Thursday, April 21, 2016

R is for Rock n Roll!

Cleveland is Cooler Than You Think!
All over the media, in tv and movies, Cleveland gets made fun of. In this year's A-Z Challenge, I'm here to show you everything Cleveland has to offer!

R is for Rock 'n Roll

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Me and my kids with my brother and his family
As Drew Carey's theme song states, Cleveland Rocks, literally.  Not only is Cleveland the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it also has several great live venues such as the House of Blues, the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern,  Coda, and more for both local and touring artists.  Cleveland also is the place that the term "Rock and Roll" was coined.

Rock History

In 1951, Alan Freed, a disc jockey in Cleveland, began using the term "rock and roll" to describe the R&B music he was playing to his diverse group of young listeners. In 1952, his following was so large that he decided to have his radio show, "Moondog Show" host a dance with Rhythm and Blues stars at the Cleveland Arena. Over 20,000 people showed up to the venue which could only hold 10,000 and the dance had to be cancelled but it was considered the first rock and roll concert ever!


John Lennon's piano


Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a great museum for everything Rock! It holds an immense collection of Rock memorabilia that includes everything from John Lennon's piano to Jimi Hendrix's guitars, outfits, and couch to Lady Gaga's crazy metal dress. There are also some great movies about the history of rock.

Jimi Hendrix's guitar, outfit, and couch






Lady Gaga's outfit





It has several permanent exhibits including Pink Floyd: The Wall, The Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, and currently there are exhibits featuring the 2016 inductees and Guns and Roses.

If you love rock it's a great place to go!


School of Rock

The School of Rock is a performance based music school with over 160 franchises around the U.S. and across the world. We are lucky in Cleveland to have 3 schools serving our area. They teach individual skills on the guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and voice but they also teach the kids to perform together in a real band.

My son, Ryan, started taking guitar lessons at 8 1/2 from a traditional type music school but quickly got bored with the pace of learning the basics of chords and theory without really getting to play anything but simple songs. He asked me if he could quit lessons. Then we happened upon the School of Rock and he has not put down his guitar since!

He was hooked on his first lesson when the teacher asked him what song he wanted to learn and they started right away playing one of his favorite rock songs.

Last summer he was thrilled to be able to play lead guitar on Jimi Hendrix's, Foxy Lady, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.






Ryan is the little guy in the black leather jacket!


References:
http://www.rockmusictimeline.com/1950s.html
http://www.alanfreed.com/wp/biography/
http://www.rockhall.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicken_Loans_Arena
http://www.schoolofrock.com/performance-based-approach


Doggy Style (It's really not what you think!)

My three kids have taken up the habit of naming all the different positions our beagle Rory gets himself into.  Most of the time even I can't quite figure out why they chose the names they did but I thought it might put a smile on everyone's face to share in this silliness!


R is for Regal Beagle (or as we say: Roogle Boogle)







Have you ever been to the Rock Hall?  Who is your favorite band?  
Have a great day!

Kathy :)

4 comments:

  1. I've been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and concur. Cleveland absolutely rocks! ☺ I was so happy to see Heart finally get inducted. Your "Regal Beagle" is adorable. That was the name of the pub featured on "Three's Company".

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  2. Debbie- I always liked Heart as well! I didn't know the Regal Beagle was in Three's Company, I used to love that show!

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  3. I've never been to the Rock & Roll Hall of fame, but it sounds like a bucket list item for sure. My favorite album of all time is GNR Appetite for Destruction. Your son was awesome btw!
    A to Z hopping! (out of order, obviously)
    ~Katie
    TheCyborgMom

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  4. TheCyborgMom- Oh that is a great album! Thanks! We're so proud of him!

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