Hot Licks at J.P. McBride’s for DeAngelis Studio Rock School’s Wall of Flames

PRLog (Press Release) - Jun 04, 2009 -
(Haverhill, MA)  By Amanda Million & Rick Reinhold:   “Fantastic!” is how Tom Amante describes Sunday’s DeAngelis Studio of Music & Arts event at J.P. McBride’s Irish Pub & Restaurant on Lafayette Square.  The bartender presided over a packed house and the fiery echoes of the hot licks played by the DeAngelis rock school bands the Black Diamonds (oldest member, A.J. Marks, 11; youngest, Wolfgang Burger, 7!) and Kelly and the Cosmic Noise are still being felt.  The two bands signed their band photos at a ceremony in the performance space of the DeAngelis Studio on the 3rd floor of the historic Union St. Jean Baptiste building to become the first on the rock school’s Wall of Flames.
   For the band members, this was an exciting step in their music careers and their lives.  Jeremy Cohen, bassist for Kelly and the Cosmic Noise has – like his bandmates Kelly Mclaughlin (lead vocals), Tim Martin (lead guitar),  Jason Scouras (rhythm guitar), and  Tyler Albano (drums) - always been passionate about music and says that being part of the rock school is “a big opportunity to play publicly”.  It also helps him to expand his musical taste and to grow as a musician.  
   That the parents are just as enthusiastic about the rock school was obvious by all the flashing cameras and clapping hands at McBride’s.  Jeremy reveals just how enthusiastic the parents are when he points out that his dad encouraged him to join the rock school.  Rich Mclaughlin, proud father of Kelly, tells how the lead singer of Kelly and the Cosmic Noise was singing in a choir at the age of 8, took classical voice lessons at 11 but didn’t really like it and went through many teachers until she found the DeAngelis Studio on the Internet.  It all came together for her there and pleased dad Rich sums it up: “Because she’s happy, we are happy.”
   Being in a band also teaches the kids a sense of responsibility that being in a band teaches the kids.  Jeremy notes how Mike DeAngelis, head of the rock school, works on small, intricate aspects of being a musician to make each person aware of their responsibility for the success of the band as a whole.
   The rock school is good for building self-esteem and confidence in its students, Rich says and he points out that Kelly is more comfortable in public since she started at the rock school.  Everyone at McBride’s on Sunday could also see that self-esteem in the young Black Diamonds.  From the way singer A.J. Marks sang before the crowd, to the way guitarist Henry McIntyre executed his guitar solos, to drummer Nick Calnan’s solid rhythm, and to bassist Wolfgang Burger’s beautiful smile when he was congratulated on his amazing playing after the Black Diamonds’ set, it was obvious that they knew that they weren’t a novelty that parents dutifully clapped for, but that they were a real rock’n’roll band!
   All this is thanks to Wolfgang’s equally proud parents, Mike DeAngelis and Nancy Burger of the DeAngelis Studio of Music & Arts.  Kelly’s father, Rich, says that,   “Mike and Nancy are good people,” and he stresses that Mike is a great teacher and a great musician who knows what he is doing.  Jeremy points out that one of Mike’s greatest qualities is his patience, and that “for new artists patience is important”.