Travis Foster Singing Teacher, Keyboard Teacher, Drum Teacher, Music Director
Travis Foster has been a professional musician since 1998. He plays drums, guitar, lap steel, bass, keys and sings. He is a graduate of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (’94) and Berklee College of Music (Professional Music ’98). Travis played guitar and drums in "Blue Man Group: Live at Luxor" in Las Vegas. He has performed with Carmine Appice, Peter Stroud, Liberty Devitto, Jeff Carlisi, Derek St. Holmes, Jim Peterik and others. He began teaching music in 2005. For the last three years, Travis has been touring the United States as a drummer and harmony vocalist with the Ian Moore Band.
Ahmed Garcia Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
Born in NYC in the summer of love, Ahmed Garcia was uprooted and taken to Austin, Texas where he was expertly raised by a pack of Austin belly dancers with his mother, the great belly dancer Lucila leading the way. His exposure to music and the arts was early and took effective shape during the 1980s when Ahmed was given his first guitar, a red Gibson 'Flying V.' Ahmed’s first band Aftershock quickly became a staple in Austin’s early metal community. Aftershock would later morph into the legendary Austin metal band Hurlant. This was Ahmed’s brain child and everything reflected Ahmed’s early musical views, expressions, talents and genius. Ahmed would go on to play pivotal roles in dozens of other bands and projects such as Nemisis 24,Holly Street, Anger Mgmt, Eshta and more.
His current offspring is a fusion band called Muse Oasis in which Ahmed and company have taken the best of his both worlds, belly dancing and heavy metal, and have melded them into a seamless world expression of power and peace, dance and steel. According to “Reverbnation” Ahmed Garcia is a proficient acoustic artist who has earned many accolades for both live and recorded performances. Ahmed, having mastered a little known instrument called a glistintar, is an artist of profound experimentation.
Caleb Kerzee Drum Teacher
Born and Raised in Houston, TX. He started percussion at 12 years old in band then got a drum set when he was 14. He continued both through college at Baylor University’s School of Music, where he played with various musicians/conductors/composers. Since then, he’s sat in with multiple groups and has played various styles of music, with a focus in jazz. He’s been teaching music since he was 16 and has had a passion for it ever since.
Christopher Barnes Singing Teacher, Drum Teacher
Born and raised in Texas, Christopher gained his love of music at an early age. Like many southern children, he started singing in the local church choir. He didn't have much of a choice since his mother was the music director of the church. With his skills honed, he joined his family's gospel group and started touring. They would eventually find themselves singing on BET and other channels. After he caught the bug for performing, he joined the middle school band and started playing percussion. He would go on to play through high school and minor in music at Stephen F. Austin State University. Now living in Austin, Christopher has played with many bands with genres ranging from Metal to Soul. He is happy to spread his love of music and performance at School of Rock.
Garrett Dean Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
Garrett began playing guitar at age 10 and quickly started his first band, playing events at his elementary school. A year later, he enrolled in School of Rock Austin. He was a student for seven years and a member of the B-Team. He has performed hundreds of times with School of Rock and his own bands across several states and multiple festivals. After high school, Garrett moved to Boston and continued studying the music industry. He worked in a recording studio and helped produce dozens of records for local artists. He has extensive experience working with kids, from camps to teaching music lessons at community centers. Now he’s back in Austin continuing his musical journey, while helping others begin their own.
Hannah Devereaux Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
Hannah was born in California and moved to Texas at the age of five, where she began to perform in church musicals. She started playing cello when she was ten, and went on to join her high school's top orchestra while teaching private lessons on the side. She's been playing bass and guitar in local Houston punk bands since before she had her drivers license, and is currently the front man of Forget-Me-Nots.
Ian MacDougall Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
Ian was born in San Jose, CA and moved to Dallas, TX when he was 14. He got his first guitar for his 15th birthday and spent the following summer indoors playing along to records from bands like X, The Clash and Dead Kennedys. At the age of 18, he grabbed the attention of established Denton, TX punk band The Riverboat Gamblers. One phone call later he found himself joining the band and embarking on his first national tour the summer after graduating high school. In 2005 the whole band relocated to Austin, TX where they currently reside. Ian toured all over the world and recorded with The Riverboat Gamblers over the next 10 years. In 2006 they were listed by "Spin" as one of 25 Greatest Live Bands to see.
