On Monday the 6th October Wychwood youth club layed down the start of their first single in only one hour with help from WSOR.
October Half-Term Rock School Band Sessions
(Practice for Talent Night )
All Bands must pre-book by Friday 16th October
Mon,Tue,Wed & Fri.
Morning Sessions
9am-12noon
Afternoon Sessions
1pm-4pm
Fee is £60 per child for either the 4 morning sessions or the 4 afternoon sessions. If your band has members under 8 they are limited to a two hr session so the fee will be £40. Please book by e-mailing Lee at New Beaconsfield Hall lee@suwhall.myzen.co.uk.
Summer CompilationCD is Ready!!!
To order your CD please contact Lee on 01993 832216 or email alice@suwhall.myzen.co.uk The CD costs £5 and can be collected at your rock school session or at your private lesson. Alternatively we can send your CD direct to you at an additional cost of £1. All cheques to be made payable to Mr A Chalmers and can be sent to New Beaconsfield Hall, Shipton-under-Wychwood, Oxon, OX7 6BQ.
The compilation CD includes all 19 tracks that were recorded during the summer holidays. Happy listening rockers.
*NEW HOODIES AND T-SHIRTS COMING SOON*
T-Shirts still available @ £8 for Children sizes and £10 Medium/large(will be collectors items in years to come!!!).
All cheques to be made payable to Mr A Chalmers and can be sent to New Beaconsfield Hall, Shipton-under-Wychwood, Oxon, OX7 6BQ.
The 2009 Shipton-under-Wychwood Summer Fete
Debut for Witchwood School of Rock took place on the 29th August 2009. The school managed to offer the fete a much needed musical injection. See the photographs below as a summary of the day. We managed to win a tug of war (no photographs to prove this, but testimonials to follow). Thanks to Zero, Moose, TenTwentySix, Mourning Glory and Jack and Summer for proving the music along with support from the tutors Sandy, Aldie, Easy and Lee.
P.S the burgers were good but the hot dogs and ice creams rocked.
Posted - Monday 1st June - pm
'Craig Suits Everything' win the SOR Battle of the Bands Heat
The latest incarnation of 'Mourning Glory' won the Battle of the Bands on Friday 29th May. 'Craig Suits Everything' (their current name), will now go on to represent the WSOR at Commotion 09 on Saturday 6th June. TheRock Idol Battle of the Bands will begin with Craig Suits Everything kicking off the entire event at 1.30pm. We hope that loads of School of Rockers will be there to support.
Posted - Thu 14th April - am
May Half Term SOR - Great Success
Over 40 budding musicians attended the latest half term SOR. And they were brilliant! New to this half term were the recently purchased Rock Pods (full name - Witcwood Rock Pod Rehearsal Stations). These very clever units allowed bands to write and rehearse their music using headphones, meaning that several bands could rehearse in the same hall without disturbing each other.
We used 4 Rock Pods which were purchased with the support of WODC development fund.
The week of activity ended on Friday 29th May with a concert to select the band to represent WSOR at the Commotion 09 Battle of the Bands.
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Posted - Wed 22nd April - am
£300 Raised at the Big Gig
The Big Gig on Friday 17th April doubled as a fundraiser. All the proceeds from the door, the bar and the raffle went towards buying equipment for the School Of Rock to be kept at the hall and used exclusively by the School.
A total of £307.50 was raised and the money has paid for the purchase of the following items:
* a professional insulated drum riser
* a smoke machine
* 5 x 150 watt wedge monitors for supply pro level onstage monitoring
Many thanks to all for thier contributions.
The Big Gig!
7pm 17th April 2009 - The WSOR Inaugural Concert
During the Easter holidays kids between the ages of 6 and 16 wrote songs, practiced them, got dressed up and performed them on stage.
The bands were magnificent. Many of the younger children had never even played an instrument before let alone perform on stage. An awful lot of talent has been discovered and the wheels have started turning. If this is what they can produce from scratch in a few days, we can't wait to see what the future holds for these young rockers.
Enjoy these photos of the 'Big Gig! If you have any comments please feel free to contact us and let us know.
(Place your cursor over the pictures to see the photo captions)
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Posted - Wed 22nd April - am
What a Night!!
The WSOR Big Gig took place on Friday 17th April and it was magnificent.
The bands were absolutely fantastic and the presentation so professional. Bands performed all their own compositions live and for the first time in front of a fantastic, supportive and appreciative audience.
This gig was not like an amateur gig at all. The acts all showed off what they had learned in the workshops during the holidays and showed the quality of the instruction they had received. The overall performance looked very professional and high quality.
The show was opened by instructors Sandy, Aldie and Easy and they showed off their skills and ability for the kids to see how it could be done.
