Mark Ballard General Manager
Mark Ballard is a professional singer, guitarist, bassist, recording engineer and music producer. Mark has been performing loud and live in Kansas City since 1977. After thirty years, you would think the folks in KC would have said -ENOUGH- yet the crowd always cries out for more. Mark has performed on the same stage with Merle Haggard, Lacy Dalton, Iris DeMent, Mountain, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Tom T. Hall, Kenny Loggins, Michael Martin Murphy, Web Wilder, Brewer & Shipley, The Pure Prairie League and Vince Gil.
Mark has three albums of music available on his label Edgewise Records, The Commotions (2005), "Rock U - The Album" (2007) - and OLIVIA by Olivia Sabates (2007) all featuring Kansas City's top rockers and singers ... under 16 years old! Mark wrote all of the original songs on The Commotions CD and played most of the instruments for the popular three piece KC singing group's debut album.
~Performing and recording music is a bold, brave and rewarding thing. It takes a lot of work. I get a huge kick out of the kids who realize it and take it seriously~
David Rice Music Director
David Rice started music training at age ten, continuing on with private lessons in many musical styles including heavy metal, country, classic rock, classical, jazz, and blues through his teens. At age eighteen David began teaching at a renowned Kansas City guitar studio while he attended Penn Valley Community College studying and performing in their jazz program.
David has rocked with many bands both near and far over the past few years and has opened for such national acts as
Papa Roach, Chevelle, Jackal, Atomship, Puddle of Mudd, The Accident Expirment, Earshot, Brewer & Shipley, and Life of Agony.
David has also worked with producers Jon Neclario (My Chemical Romance, The Ataris, Autopilot Off, Matchbook Romance, Armor for Sleep, Orange County Choppers) and Steve -the chef- Russel (P.O.D., As I Lay Dying, Sworn Enemy). He can also be seen in two -Albino Fly- videos directed by critically acclaimed film director Chad Calek (Curt Smith of Tears for Fears, Mushroomhead, Ten Years, Index Case).
Kevin Beabout Technical Director, Percussion Instructor
Kevin Beabout has been playing drums since age eight and has been teaching percussion for over eight years. Kevin has played with numerous bands including the rock bands Tripwire, Mud Magnet, Fallout Shelter and his most recent project Ares to the Ninth. Kevin is also pursuing a degree in audio engineering and has worked as a producer, live and recorded music engineer and is currently the head sound engineer for Kansas City's Pirate Productions.
Kevin is also the Paul Green School of Rock - KCs in house gear genius and is often responsible for making stuff work when nobody else can!
James Wright Guitar Instructor
James Wright earned a masters degree in Classical Guitar from the UMKC Conservatory of Music, studying under world-renowned classical guitarists, Douglas Niedt. With his classical training and accomplishment, James has mastered essentially everything from Bach to Wagner, Renaissance to Jazz. After many more years of self- study, jam sessions and rockin out in the bar scene, you can be sure he is equally proficient at playing/teaching everything from Aerosmith to Zepplin, rock to metal.
James, a guitar-man for over 28 years, has played with various local KC bands on and off for the last 20 years. He has also been teaching guitar for over 15 years.
Christophor Hill Gutiar Instructor
Hailing from Texas and seasoned within Kansas Citys R&B circuit, Chris brings a unique perspective to the School of Rock. He has developed an easy approach to learning the subtle physical and theoretical aspects of rock guitar, including a -Painless- chord technique. Chris is an expert guitar tech and a consummate gearhead. Years spent in equipment training, sales, and installation have given him an in-depth knowledge of the electronic side of the instrument.
He has been a performing guitarist and vocalist for 19 years, and has received instruction from some of KCs finest teachers, including Walter Chambers, Monte Muza, and Jay EuDaly.
Dana Scott Drum Instructor
Dana E. Scott fell in love with music in utero. -My parents attended a Led Zepplin concert while pregnant with me, and Ive been rockin ever since!- she explains. Like most kids, Dana had got her basic music skills from taking piano lessons. -I took lessons for a couple of years & then began losing interest. Blame it on MTV.- But MTV happened to be the key to the creative outlook she was looking for. It was with Van Halen's UNCHAINED video that she became interested in drums. She describes, -I saw Alex Van Halen set fire to a gong and then beat it with a fiery mallet. I thought to myself -I WANT TO DO THAT!-
Flaming gongs aside, it took nearly a year for her to convince her parents that drums would be an 'ok' replacement for the piano. She began playing with rock bands in garages, basements, and school functions all by the age of 12. But it was high school where she developed her skills. She took part in marching, symphonic, & jazz band. It helped land her a scholarship to THE WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY where she studied under the renowned J.C. Combs.
No stranger to the local music scenes in Wichita & Kansas City, Dana has played in several rock bands. The most recent & the one shes most proud of: WOO BAND
She proudly states, -Im so honored to be a part of the SCHOOL OF ROCK experience!
Nico Vocal Instructor
Lead man for the Lawrence powerhouse, Sidewise. The KC School of Rock is Proud to have this amazing vocalist as the newest member of our staff!
http://www.SidewiseMusic.comWoo Vocal Instructor, Bass Instructor
The School of Rock welcomes back the amazing Woo to our staff after his recent absence!
http://www.wooband.comAaron Stockwell Guitar and Bass Instructor
Aaron has studied music since the mid eighties in one form or another. He has played guitar for seventeen years, primarily focusing on rock and rhythm and blues. He also performed with many bands over the years and is currently with Woo Band. Aaron loves to play and is always learning just like everyone else!
http://www.wooband.com