After a decade on the road, Ian made the move to the production side of the music industry, starting as a runner to quickly making his way to becoming the assistant tour manager of The Foo Fighters. He traveled internationally with the band over the next few years. Over this time he befriended and began working for Grammy-nominated recording artists Band of Horses. Ian was eventually invited to join the band full-time as lead guitarist and has been performing with them internationally ever since.
Jamey Simms Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
Jamey Simms' first instrument was the trumpet at the age of eight years old, which began a formal education in music for him. Jamey started playing guitar three years later in 1984. He also played the horn in concert, marching and symphonic band, and the guitar in jazz band, making the All State Jazz Ensemble in 1990 on the guitar. Jamey attended Kansas State University and studied further under Mike Brown from Harlem, NYC.
Jamey was a founding member of the international recording band Tia Carrera, and has been leading his own group in Austin as well as being a professional hired guitarist for several styles of music. Jamey has toured regionally and nationally and has been based out of Austin since 1996. His influences on the guitar are Ritchie Blackmore, Chuck Berry, Keith Richards and Jimi Hendrix as well as other musicians that do not play guitar such as Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Jackie McClean and Keith Moon.
Jason McKenzie Drum Teacher
Jason McKenzie began his musical studies on drum set with the late Butch Trucks from 70s jam band pioneers The Allman Brothers Band in his teens, then studied percussion at Florida State Univ. and later transferred and graduated from the Univ. of North Texas.
He studied tabla (North Indian hand percussion) from Aloke Dutta, Swapan Chaudhuri, and Gouri Shankar and the kanjira (South Indian percussion) from Ganesh Kumar and Sathish Pathakota. He eventually travelled to India twice to concentrate on each instrument respectively.
Jason has performed with pop singers Alexi Murdoch and Matt Nathanson and has recorded drums on Nathanson’s record “Some Mad Hope." Jason has also played drums for country legends Billy Joe Shaver and Willie Nelson and appeared with them both on Late Night with David Letterman in December 2015.
He also co-founded the Austin-based world music ensemble Atash which has performed in Mexico, Spain, Taiwan, Hawaii and most recently at Carnegie Hall backed by a fifty-piece student orchestra.
Jason McMaster Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Singing Teacher
Starting with progressive thrash pioneers Watchtower, Jason has carved out an impressive body of work. Best known for his work with Dangerous Toys, Jason continues his legacy with the riff masters, Broken Teeth. Jason has been inducted into "The Austin Chronicle" Texas Music Hall of Fame and the South Texas Music Walk of Fame. Jason is also a vocalist for the power metal band Ignitor, modern thrash metal band Evil United and progressive metal project Howling Sycamore. Jason also plays in several tribute acts: Sad Wings (Judas Priest) and Killa Maul (Metallica). Over 20 CD/album releases, and probably a million miles logged on the road, Jason brings a wealth of experience to School of Rock.
Nick Hughes Drum Teacher
Nick began drumming at age nine after seeing a rock show. One of the drummer’s sticks went flying into the audience. Nick caught it and started banging. The drummer summoned him onstage, asking if he was a drummer. “No,” Nick said. The drummer told him to hit his drum. “Harder!” he said, and Nick followed. “Even harder!” Nick hit it with all he had. “You’re a drummer now!”
Nick attended the University of New Orleans on a music scholarship, graduating in 2011. After graduating, Nick played locally and toured extensively, performing all over the US, Europe and Mexico, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. In 2016, Nick moved to Austin and gained an appreciation for country music, brisket and Buc-ees.
Paula Maya Singing Teacher, Keyboard Teacher
Paula Maya is a Brazilian pianist, keyboardist, singer, songwriter and band leader. She is a recording artist with six CDs released and songs in several compilations with artists such as Jimmy Cliff and Carolyn Wonderland. In 2016 she was nominated for Best Brazilian Musician living in the US by the Focus Web News International Press Awards. Her band was voted one of the Top Ten World Music Bands in 2015 and 2014 in "The Austin Chronicle" Music Awards. Paula attended the Federal University of Music in Rio de Janeiro for Classical Piano and received a Music Theory Program Certificate from the Brazilian Conservatory of Music. She studied jazz piano, improvisation and harmony with the great pianist, composer and arranger Luizinho Eça (The Dolphin). Paula studied voice with Maestro David Kyle (Ann Wilson) and Mady Kaye (Zach Theatre). Paula has performed with dozens of bands in a variety of music styles, from rock to reaggae, salsa, samba, soukous and more. She is a vocal instructor and piano teacher at School of Rock Austin.
