Celebrating their 20th Anniversary at this year’s NAMM show, The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus was again onsite to offer onboard tours, live performances, a jam tent, gear giveaways, and host the annual Imagine Party featuring Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes.
Friends of the Lennon Bus, Janet Wozniak, Brian Rothschild, Steve Wozniak
on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus.
(Credit: The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus)
Students from the Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center in Los Angeles had the opportunity to collaborate with Ronnie Spector on the bus and perform on stage with her and the band at the Imagine Party. Matthew Reich, VP of U.S. Tours and Promotions for The John Lennon Education Tour Bus spoke about collaborating with Ronnie Spector and said, “I had met Ronnie a few years ago at an event and was completely blown away by the energy that she had. She really believes in the cause of the Lennon Bus and was actually connected personally to John Lennon, so it seemed very fitting to bring her in for the 20th Anniversary of The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus and the Imagine Party.”
Over the course of the 20 years that the Lennon Bus has been operating, they have visited over 2,000 schools reaching more than 5 million students. Schools and students range from pre-K to veterans and is typically a one day event where students create an original song utilizing the onboard instruments, recording gear, and state-of-the-art technology. Requests for the bus can be submitted to lennonbus.org/requests.
L-R Jaime Walden, Brian Rothschild, John Lennon Songwriting Contest Winners Command Sisters,
Ronnie Spector, Matthew Reich. (Credit: The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus)
Founding sponsor Yamaha expanded their relationship with the Lennon Bus this year by adding acoustic and electric guitars and Line 6 digital modeling guitar amplifiers to the experience.
RELATED STORIES: Founding Sponsor Yamaha Celebrates John Lennon Educational Tour Bus 20th Anniversary with Expanded Relationship
Reich went on to say that, “the awesome thing about being here at NAMM is that we have not only our bus set up for tours so that anybody that’s coming by can actually learn firsthand about all the different things that we do on board with students, and also about all the amazing gear and the latest technology that we have from our sponsors like Yamaha, Canon U.S.A., Neutrik, Genelec, Line 6 and so many others, but we also have our jam tent set up outside of the bus where anybody can come jam with their friends. This year we also have special guests the Bootsy Girls and Boyd Tinsley from the Dave Matthews Band with his project that he’s working on.”
L-R Brian Rothschild, Executive Director/Co-Founder of the Lennon Bus; Tom Sumner, SVP Yamaha Corporation;
SVP Corporate Development and Administration LIne 6, Inc., Susan Wolf; George Pajon, Jr.,Cairo Knife Fight
(Credit: The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus)
After NAMM, the Lennon Bus will head to Pomona where they will be working with Garey High School and Pomona College in Pomona, California before heading off to cover the state of California over the next month. SXSW will be bringing the bus to Austin, Texas for a one month residency.
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Ronnie, who also received the She Rocks “Legend” Award the previous night, joined the Lennon Bus in celebrating their 20th Anniversary, performing some of her classic hits for the crowd.
Credit: The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
ABOUT THE JOHN LENNON EDUCATIONAL TOUR BUS
The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus presented by Canon U.S.A. Inc. is a non-profit state-of-the-art mobile Pro Audio and HD video recording facility that provides hands-on experiences for students of all ages. In its 20th year of touring, the Lennon Bus features the latest audio and video technology, gear and products. The concept began as an offshoot of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, dedicated to providing opportunities for both professional and amateur songwriters around the world; proceeds from which help support the Lennon Bus. The Lennon Bus travels across the U.S. and Canada year-round, providing free tours and workshops at schools, retailers, festivals, on tours with headlining artists, and at major industry conferences. Lennon Bus Europe began providing these same opportunities to the young people of Europe when it launched in Liverpool, UK in May 2013.
The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is made possible by Yoko Ono Lennon and the following sponsors and contributors: Canon U.S.A., Inc., Apple Inc., Juniper Networks, Other World Computing, Yamaha, Neutrik, The NAMM Foundation, Securematics, Digital Media Academy, Audio-Technica, Genelec, Line 6, Focusrite, Sonnet Technologies, Avid, SSL, NewTek, TodoCast, IP Access, Reflecmedia, Baker & McKenzie, Litepanels, Viprinet, Clear-Com, Anton/Bauer, AJA, Copperpeace, Applied Acoustics Systems, Mobile Roadie, McDSP, Native Instruments, IK Multimedia, Noise Industries, JDI, iZotope, Mad Mimi, Ableton, Mackie, Guitar Player, Bass Player, Electronic Musician, Keyboard Magazine, and LiveU.