If you missed the gig or wish to see it again, watch this space, because the whole event was professionally video'd and digitally recorded. If you would like to be informed when they are available, please fill in the form here and we'll let you know as soon as the edited DVD is available.
Check out the photos here. More available soon.
Don't miss the next gig which will be a Battle of the Bands competition on Friday 29th May, same venue. Tickets can be reserved in advance by emailing here or calling Lee on 01993 832 216.
More BIG GIG Photos
Posted Sat 25th April 2009
These ones were supplied by Nathaniel's and Iona's friend Sue ... many thanks. Don't forget, with the slide shows on this site, keep your cursor over the picture to get all the captions.
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Posted - Friday 10th April - pm
WSOR link with COMMOTION 09
Witchwood School of Rock is linking with COMMOTION 09, the festival especiallydesigned for families. It will be taking place on 6 June ’09 and kicking off with the ‘Rock Idol – Battle of the Bands’, judged by Alex James from Blur and Steve Lipson. First prize is a professional recording session and performance of the song on Oxford TV.
One band will be entered from the Witchwood School of Rock and that band will be decided by members of the School. We will be holding a special School of Rock contest in the half term holidays, 25 – 29 May with the actually Battle of the Bands heat being decided by a performance at 7pm Friday 29 May. The winner, who will go through and play in the Rock Idol Battle of the Bands at Commotion 09, will be decided on the night by secret ballot. Only the attendees of the half term School of Rock will be eligible to vote.
Find out more about the Commotion 09 from their website at
Sandy and Aldie will also be holding a songwriting workshop at the festival. Details to be announced when available.
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Posted - Friday 10th April - pm
Easter Holidays workshops are a hit!
Bands were formed, songs were written, friends were made and everybody had a great time. Bands were able to perform on stage at least twice everyday and have their performance video'd for analysis. Bands even had a chance to perform in an impromtu 'outdoor' concert in the lovely sunshine that we enjoyed all week.
"The change in confidence and stage performance was amazing!" said Lee (School of Rock Tutor) following the performances on Friday, "It was a really great week".
Artists worked on all areas of performing from the material to the soundcheck to stagecraft and stage presence. On the Friday, the bands were able to dress up a bit, and perform on stage with smoke and lights. Again, all was video'd as part of the learning process.
The first week was such a success that many of the artists have signed on to do the second week.
week one
Some photos from the first week of the Easter School of Rock. Everybody had a great time and learned loads. Confidence on stage grew with every performance and artist often performed on stage twice a day.
(Click on the photo to see a larger version.)
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Alex develops his stagecraft
Alex stands up to get the crowd going
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The Light Men
Harry and Aidan have a go on the lights desk
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Taking it all in
Rear view of all the artists during the classroom sessions
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Jack tells a funny story
Jack's stage confidence grew so much over the week that he performed a standup routine on the final day.
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Bad Hair Day
Craig tries out one of the wigs brought down for the photo shoot
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Henry on Lights
Henry gets in the swing of things. Dressing up to do the lights!
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Rock Star Energy Drink
Is this how Mourning Glory kept up their energy levels?
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Aldie passing on years of experience
Kids as young as 6 managed to focus during the classroom sessions
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Classroom sessions in the big hall
subjects from sound checks to stagecraft were covered
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Aldie's knee
Some of the kids asked why Aldie was limping ... he showed them this
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Black & White group shot
Poster shot of week one kids on stage
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Aidan Rocks in the open air
The hall's first outdoor concert
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Alex outdoors
Wednesday's open air concert
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Backfire rockin' out
Enjoying the sunshine on Wednesday
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Haiz with Sandy
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More Haiz
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Harry on Bass
In the spring sunshine
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The Hotrods!
With Easy guesting on bass and vox
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More of the Hotrods
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Lizzie playing in the open air
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Mourning Glory
Nat, Craig, Henry & Brodie
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More Mourning Glory
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More outdoor Mourning Glory
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Mourning Glory
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Easter SOR Week 2
Finally after all the delay, here are some of the stills from week 2. Enjoy.
(remember to place the cursor over the picture to see all the captions) We welcome you comments and submissions at contact us.
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Posted - Tuesday 31st March - pm
The Big Gig!
Here's the date for your diaries ... Friday 17th April 2009.
On this night we will be showcasing the talents of the bands and individuals who will have attended the Easter Holiday School of Rock. Keep this evening free as you must be available to support your favourite act.
Refreshments, including wine and lager will be available.
WINa pink stratocaster style guitar. Each entry ticket comes with extra raffle tickets for the prize draw. You can of course increase your chances of winning by purchasing more raffle tickets on the night.
For many of the acts, this will be their first gig, so grab all you friends and relatives and drag them down to support. It's going to be a great night and your support means that the kids will get a real buzz from the event and remember it for ever.
Tickets are only £1 each. You can't buy them in advance but you can reserve batches of tickets by calling Lee on 01993 832 216. If you get the answerphone, just leave your details and how many tickets you'd like to reserve.
