Creative Spark's Rock Camp a big hit

Cremated Tennis Shoes. Petrified. Ghost in My Arms. Fungus Flush. Freedom in a Cup. Save Data Utility. The Fire Breathing Dragons. The Beastly Beavers. Nauseous Nailheads from Norway.

At first glance, these titles may seem like a case of fridge magnets gone mad, but it's actually a list of potential rock band names.

This was but one part of Rock Camp for kids at the Creative Spark learning center in Mount Pleasant. It's a two week excursion for teens and pre-teens, where kids can hone their musical talents while learning the three "Rs" of rock music: Rockin', Rockin' and more Rockin'.

As part of the class held at Creative Spark, the students were broken into three groups, with the ultimate goal of playing a live show on the last day of the camp. But before any band could hit the stage, they had to come up with band names.

Jack Burg, one of the "Teachers Of Rock," grinned when recounted the list of band names. "Those names are awesome aren't they?," Burg says. "I just kept thinking, 'How do they come up these names?' "

According to Josh Kaler, the camp's leader and organizer, exploring one's potential and giving the students the chance to make new friends were just a few of the camp's goals.

"It's so important to interact with other musicians. That can't compare to sitting down with a music teacher and learning chords. It's a community kind of thing," says Kaler, a teacher at Creative Spark for the past three years and a member of local rock band Slow Runner.

Kaler spoke to Preview while juggling his duties just hours before the kids' big rock finale. After being approached by Creative Spark to develop a summer music class, he came to fellow musicians Kevin Hanley and Burg with the idea of Rock Camp.

Kaler ("Mr. K"), Hanley ("Mr. H") and Burg ("Mr. B"), are known mostly by their nicknames to the students. The teachers set up a curriculum that included lessons on recording, rock history, and even a little time devoted to perfecting the kids' big rock 'n' roll finish, complete with slamming drums, guitar stabs and a little exaggerated rock star posturing at the close of each band's set.

As the day of the big final-show drew closer, each teacher's class made a list of four songs to play. With cover songs ranging from Joan Jett to The White Stripes, the sets were designed to illustrate the three bands' ability to take a known classic and make it their own.

By Friday, the spirit of rock's forefathers hung in the air as students got geared up for the big show. First up was Fall Down Hard. The band's vocalists Peter Gair, commanded the stage, fronting the band's take on the White Stripes song, "Hardest Button To Button."

Next was the Airheads, who breathed new life into the Ramones classic, "I Wanna Be Sedated," as the guitarists sneered and vocalist Carin Ramirez belted the vocals with an urgency that Joey Ramone would have been proud of.

The final set came from Rawkmachine, the five piece band who focused on the mind-bending classics of the late-'60s and early-'70s.

As drummer Grace Park helped draw Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" to a glorious noise drenched conclusion, "Mr. K" stepped to the microphone.

"Thanks everybody for coming out. You've been a great audience," he said.

With that, the teachers and the graduating class of Rock Camp closed their barn-burner show with a well rehearsed, triumphant rock finish.