“Let’s Rock”- 10 Years On, Rock Academy Still Goes Strong
Ten years ago, parents from Saugerties came together to brainstorm an idea for a rock-and-roll music school for kids.
When the idea of Rock Academy first started, founder Jason Bowman collaborated with former “School of Rock” owner Paul Green to create a space for kids interested in playing and learning music.
“Our sons were in the same class at school, so we would talk just in the schoolyard,” Bowman explains. He adds, “We said ‘This is amazing, we might be able to work together.’ So, we partnered up and started Rock Academy. And it’s been going strong for about 10 years now.”
Today, Bowman, and his wife Acacia with the support of staff and parents make Rock Academy a successful music organization, with around 160 active students between the child and adult programs hosted by Rock Academy.
Starting at around 20 students at first, Rock Academy was a mix of students privately taught by Bowman on drums, guitar, and other instruments his students were interested in. Eventually, word of mouth drew in new members.
“We’d stand in the schoolyard and talk to people and go, ‘Hey, your kid looks interested in the arts, you know, and we’ve got this new school that should come try it out’” Bowman recalls. 20 students turned into 40 students, and then that number doubled as Rock Academy progressed.
To start, Rock Academy went between different locations, including a friend’s garage and his son’s school. As Rock Academy expanded, it settled into its permanent location on Route 212 in Saugerties in Ulster County. Now, students across the region attend Rock Academy.
In creating the bands, students are placed based on skill and musical interest. When picking music for the season that includes 10 rehearsals and a showcase, instructors give the kids “digestible music” as Bowman puts it, so students can successfully perform new music within a few rehearsals.
“Within a matter of weeks, we get them up on stage and get them playing and to see their faces, when they realize what it actually is, or what’s actually happening to them is heartwarming, it’s very cool,” says Bowman.
Gisela Barrett, 18 is just one of the many students at Rock Academy. Barrett joined the program as a bassist in December 2021 and played her final show as a member of the kids program in the Pink Floyd showcase on September 22.
Barrett will move into the adult program hosted by Rock Academy and wants to take playing music into a career. “I’m just trying to be a musician. That’s the dream is to play bass and perform,” Barrett says.
Despite the frequent commute to Saugerties from her home in Albany, Barrett is thankful for the opportunities the program provides.
“There’s just been so many great opportunities. Finding this place for me was unreal. it’s just such a great thing that we have, I’ve just gotten so many opportunities from it with the Showband and these regular seasons.”
Since Rock Academy began 10 years ago, the program has seen over 1,000 students come through its doors, with some going on to be professional musicians. Former students like Aaron Kosinski joined the program as a student and now work with Rock Academy as one of the musical instructors.
Kosinski joined the program in September 2015 when he and a friend won a free season at Rock Academy. He recalls his first season, “I never tested guitar before, and I wasn’t really interested in music. Once I started learning the songs, I started having a lot of fun, and I just wanted to keep learning and practicing.”
He explained that the guidance and support from the instructors was, “so helpful in encouraging me to practice daily.” From that point on, Kosinski kept with the program as a student until 2020 when he became an instructor for guitar and bass.
Its alumni and students like Kosinski and Barret Bowman says makes the program so special. Bowman explains, “We have had some of our students who are out on the road now making a living as musicians come back and be guest stars. And that is a remarkable feeling. That is an incredible sort of just circuit that has closed for me.”
Within the last 10 years, the skills of students entering the program are averaging better than before with the “baseline population is just better now,” Bowman states. One of the things Bowman says of Rock Academy is “We don’t believe in talent at all.” The belief is in the hard work and dedication to the program that the students exhibit that makes them great.
In reflecting on the community created at Rock Academy over the last decade, Bowman remarks how Rock Academy is a space for kids who may not fit in in the traditional sense.
“A lot of our students are not the ‘popular’ kids. Their names are not necessarily well known around their public schools or wherever they go. We offer them a space with open arms. We say, ‘We got you here, kid’,” Bowman says. For him, to watch a student blossom as a musician and as a person, “It’s fulfilling, you know?”
To learn more about Rock Academy, visit their website www.rockacademy.com.
