Rock star dreams to become reality

EVERY one of us would probably like to have been a rock star at some stage in our lives, whether it was a childhood dream or even an adult’s fantasy, but for adults interested in making the dream a reality, Ennis Guitar School can make it happen.
The school, which will formally open at Elevation Business Park next week, is launching a new programme specifically for adults who dreamed of being in a rock band but life got in the way before it could happen for them. Weekend Warriors will give adult beginners and lapsed musicians a unique opportunity to form a band, re-live their musical youth and fulfil their rock star dreams.
The fun programme, which is unique to Ennis, originated 10 years ago in the US, with thousands of warriors now actively reliving their past dreams, while simultaneously building new ones.
Open to adults that may have let their music lapse, it will call to singers, guitarists, bassists, keyboard players and drummers of Clare interested in rediscovering the passion and pleasures of playing and performing live.
Mike Varden of Ennis Guitar School explained, “Weekend Warriors is a new venture. The name originated in America and made its way across here and to the UK. It’s for anyone over 18 and would be of interest to people who would have played a good few years ago and maybe they got married and music took a back seat while they were dealing with the pressures of daily life. It gives people an opportunity to reclaim their youth, come back to it and live their dream.”
The programme will see musicians come together over a five-week period, where they will be grouped in bands according to their skill level and the band will then rehearse together and decide on their own material. The participants will also be tutored according to their instrument throughout the programme. At the end of the programme, the bands will perform a live set at a local venue.
“When people take up a guitar they have different reasons for doing it and initially they don’t think of playing in a band. We encourage them to play in a band and for a lot of people they wouldn’t have thought that this would ever happen. It’s when they are hit with this idea, they think ‘this is amazing, I never thought I would ever play in a band’. Weekend Warriors is all about having a great time, hanging out with friends and forgetting about the mortgage for a few hours every week,” Mike concluded.
Founded in 2003, the Ennis Guitar School (EGS) is a music centre that specialises in the teaching of guitar, whose students range from eight to eighty-something. The school has recently moved to new premises in the Elevation Business Park, Ennis town centre, which will be officially opened on Friday, August 26 by Michael D Higgins. Johnny Fean (ex-Horslips), Steve Travers (ex Miami Showband) and tutors and students of EGS will play at the event, while 63 students, who passed their London College of Music\RGT examinations in June, will be presented with their certificates.
For further information, contact 065 6822516 or 086 1731031 or visit us online at www.ennisguitarschool.ie.