Day 356 of Staying the Fuck Inside

After his final Rock 101 performance with School of Rock, kiddo has graduated to a performance group. He had his first rehearsal with his new band tonight, and we wanted to give him some respectful distance to rehearse.

Kiddo is 9.

The rest of the band is in high school.

So, yeah, obvious anxiety over whether the other kids would respect him. I know one of the kids in the band, and I like him a lot, but still. What about the rest?

From all accounts, it seems to have gone very well!

We pulled up to the parking lot shortly before his rehearsal was over, could hear him belting out War Pigs by Black Sabbath. The joy in his voice, over getting to (a) finally work on this, (b) work on it with a band (c) work on it with a band of bigger kids, and (d) work on it with a band of bigger kids who can fucking rock… the joy was palpable. He is in his element, and he’s happy to be there.

Other songs they’ll be working on are Sober, by Tool, something by Pantera (not sure what yet), In Bloom, by Nirvana, and probably other stuff TBD.

I am grateful for our School of Rock family for the love, inspiration, and support. This is an amazing journey. Kiddo has only been at it for two years, and I can’t wait to see how he continues to progress, and where he goes with it all.

To see this kid – who was born 10 weeks early, and who had a bad habit of deciding to randomly stop breathing – hold his own and sing, and be able to hold notes longer than I can, is just phenomenal.

“Proud” doesn’t even begin to describe the emotions.

Kiddo has always had an agenda in this life.

It’s an honor to help him make it happen.