Pamela began touring and teaching about 10 years ago. She began as front woman and musical director of East coast sensation Roots A’Risin’, while raising a daughter, and going to school full-time for music production, singing (both opera and pop), and jazz & classical piano & guitar. She has released 3 albums, one solo album, BEAUTIFUL DAY, and 2 other records with Roots A'Risin', which she has been the musical director of since it's inception. The two RAR albums: PEACE, released in 2005, and Stripped Bare in Another World, released in 2006, are 80% written and produced by Pamela. She also runs The San Francisco Review, which is a national and international touring act promoting the community of collaboration with a hand-picked roster of musicians. Her experience rocking out and teaching music has helped her create a foundation for The San Francisco Rock School.
As SFRS co-founder, Pamela teaches everything from band workshops to songwriting workshops that deal with the influence of color to private lessons and has taught all ages from 2 to 65. She has developed a method for the SFRS rockers to learn how to be in a band, promote their band, create culture around their band and even learn how to make their band a self-sustaining activity that can pay for itself. SFRS rockers are taught ways to learn music, perfect their technique, use their creative side to promote their band with custom-made merchandise, and simple fanbase outreach techniques. All of these things combined into one semester, and you've got yoruself a band that is gigging and sustaining their own careers.
During each semester, SFRS rockers are directed through the process of writing at least one original song. This provides an opportunity to learn how to write and produce music from the ground up. Pamela's "Color My World Music" Songwriting workshop is another layer to her songwriting classes. She has learned the influence of color in everyone's life and uses that knowledge for added songwriting potential. If you are writing a song about love, use the color red to influence your writing on a deeper subconscious level. This is just one example of many, her teaching and experience playing has been far and wide.
Pamela has studied and teaches the instruments: Voice, Guitar, Piano, Bass, Drums, Violin and Mandolin. She has taught all these instruments and continues to play them herself in her everyday life. To see Pamela Parker perform, please check out her website for music and videos at www.PamelaParkerMusic.com.
In addition to her music career, she has also been working for many years as an engineer and producer, producing other people’s records as well as her own. She’s recorded and produced records for independent artists such as Jacob Williamson & Dar Stellabotta, among others. She has also produced, recorded and released two records with Roots A’Risin’. She currently is working out of one of San Francisco’s historic studios, Hyde Street Stutios, where she vows to finish the next record. Pamela says,"Hyde Street Studios is like a candy store for musicians, producers, and engineers alike. The new album, Carnival or Look No Further, whichever name gets chosen by the people, is set to be released this winter and feature her Funk Soul Pop Rock sound. Over her career she has had the pleasure of working with many great people in the studio including, but not limited to: Dave Shul (from Michael Franti & Spearhead), Maestro Curtis (vocals & asst. eng. on song for Clive Davis), Jay Bowman (Michael Franti & Spearhead), Nate Oberman (vocals on song for Snoop Dogg), Kim Manning, Izabella, Norwood Fisher (Fishbone, Trulio Disgracious), Bobby Lee Rodgers (The Codetalkers), Aradhana Silvermoon, Charlie Wilson, Michael Morrow, Ryan Hickey, Scott Thompson, Daria Johnson, Jonny Krimstock, and so many more. Dave Shul, Bobby Lee Rodgers, and Norwood Fisher are among the crew featured on the acoustic record “Beautiful Day.”
With such an amazing couple seasons out of San Francisco, there is no telling where we’ll see Pamela Parker next. As Pamela tours in support of her new release, she continues working on “The Pam Show” which will feature sketch comedy, conscious interviews, and a variety of entertainment. Be sure to check up regularly for the next time you can see this amazing artist!
If you would like to take lessons from Pamela Parker or inquire about having a band or songwriting workshop in your area, please visit the Contact Us page and e-mail us your inquiry today!
*bernadette* enjoyed the music since a toddler, growing up as a first-generation child of an Irish immigrant family and listening daily to the sounds of jigs and reels that her parents would hum, play and have friends over to perform for her. At the early age of 5, she began formal lessons on the piano taking lessons through her teenage years and continuing to play through high school. Singing became a major part of her musical experience as well as she was part of the church choir at a very young age and was also part of school chorus', bands and musicals. In college, *bernadette* became more behind the scenes relating to music and toured working with such bands as Phish and The Samples from Vermont. After recieving an undergraduate degree in English and a Master's in Education, she taught for 16 years as an educator with a focus on peace and social justice curricula with art-based learning as the focus. *bernadette* became director of a Peace and Justice non-profit and an educator leader for the Cambridge Public School system appointed by the superintendent as well as becoming an associate Professor sharing her thesis and teaching teachers how to teach.
Music, children and various forms of peacemaking have always been at the forefront of her life's work. After spending a year living in the jungles of Sumatra, Indonesia and travelling SouthEast Asia for the year, *bernadette* had spent so much time in college traveling to see bands like the Grateful Dead, that she really felt a strong heart-connection to the city of San Francisco. After moving to the Bay 8 years ago, she began pursuing her dreams of becoming an artist, musician, activist and community organizer and now runs the thriving, community art space call The Box Factory and is a visual artist, singer, songwriter and musician fronting her own original band as well as collaborating on another musical project called The San Francisco Revue. Her goal of getting back to music to overcome her fear or performing lead to her playing her first show at 12 Galaxies in front of 400 people and in a few short years playing at some of the largest and most reputable venues in San Francisco such as Yoshi's, The Fillmore and the Great American Music Hall to full houses. She recently sold out the Independent for WomenROCK's 4th year anniversary show. A great accomplishment in promotions for this day and age of the economy. She is also the visionary and one of the founding members of WomenROCK, a local collective of female rockers working together to support one another in the music industry and raising money as they do so for causes they believe in. She hosts an annual Peace Concert for children, families and the local community in the Panhandle each year and is one of the main organizers of the 70,000 person Power to the Peaceful concert in Golden Gate Park each year. www.bernadettelovesyou.com and www.theboxfactory.org
*bernadette* specializes in band promotions and management, as she is so good at booking great gigs and getting fans to attend her events. She teaches select workshops on this skill throughout the year. Stay tuned for information on these workshops.
*bernadette* is available to teach private lessons for the beginning level on guitar and piano.
AJ has been teaching private lessons for 4 years and specializes in songwriting, guitar, and bass. He has co-written a song that was featured prominently in "I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summe" from Sony Pictures, and has had his music featured on the TV show "The Mentalist". He continues to record, write, and is currently performs frequently around the Bay Area. You can find tour dates HERE.
AJ Rivlin has been in a lot of bands, some more involved than others, played quite a few shows and had a good dose of the real music business trials and tribulations we all go through as musicians. He says it feels real good to be here as one voice, free to do as he pleases. He is currently involved with two music publishing companies who he works with on music placement of his original tunes. He is one of our specialists on music publishing and is available for questions at any time. AJ also substitutes for some of our teachers who go out of town on tour, as the career of a professional musician often requires. He says he really enjoys watching the progress and growth of the SF rockers as they move closer and closer towards their musical goals.
AJ teaches all levels of songwriting, guitar and bass. And beginning levels of drums, piano and recording (i.e. Garage Band and home analog recording).