Rae Mascardo Keyboard Teacher, Singing Teacher
Rachel (also known as Rae) has been playing piano since the age of 9 years old. Her mother, who played organ professionally, was her first influence. Growing up Rachel was classically trained under private instruction for 10 years. In 2015, Rachel moved to Austin to pursue a bachelor’s degree in photo-communications and while attending branched out into joining jazz bands and local indie rock bands. Since living in Austin, she has integrated herself into the local scene by playing for several local acts such as Mobley, Modern Medicine, Dwight Smith, Parker Chapin and fellow School of Rock friend Sara Houser. Rachel continues to dedicate her time bettering her craft and currently studies guitar and theory with Kaycie Satterfield.
Sara Houser Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher, Singing Teacher
Sara has been playing piano since she was seven years old. She studied classical and jazz all through high school at the Charleston County School of the Arts. Her senior year she was awarded a scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where she graduated as a Songwriting major, piano principle. In 2009, she moved to Austin, TX to ditch piano (temporarily) and start playing electric guitar. Sara fronts and writes music for her own band, Lowin, which premiered at SXSW in 2014. She has appeared as a vocalist on records by Spoon, Golden Boys and Walker Lukens and in 2018 joined Golden Dawn Arkestra as a singer, vibraphonist and synth player. She’s been a teacher at School of Rock since 2015.
Thom Metz Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher, Singing Teachder
Thom lives and breathes music. As a professional guitarist, he has served the Austin community since 2012 playing for some of the best musicians in town in a variety of styles including classical, jazz, latin, blues, and rock. Before moving to Austin, he lived in Maine where he received a bachelors in music for guitar performance with a jazz concentration from USM where he graduated with honors. From there he played in the local music scene and recorded original material with his band Hoboe. Austin drew him in with constant work as a hired gun and performed with groups such as Safety Patrol, and The Holy Child (among many others.) His endeavors have brought him on tours from coast to coast. His main instrument is guitar, but he also is proficient in bass guitar, ukulele, voice, and composition. His teaching style is geared toward understanding music theory and he often uses a classical approach to apply sight reading concepts and proper techniques as well as an advanced jazz theory background that utilizes ear training and transcription, both of which are practiced by world class musicians.
Zeke Zimmerman Bass Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher, Singing Teacher
Zeke was born in Austin to local jazz vocalist Tina Marsh and trombonist Randy Zimmerman, and has been immersed in the growing music scene his whole life. Though piano was his first instrument, he picked up the bass at the age 18 and hasn’t put it down since. He studied music and dance at McCallum High School's Fine Arts Academy and Texas State University. His biggest bass influences are John Paul Jones, Jack Bruce and Bootsy Collins. His tenor voice is heavily influenced by Robert Plant, Ian Gillan and James Brown. Zeke currently plays bass in the funk group The Holy Child and has also been working as a bassist and vocalist in various cover bands that travel around Texas.
Matt Keiser Drum Teacher
Matt began playing drums at an early age. Growing up in Los Angeles around a family full of artists and musicians, pursuing a career in music was meant to happen. After graduating from the Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, CA with a degree in drum performance, Matt began playing and teaching extensively within the Los Angeles area. Being taught by some of the best instructors gave Matt first-hand experience on how to be a great instructor and mentor. After moving to Austin in 2017, he picked up right where he left off in LA and continued to hone his craft of teaching and performing
Kostamos Yiacoumis Drum Teacher
Kostamos is originally from Athens, Greece and started on piano at age 7 but then switched to the drums at 15. He began his professional career as a drummer in 2005 and collaborated with several notable Greek musicians and singer-songwriters, while also teaching drum lessons.
Kostamos moved to Austin in 2013 and began playing with acts such as Gary Cain Band, Tex Zep, Deann Rene Band, Onomatopoeia, RJH, Bull Y Los Búfalos, Sefo, and more.
Currently, he is working with fellow musician, Caleb Rojas, to create a new band called Onomatopoeia, a project based on international sounds, ethnic melodies, and Native American spirit.