The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

It's the beginning of a new year, and although RD Recording and Rock School are a year and a half in, it's still a perfect example of going for an idea or dream and making it real.

RD Recording and Rock School started In remembrance of Rusty Danreuther. Chris said, "he was so good with music and sports. I'm trying to carry on his passion. If he were here, he'd be all about it."

For one and a half years, Chris Myers, with the help of his dad, Larry, has been working with kids, teaching them drums, keyboards, and guitars. The women who exercise below them can tell you all about it.

Recently all the students of Rock School performed at Peps. It was a night of Rock and Roll. The younger students, Levon Myers, and Liam Simpson, and Henry Merrill. Each of the three boys sang two songs each and then played the drums, the keyboard, and guitar to accompany the other two while they sang.

Liam said, "It was a nice experience for the beginning. The best part was learning all the instruments one note at a time." He wants to learn more about the bass and how to write songs. "I'd also like to perform again."

Levon said, "It was pretty cool. It was amazing I was singing on stage." The first song he sang had an excellent rock and roll chorus, so he could really rock out. He likes playing the drums and the bass. But Levon enjoys singing too.

Henry said, "It was awesome." The best part was the kind of music they were playing. He is primarily interested in playing drums. Henry also liked playing drums while his dad, Nathan, was singing. He wants to learn as much as he can about music. Rock School and RD Recording

I must say I was so impressed with the three boys. They were so confident and pretty good at playing the instruments. Their singing will improve as they get older, but they sang clearly, loudly, and with enthusiasm.

Because RD Recording does studio recording that night, there were three, Nathan Merrill and Alex Billmayer, a rancher from Turner, plus the Big Dirt--The last waltz also played. Sharing the music, they played at MSU Northern Montana.

There are also four high school students. Camille Nissen, Tavie Wortman, Kayla Rodewald, and Austin Haugen. The three girls were also there that night, sharing their music. Austin is also in wrestling, so he missed the opportunity.

I interviewed the high school kids all at once because I've learned they mostly don't like to be interviewed and won't say much by themselves. However, when I told them I wanted to talk about Rock School, they all smiled and were excited to express themselves.

Camille Nissen told me, "It's fun, and I get to learn things." She is learning more about guitar and vocals. "I'm hoping to go to college in music. All of my family is into music, so I have a lot of support." Tavie said Camille is writing songs too, better than her

own.

Kalyla Rodewald said, "I've always liked singing." She is happy with this opportunity to grow in music in Big Sandy. She is looking forward to the next concert.

Austin Haagen plays guitar and drums. "I'm self-taught," but he is glad to have the opportunity to grow. Austin plans on using music his whole life and doesn't want to lose it. He is writing music for his guitar.

Tavie Wortman, when I mentioned Rock School, said, "Sweet!" We all laughed. "I love it! Music is my life, especially now that I'm actually pursuing a career in music and going to school for it. Rock School has opened a lot of opportunities for me." She plans to go to Blackbird Academy in Nashville-a studio recording school.

Hopefully, this spring, there will be another opportunity to hear them. They are all working on original written music. Chris hopes to showcase the kids. He said, "They're writing some pretty good songs."

Chris said he appreciated people coming out to hear live music. There was a pretty good crowd. What was fun was they cheered and clapped like it was an actual professional performance. I overheard one of the women call a friend of hers, and she said, "Hey, I'm going to call you on face time; you need to hear this. It's just awesome!"