Rock fest benefits at-risk kids

Something out of the ordinary will occur on Aug. 9 and 10 at Hawrelak Park’s Heritage Amphitheatre.

It’s the third annual Edmonton Rock Music Festival and some of Canada’s most iconic rock artists will plug in their guitars for a two-day reverb of music that will spill through the air and beyond.

Striding onto the covered stage Friday is Canadian rocker Tom Cochrane & Red Rider and Harlequin. And on Saturday, Loverboy, Kim Mitchell and Blackie & the Rodeo Kings whoop it up in the natural outdoor haven surrounded by trees.

St. Albert rockers DRT have also been tapped as one of the Saturday openers. They give us a shot of their cultural metamorphosis on Saturday at 1 p.m. For Riley Chernoff (drummer), Tate Tweten (lead guitar), Declan Paxton (lead vocals-bass), Evan Oddleifson (guitar-keyboard), this is their second go at the rock fest.

The teenage foursome, which draws inspiration from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Cage The Elephant, will perform a combo of classic rock and their own originals.

Chernoff still remembers the band’s first performance at the 2010 opening for Jefferson Airplane.

“It was wicked. I had a blast. We played with Jefferson Airplane and to play with musicians like that is awesome,” Chernoff says.

The festival is the brainchild of The Rock and Roll Society of Edmonton, a non-profit organization keeping the spirit of rock alive. This two-day family event is completely different from for-profit, full-out rock concerts fuelled by booze, brawn and babes.

Instead, it is a major fundraiser for Centre for Arts & Music, one of the society’s major ventures that supports youth-at-risk.

“It helps inner city kids and kids at risk receive a musical education. Our programs are usually held after school when they are most susceptible to negative influences and criminal activity,” says president Donna Semeniuk.

Members of the society don’t exactly view themselves as crime fighters. They just want to share their passion for rock and to date they’ve helped nearly 200 youth.

“These kids are at risk. They are marginalized and they don’t have opportunities other kids have. Some kids parents can barely feed them and some don’t come from great homes,” says Semeniuk.

The festival originally started when a group of enthusiastic old-time rock and rollers hosted a benefit concert for guitar teacher Graham Calder who had been diagnosed with a lung ailment.

“People had such a good time listening to the music they grew up with they decided to do it again and it was even a bigger hit.”

As Semeniuk explains it, the music aficionados incorporated into a music society and held their first event at Fort Edmonton Park with the British Columbia based blues guitarist David Gogo.

“The idea was that the music society support musicians and promote rock and roll through a few events a year. It was started as a social club.”

But they managed to raise $1,000 and the board opted to direct it towards an inner city school hot lunch program.

“But the principal said they had lots of money for a hot lunch program, but their music program had been cut. Could they bring in sets of drums and give some coaching.”

The board turned to Edmonton Catholic Social Services to help identify youth at risk and in 2011 they launched a music focused pilot program. They teamed up with a couple of brothers – Ryan and Jeff Kittlitz who ran The Rock House Studio. The brothers, sons of famed Darrell Kittlitz, lent out space and donated time and instruments.

Since then, volunteers have also worked with St. Alphonsus Elementary Junior High School and Rite Trax, an alternative school that is a last ditch attempt to keep junior high and high school kids in the educational system.

Watching kids develop confidence and self-esteem as well as learning portable skills is the only payback volunteers are interested in.

“We’ve had a lot of successful stories and from the crime reduction perspective, the festival gives back to the community.”

But having put in a plug for the benefit concerts, the rocker in Semeniuk hopes everyone just comes out and enjoys the music.

“If you like rock music, we have fabulous bands,” she said. “The crowd is great and loves to have fun. They sing and dance along with bands. It’s a fun time and you can bring your kids under 12 for free.”