Rockshop celebrates 30th birthday

The event - founded to foster spontaneity, improvisation and originality in song-writing and performance – celebrates major milestone in July.

Rockshop, founded by legendary bassist Herbie Flowers, is a highly popular five-day summer school of rock open to wannabe vocalists and musicians aged 14-19 who are passionate about music. Through supervised rehearsals and workshops in professional and fully-equipped spaces, Rockshop offers guidance in everything from composition and improvisation to singing and backing vocals. The workshops also focus on song-writing, rhythm section and percussion basics, help with chord charts, notation and voicing, singing and backing vocals, brass, woodwind and string-playing; plus tips on improvisation.

Herbie Flowers is undeniably one of Britain’s best-known session bass-players and has worked alongside the likes of David Bowie, Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, and famously recorded the iconic bass line to Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side. This year he collaborates with an exceptional line-up of musicians and tutors including former Dexy’s Midnight runner Will Stallibrass, musical director Michael Hinton, film score composer Cassis Birgit Staude and Britain’s top jazz drummer Malcolm Mortimore among others. Together they will share their valuable music skills and knowledge, while offering advice on style and how to survive in today’s music industry.

The week-long course culminates in the Big Night Out, a one-off performance at Brighton Dome, Corn Exchange, where wannabe stars take to the stage for the final lesson: stagecraft and performing brand new songs live to a paying audience.

'Rockshop’s Big Night Out is a mini festival featuring forty new bands performing forty new songs – all of which have been put together in one joyful week! It’s a very special chance for a hundred or so musicians to meet each other and check out what they’re doing.' Herbie Flowers

Rockshop runs from Monday 29 July to Friday 2 August 2013 at Brighton Dome Corn Exchange. Click here for more information.