says ‘Do whatever you want!’ She’s a very good coach,” says Baxter. “Weekend Warriors is good for me, because it’s good for me to get a change of pace sometimes. And Intesar sees me come home much happier after rehearsal.”
- to see a list of music retailers participating in the Weekend Warrior program, check out www.namm.com/weekendwarriors
