NEW For 2025 = Cover Band
**FREE to all Adult students who have been here for At Least 1 year
**You must have our 6 show songs ready and then we’ll add in these 1 or 2 old songs
**You/Band choose which 1 or 2 songs FROM PAST SHOWS that you want to play live again
**Your setlist for the show night will include these 1 or 2 songs
**The New intention Here is to get closer to a real band, Tribute or Cover, where you learned many songs but sometimes haven’t played a few in a long long time
**There can NOT be a bunch of solo band member song performances for each show which might add 10-20 minutes more Run time. ideally many band members will play the song etc and not 3 or 4 band members playing solo songs.
**Pooljam/Sideside was a great idea but only 9% of the whole school actually did it and it’s clear most students weren’t ready to perform 7 or 8 NEW songs live each Semester. This idea is on hold for 2025.
POOL JAM/SIDE SHOW VIDEO LINK
Saturday Oct 19th 2024
https://vimeo.com/1027763129/6faef81325?share=copy
OCTOBER 2024 Info Below
**Join Pool Jam/Side Show = Earliest Song Submissions are JULY 1st
Show Night is Saturday Oct 19th @ 7pm
This music experience program was created for you Because…
Current and Past, 18 and Older students, requested to play live on stage more Often
Students wanted to play their favorite songs
Students wanted to play with others to create more band like situations
former students could still be a part of the music school and grow
new students could play 1 or 2 songs in here vs nothing in the main showcase
Current students Could play here in case they needed to miss the main performance
Requirements for current students
18+ Older (sorry but for now I don’t have an option for The younger ones)
You can handle the normal lesson material, show songs and have Practice time to keep growing.
Only Level 1-2 and up playing levels belong in this program. If you got an email, you're good but that doesn't mean you SHOULD do this, you need to weigh this out.
What Is Pool Jam aka Side Show?
Another musical experience I can offer students to feel like you're in a band but without all the fighting, time commitments, $ wasted on rehearsal spots and traveling to shows in a smelly van.
Wanna play live and play songs YOU chose?
So rude people, you guilt me into creating more things for you to do that take my life's free time away from me, but you liked this idea and so did I so I'll fulfill it. You choose the song to play, if no one likes it and you play alone, well then NOW YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO PICK SONGS!!!!
APRIL 2024 Pricing Below (As more students play, the price can get leveraged down)
PACKAGE 1
$50 Semester Fee = Get Every Song In The Pool!!!
SHOW Package = 1 Song $10, 2 Songs $20, 3 Songs $30
$60 to $80 TOTAL FEE ($50 for the semester and $10 to $30 to play live)
PLAYING OPTIONS BELOW
* YOU CAN SUBMIT ONLY 1 SONG every 6 months (1 semester) you’re in the program. Highly Recommended
* YOU DO NOT have to submit a song to be in Pool Jam, you can still swim in the pool, see below….
* YOU CAN CHOOSE 1 or 2 DIFFERENT songs you see in the pool you'd like to play live.
* YOU CAN SUBMIT 1 SONG and CHOOSE 1 SONG from the pool. This is a cool band like team up which generally leads to jamming with those players outside of my studio and another cool aspect of this program.
* 3rd SONG BONUS = YOU CAN PLAY ONLY 1 OLDER SONG from the student performance in the past. Got a song 2 years ago you didn’t play well at the show or couldn’t do the solo too but maybe now you can, yep that’s also the goal here. Show how much your skills have grown and take on an old foe and slay it live!!!
* Each semester you can play 1, 2 or 3 SONGS TOTAL at the Pool Jam Music Party. It’s your party, you can play if you want too.
* FREE BONUS = THIS PACKAGE GETS ACCESS TO ALL THE POOL JAM SONGS in the Dropbox folder. You get the link to this folder when you pay the $50 etc.
You can DOWNLOAD them ALL!!! Even if you don’t play them now, you get access to professionally edited songs BY ME which other website’s like MySongBook charge $ for and are NOT as detailed as mine are, especially in GP8. I take hours and hours to edit just the bass let alone solo’s etc so these are A and A+ songs.
