Proud Dad Moment

I tell ya, there's nothing more satisfying than witnessing your child doing something fantastic and getting recognized for it. Last night, Max, my beautiful six-year-old son, performed for his school in his band, Golden Dragon. He participates once a week in RockSTAR, an after-school music education program administered through the Los Angeles Unified School District. The program brings in professional musicians who love to teach, and they teach the kids to play real rock tunes. Golden Dragon played "For What It's Worth," by Buffalo Springfield. I'm definitely digging the anti-war message here. Good song choice by Mark Miller, their instructor.

But this was just the warm-up. Today was the district-wide Battle of the Bands, held at the Crash Mansion in downtown L.A. There were more than 60 bands there, ranging from 5th graders down to 1st graders. Max was one of the only kids there in kindergarten. The judges pick the top 20 bands to perform at the finals at the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios Citywalk. Golden Dragon was one of four bands submitted by Max's school, Cowan Avenue Elementary. To Mark Miller's credit, three of the four bands advanced to the finals next week. The big moments for me as a parent were when Matthew, one of his bandmates, told me that his band was good because of Max's drumming, ("otherwise we would have no rhythm."), and when the 5th-grade drummer at his school told me he thought Max was a better drummer than he was.

Enjoy the vid.