It is true. People can now rock out loud with their favorite rock stars. In Canada the most prominent is League Of Rock, in the U.S. it's Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, and there are several other organizations around the world. Anyone can sign up and attend. Some registranst are great musicians and others can't really play. The only thing that matters is that you love making music. Music is the great leveller. If you're willing to leave your ego at the door, you can get with some of the greats on both sides of the border.
As a closet guitar player, I have picked it up for a year, put it down for two, picked it up for three, and well, so the story goes. Being a wannabe rock star on and off for the past 15 years, I have always wanted my "rock vindication". Most musicians who are "non-professional" would simply love the opportunity to jam with one of their favorite rock stars and get a scope on what it's really like to play the songs the way they were meant to be heard. There is nothing like finally achieving rock vindication. Well, non-professional musicians of all calibers are now achieving their personal version of rock vindication for one very interesting socio-economical reason.
I call it the "Rock Star Trajectory". This rock star trajectory has occured and will only occur one time. Yes, only those who are old enough to have lived through the creation of rock and roll and are now between the ages of 30 and 60 can appreciate this freak socio-economic occurance. First rock and roll had to be invented. Then rock stars had to have lustrious careers making millions of dollars. At this point, these rock stars needed to be "un-reachable" so the fans would crave them more. Then the rock stars needed to get to a certain age and point in their careers where they weren't interested in the hype and schlepp of big tours and demanding recording comittments. Then they had to realize they still do need to stay active and connected to their fans. Welcome to the year 2006. Never again will the "50's" or the "60's" or for that matter even the "70's", happen again. Music certainly is not what it used to be and it's a good guess that it will never have the same explosive spontanaity that it had back in the day.
This brings us to a very interesting juncture. Rock stars want to stay busy and they want to stay connected with those fans that truly appreciate their work. Fans who can play or want to play an instrument, have a true connection and have an honest interest in what rock stars do in their process of creating music. This significant population, generally speaking, are between thirty and sixty years of age, they lived through the incredibly exciting days when rock and roll was invented, have good careers, and make significant amounts of money. This population of rockers now has more time on its hands because it's kids have either left the nest or are grown up enough, that it can take a night off every week to pursue personal interests.
The result of this is a rock and roll convergence like never before. We now have a population of professional rockers with big cache and lots of time on their hands, and we have a massive population of consumers willing to pay good money to experience the feeling of being a rock star. These two populations are finally getting the chance to shake hands, hang out, and jam together, and they're doing so with the help of organizations like League Of Rock
www.leagueofrock.com.
My guess is this "rock and roll convergence" is only just beginning. As more rock stars figure out that it's cool to hang with fans and more fans find out that it's actually possible to learn from the greats, more interaction will take place between these two perfectly matched groups of rockers. This rock and roll convergence, I believe, is the fuel needed to drive a new, raw, edgy generation of truly exciting rockers.