PACKAGE 2
Current Student But Can’t Make The Main Show
SHOW PACKAGE = 1 Song $10, 2 Songs $20, 3 Songs $30
*In this package, you are a current student but…
*Due to a scheduling conflict you can’t make/attend the main show dates ..
*Not eligible for the Main Student Show due to not being here for at least 4 months..
*New player/student and are not ready for the Main Show but maybe 1 or 2 songs..
*I will make the backing tracks for you and you come play some of the main show songs with us.
*You do NOT get access to the Pool Jam song pool in this package (usually 10 songs edited by me).
PACKAGE 3 (Side Show)
Private Pool = You only play in the show, NO Song Pool.
SHOW PACKAGE = 1 Song $10 or 2 Songs $20
*In this package, you choose 1 or 2 songs on your own.
*I don’t spend many or any hours editing your tabs but I can offer guidance.
*I will make the backing tracks for you and you come play the show with us.
*You do NOT get access to the Pool Jam song pool in this package.
WHAT IS MIKE WALSH’S ROLE IN ALL THIS???
* I will organize and professionally edit all the Party Pool songs in GP8. (This will take A LOT OF TIME so be patient)
* I will create the backing tracks which are used in the actual show and what you’ll practice too later on. These backing tracks won’t realistically be ready until 2 months BEFORE the show and I create custom drum edits and ques like a real drummer would so you play the song well live on stage
* I will communicate with all the players and check on your progress
* BONUS FREE stage practice April 13th @ 5pm, I will DJ this for you
* I will put on and MC the show that night, the shows are about 1.5 hours long
*You will play on my gear and stage setup, over $10k worth of it
*I will Video and ZOOM the show and give you access to these formats later on
*I will get all song playlists ready in my laptop like a DJ and work with you on any edits needed after you play the backing tracks.
What NOT to do when picking a song for Pool Jam/Side Show..
Pick a song so hard, you won't play it live really well or it’s a massive black hole of your free time.
You work mainly on this song and it distracts you from your normal musical progress (this is why being in a band can actually HARM your musical growth).
Keep in mind..
We have played only TWO Pool Jam/Side Show shows so far, first in October of 2022. While they were really fun and I think I have a really good grasp of the benefits and the cons here after 1.5 years, this idea has actually evolved quicker than I thought and might change some more.
Since I do NOT try to put limits/assumptions on most things I do, this idea/program and other things involved will probably change over time because of all the unknowns, people involved and factors I'm not aware of yet that can make this better and fix issues. Performance 1 might not look much like performance 4 but if we all work together, it will be fun. But this also means, things might change or not be 100% awesome.
While playing your favorite songs is a rush live, I don't want to create a jam band school where we only focus on songs. This is mainly for students who have plenty of practice time and can pull off doing the normal show and 1, 2 or MAYBE 3 more songs of their favorites over 6-12 months a year. Even if you want to do this, it might not be the right time for your musical growth to join or tackle say 3 extra songs a semester.
WHEN AND WHERE IS THE SHOW!!!???
Probably in your main show setlist
LOCATION = Northbrook Court Mall
STAGE LOCATION = Top Note Music House
DATE = OCT 19th (1 week before our main student performance weekend)
TIME = 7pm
ZOOM & ATTENDANCE = FREE (I am considering stopping live Zoom shows, this forces people to show up)
How Does The Song Order Work?
I just slap the songs in my playlist, they tend to go alphabetically. I generally don’t move them around unless a new player or 1st time stage performer I see is first or if you’re playing 3 songs I will get you a back to back later in the night. Payola is always accepted, it’s the music industry, it’s part of the realism I try for. Hahaha
SHOW PERFORMERS AND SONGS, OCT 19th 2024
Alison =
Bane =
Dan A =
Erik T =
Lynn R =
**Possible new students in here
EMAIL ME YOUR SONG WHEN YOU'RE READY!!!
WELCOME TO SIDE SHOW!!
THE POOL JAM IS AWAITING FOR YOUR SONG TO BELLY FLOP INTO IT!!!