Blue Bear Showcases

Please join us for the Blue Bear Showcases - March 28-31 at Cafe Du Nord!

Check out photos from the December 2009 Blue Bear Showcases:
Sun 12/13 • Mon 12/14 • Tue 12/15 • Wed 12/16 (Photos by Julie Bernstein)
Sept. 2009 showcase photos: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 (Photos by Julie Bernstein)

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When they enrolled in Band Workshops, many Blue Bear School of Music students wondered what it's like to actually play in a band. They'll find out first-hand when they take the stage at Cafe Du Nord at the Blue Bear Showcases, held from Sunday, March 28 through Wednesday, March 31, 2009.

Blue Bear Band Workshops are student bands that are organized by the school and feature adult musicians ranging in age from early 20s to late 40s. They rehearse with a professional musician who coaches the band in group playing and arrangement. For 10 weeks the aspiring musicians rehearse a set which they then perform live in a San Francisco club at the end of the class session. The shows are always lively, and proceeds help support Blue Bear's nonprofit mission to make music education fun and affordable for anyone who is motivated to play or sing or craft a song.

Blue Bear is very pleased to host its quarterly Band Showcases at Cafe Du Nord. Many nationally renowned artists play at this landmark San Francisco venue, so these showcases are an especially wonderful performance opportunity for the school's students - some of whom will be playing onstage for the first time.

During the four-night run, student bands ranging from rock to blues to jazz to soul and R&B to pop to alt/country will perform on the Main Stage, and the Lounge Stage will feature performances by jazz vocals, acoustic acts, and individual students, teachers and staff.

All ages are welcome and Cafe Du Nord offers a full menu, so bring your family and friends for four fun-filled evenings of music, dinner, drinks and dancing!

Blue Bear Showcases Schedule - TBA

Blue Bear Band Workshop Teachers

Steve Kirk has played in and written for progressive rock, jazz, alternative and swing bands, is a long standing member of the Club Foot Orchestra, and has composed music for video games, TV, film and radio. Berklee grad Sean Leahy has toured the U.S. and Europe with Kofy Brown, Red Archibald, Marginal Prophets, Boomshanka, Four Year Bender and London Street, and released his first solo album in 2008. With a music degree from San Francisco State University and a certificate from the National School of Music in Havana, Bandleader, guitarist, singer and showman Johnny Nitro is a regular in San Francisco clubs, and has played with Charlie Musselwhite and written songs for Albert Collins. Jim Peterson, local saxophone sideman, recorded and toured with Mumbo Gumbo for more than a decade and now performs with Mitch Woods, Steve Lucky and others, both Stateside and on extensive European tours of duty. A graduate of SFSU's Music and Recording Industry Program, Janak Ramachandran is a musician, vocalist and actor whose teachings include acting principles for the stage musician, and who is currently fronting the classic and hard rock cover band Bottoms Up! Blue Bear alumnus Mark Schuh has also studied music at the University of Wisconsin, City College of San Francisco and Berkeley Jazz School; he sings and plays guitar with Crackerjack Highway, has toured the West Coast and Midwest as both a guitarist and bassist, and written music for cable television and industrial films. Bammy-Award-winning singer and guitarist Bill Spooner was founder and principal songwriter of the legendary Tubes, and actively performs in the Bay Area's best dives and bars.

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