01/12/2026
Never have I ever found the exact match in a meme of all of my style, goals, and hopes for my students. If you were a teenager at backbeat and you recall what looked like a lack of details, it was all on purpose. As your parents paid their hard earned money, it was never musical accuracy, or perfect synchronization, or even amazing staging. I wanted everyone to feel like an individual who was contributing to an organic and morphing idea. This was what my father did for me. There was no real failure accept leaving the clients in the audience with a dud of a show. There were natural leaders who stepped up, behind the scenes leaders who watched each other, and the idea that everyone, every single person was “cool”. Not just “Dorothy” or the “ Tin Man”. But everyone. I used super talented people to solo the way the Bulls used Michael Jordan to win. But they are nothing without the group, or the band. Sometimes, at the actual LEARN LOVE event, I would change the entire order or song choice and you always always succeeded. Even if you were 7. I read the audience and made a decision. Because this is what I was trying to share with you. By modeling this “confidence” and spending zero time “pacifying you or pampering you in the moment” I carried on and we won…every single time. This kind of flexibility is a huge asset as an adult leader. Life has no set list. It will ask you to change and change again. And at first it feels scary and confusing, but you trusted your leaders and melded. Many kids had to move on because of the lack of focus to a set show, and that’s ok. But what BackBeat has always chased was your genius.
“Do you rollerblade backwards” lets put it in the show
“ can you bake brownies?’ Bring some to rehearsal
“You can do magic?” Hw about you entertain in the lobby?
“You and your dad make engines?” Well we sure could use a rotating stage.
The truth is, singing was just a way for all of us to connect and trust each other. Once engaged, we make magic.
-The Mayor
