Midland students get to ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame gig

Brady Longerbeam is about to turn 13, and his personal ready-to-rock meter is tuned to 13 as well.

Decades after hair metal rockers Spinal Tap made their guitar amplifiers blow out the standard 10th level peak on the volume knob and go to 11, Brady said he’s at a 13 in his anticipation for his gig at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. For those not acquainted with the lexicon of rock and roll, that means Brady is beyond excited.

Brady and seven other Columbia Arts Academy students will perform at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Foster Theater in Cleveland on Saturday, an event that will be lived-stream on the academy’s website starting at 11 a.m. The academy is hosting parties at its Columbia, Lexington and Irmo locations from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Columbia Arts Academy teaches weekly lessons on guitar, piano, voice, violin, drums, banjo and ukulele to 1,600 students from 4 to 84 years old, academy founder and guitarist Marty Fort said.

The Hall of Fame gig is a coming-out party after coronavirus shut down most of 2020 and a rock ‘n’ roll field trip, he said.

“I love seeing students young or old be able to accomplish their goals,” he said, “to be able to see the transformation from a total beginner to being on the stage at a venue like the (Hall of Fame).”

Fort was able to book the gig at the prestigious venue because of a trend at such historic places, he said. Famed venues like the Whiskey a Go Go in L.A. and Carnegie Hall in New York have opened up their stages to outside groups if those groups can show they have talent and a good reason to have the stage. With other music schools having taken the stage at the Hall of Fame’s Foster Theater, Fort secured his students a chance to shine.

A day after the Hall of Fame show, Brady, a rising eighth grader at Dutch Fork Middle, turns 13 years old. The show will be a rock and roll ushering into his teenage years. He’ll be singing KISS’ “Rock And Roll All Nite” and Twisted Sisters’ “We’re Not Going to Take It,” an anthem of teenage rebellion for a new teenager.

“I probably want to become a famous singer or actor in Hollywood,” Brady said.

In an era when one viral clip on social media can propel a person to stardom, the show might be his breakout. But even if his progression is a bit slower than overnight success, with eight years of singing and three years of academy lessons under his belt, he said the Hall of Fame show will give him experience toward reaching those goals. He’s sung at local recitals and performed at Columbia’s Town Theatre, but this will be his first rock and roll show and out of town gig, a milestone for many young musicians.

“For our students, it gives them a real step up in experiencing what it’s like to play on an important stage,” Fort said. The show “also gives them the education of how to prepare and see the show through.”

Fort’s own band, Captial City Playboys, are also playing at the Hall of Fame, and beloved Columbia band Hot Lava Monster is reuniting.

Shane Manning has been taking guitar lessons with Columbia Arts Academy for seven years. Now a 17-year-old River Bluff High student, he’s looking for experiences that will guide him toward his future in music. He hopes the Hall of Fame show will get him exposure for others looking for a guitarist or open up more opportunities for shows. His primary hope right now though is that he doesn’t mess up on stage, he said.

The Hall of Fame show is the next step in what Columbia Arts Academy has done for him all along.

It’s “pushing me to become a better musician,” he said.