June, 2009 – AW Spotlight

Boomer’s Expands and Adds a Rock School

Taking Young Musicians to the Next Level

Story, Photos and Video by Krista Martinelli

It’s refreshing – in this economy – to walk into a place where things are booming and where business is expanding, instead of declining.

 When you walk into Boomer’s Music of Wellington, you are often greeted by the dog the music center is named after, Boomer. You also get to see some very talented kids coming and going, as the music lessons are always going on. And now, you get to see this successful musical gathering spot taking up more than twice the real estate that it used to, with eleven new practice rooms and a new recording studio. They expanded in December of 2008, converting the empty real estate offices into practice rooms for drums, guitar, piano and other instruments.

Co-owners Melody Stuart, Jeannie O’Neil and Larry Rein are proud of their music lessons, their store and now their Rock School too!

“The Rock School gives the kids a feeling of being a bit more musically mature,” says Larry Rein who heads up this portion of their operations. For example, he refers to a twelve-year-old musician who enjoys playing in a band with a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old student. “He loves it! They talk to him like a musician, not like a kid.”

Boomer’s Music had already been offering lessons in “band development,” but Rein got inspired further when watching the movie “School of Rock” (starring Jack Black) and searching for other rock schools online. He liked the idea of matching kids up into rock bands and keeping it as positive as possible. These are all individual students who also take lessons at Boomer’s, who commit to playing twice a month with their band. So far there’s a Led Zeppelin band, a Bon Jovi band, a Nirvana band and a Pearl Jam band. More bands will be added as the Rock School expands. The Rock School is designed for students from ten to 16 years old.

Rein is a multi-talented instructor, able to teach guitar, sax, clarinet, piano and vocals. He aims to be a

positive role model for the students in everything he does. In his spare time, he’s also good at dressing up and entertaining for kids’ parties in his other work for A Perfect Party. He’s quite comfortable being a pirate, Spiderman, Superman or whatever is called for. In other words, he is terrific with kids and chooses to spend more than full-time hours in the company of kids, helping them learn and laugh and progress. He’s the parent of Logan, who turns 13 in August. Ironically, Logan plays the drums, one of the instruments that Rein does not teach.

How do the parents feel about their young rockers, joining up with a band? They love it, according to Rein. Sometimes they walk into the building and cannot even believe that their children are playing the music that they hear. For example, one of the mothers of one of the Bon Jovi band students walked in, totally impressed and amazed that this was her son’s band.

One of the only big challenges for their Rock School students is finding the right venues to perform, once they are ready for the stage. They’ve been doing an open mic night at The Coffee Shack in Kobosko’s Crossing of Wellington toward the end of each month. Now Rein is looking for a larger venue to hold a Battle of Bands and he would like to put together a panel of musical celebrity judges too.

Boomer’s Music also offers other exciting avenues for talented young musicians, like their new recording studio and their development package.

 “My passion and my dream is the recording studio,” says founder Melody Stuart. “The goal is to promote young, talented children. For those who are serious about pursuing a music career, Boomer’s offers a development package. A couple of the younger children considering this path are Emily Webster (10) and Alex Rodriguez (8); see their music videos! 

The recording studio just seemed to come together naturally and is now being used to record young artists’ original music, as well as being used as a teaching tool. Larry Rein put together the space and then Boomer’s was fortunate to have one of their former students, Matt Huber, return to do all of the wiring. Huber was formerly part of a popular local band called “Odd Man Out.” He graduated from Full Sail University, a recording arts school in Orlando. After doing an internship in Miami, he heard that Boomer’s needed help with their recording studio.

“I will record anyone anytime,” says Huber, who is ready and willing to record musicians even on Friday or Saturday nights. He’s also teaching a few beginning guitar classes. He’s been back at Boomer’s for just a few months, but it feels like “coming home again.”

 “We’re very happy to have him back,” says Rein. “We like it when people come full-circle like this.”

Melody, Jeannie and Larry of Boomer’s joined forces with Cindy Buonpastore to create a non-profit organization called The Laura

Brooke Foundation. The organization assists young, talented music students in need of funding for their education. The organization is named after the late Laura Brooke Buonpastore, who was on the road to musical success at the early age of 14 when a car accident changed everything. For more information or to donate instruments or funds to the Laura Brooke Foundation, visit www.passthedream.net. 

It’s hard to put into words the feeling that you get when you enter Boomer’s Music. It’s a place where teachers do a lot more than just teach music, but really act as mentors for these children and help them to develop their true talents. More than that, the friendships that are struck among students seem to run deeper than usual. Everything they do at Boomer’s comes from the heart. And now they’re doing more than ever before.

Now offering Summer Camp classes . . .

·         Rock School for Beginners (includes recording studio time)

·         Acting Classes for Beginners

·         Guitar Lessons for Beginners

·         Auxiliary Instruments Classes

·         Teen Band Development Classes

          Boomer’s Music

          Home of the Laura Brooke Foundation

          Wellington Plaza

          (SW Corner of Wellington Trace and Forest Hill Blvd.)

          Phone: 561-656-1259

Video Notes

1. Emily Webster (10) sings “One More Day” written by Melody Stuart as a tribute to Laura Brooke Buonpastore. Laura was a talented singer/songwriter, taking lessons at Boomer’s Music, whose life was tragically ended in a car accident at age 14. Her dream lives on…providing funds and musical instruments for talented young musical artists. For more information about the Laura Brooke Music Foundation, visit www.passthedream.net.

Emily Webster attends Wellington Elementary School and would like to be a country rock star when she grows up. Emily writes her own songs and has been taking lessons at Boomer’s for a year and a half.

2. Alex Rodriguez (8) performs “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. Alex attends H.L. Johnson School in Royal Palm Beach. He also writes his own songs and would like to be a professional guitarist when he grows up.