(proceeds will go towards buying rock lighting and sound reinforcement for the the hall).
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Posted - Tuesday 31st March - pm
FREE at last!
After spending nearly 1/2 a month in hospital, Aldie has finally been released on good behavior.
For those who weren't aware, Aldie has had problems with his knees for a fair old while. Two years ago he had his left knee replaced with an artificial one but it got badly infected. As a result he had to spend many weeks in hospital and has been unable to walk without a stick for 18 months. Then he had his knee removed and a cement spacer put in for a short period (supposed to be 6 weeks) after which, if the infection was completely gone, a new one would be put in. Unfortunately, there was a mix up with the dates and 6 weeks turned into 6 months! Along time not to have a knee. Anyway, as a result of not being able to bend his knee for so long, Aldie is unable to get anywhere near the right amount of bend from his knee. It means that for the next 6 weeks, he'll be doing extensive physiotherepy and if the bend range increases he will be able to lead a fairly normal life. Otherwise it's back to hospital for more work.
Posted - Tuesday 31st March - pm
Apologies. The site hasn't been updated for the last 12 days because Aldie has been on his back in hospital. But he's back now and daily updates means that you can keep track on all the latest developments.
Don't forget to use our 'Contact Us' page to ask questions and make suggestions
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Posted - Monday 18th March - am
Easter Holidays are going to be fantastic! It's all geared to performing live so the climax of the holiday will be the Showcase/fundraiser gig on Friday 17th April.
This is an important event so we've created a page just for Easter Holiday Rock Workshops.
Check it out and BOOK EARLY(Places are limited and over 20 people have booked the 2nd week already. Don't hang around!)
Tom Taylor breaks into Kerchoonz Top 10
At the moment Tom is leading the competition and he's the first of our artists to enter the Top 10.
There's still a month to go in the competition so everybody get downloading and get all your friends to download! The sooner the better.
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Posted - Monday 16th March - pm
More News for today
- The new date for the launch of the Witchwood Guitar Club launch is now Thursday 23rd April 2009. The venue will be the Conference Room at New Beaconsfield Hall.
More private lessons in Wychwood
After the Easter school holidays, private lessons for Guitar, Bass, Drums, Vocals and Bands will be available in Shipton-under-Wychwood.
A new page on this website will be dedicated to it.
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Posted - Monday 16th March - am
News for today
- Tom Taylor moves closer to UK Top Ten - He's at #11 this morning
After a busy weekend of downloading, all our acts are on the UK Chart top 100 and starting to climb. Tom is leading the race but it's very early days, day 3 in fact. So everyone get contacting every one you know, get them excited to help you and get them to contact everyone they know! And get them to download.
- Aldie is going into Hospital on Thursday 19th
Last week was a washout. Aldie got to hospital, got changed and into bed, bloods taken, leg marked with an arrow. Then half an hour before his operation the power fails. Normally not a problem because of the back up generators. But they fail as well. So the surgeons decide to finish up the current operations on reserve battery power and send the rest of the scheduled ops home. Including Aldie.
Good news is, he's got another date through very quickly. So he's going in on Thursday for 5 to 10 days.
Let's hope he makes it to the operation table this time!
- Guitar Club Postponed
Originally the Guitar Club was due to start this week on Thursday, 7.30 - 9 pm. Unfortunately this is going to be postponed due to Aldie's operation.
We've started a Guitar Club Page on this website and we should be able to put some information all about the club on the page later this week, maybe even later today.
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Posted - Sunday 15th March 10.15am
Music Lessons Move to Beaconsfield Hall
Secret Music (Sandy's Private Music lessons) have booked the committee room at New Beaconsfield Hall for private lessons.
If you feel that you would benefit from 'one on one' or small group lessons on a Weds Eve in Shipton, please contact Sandy on 01993 704 467 for more information.
Lessons are available for Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, Vocals, Song Writing, Sound Engineering, Recording and Bands.
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Posted - Sunday 9am 15th March '09
If you haven't been monitoring www.Kerchoonz.com regularly you should sign up and do so immediately. Check the Blogs and check out the charts and download your favourite songs.
Here's a copy of the latest Blog.
Tom Taylor Reaches #13 in UK Charts
As the charts stand at 9am on Sunday Morning (15th March), Tom Taylor is #13 on the Kerchoonz UK Charts and #19 world wide for Downloads. That's with 34 Downloads. Check out the charts by following the link at the very top of the page on the right (just after 'My Profile'.
Here are the other Witchwood Rockers ( the fist number is thiner UK Chart positions, the 2nd is world wide and the number of down loads is in brackets):
Artist UK Chart Worldwide
Tom Taylor (34 downloads) #13, #19
Nathaniel & Marnie (22 downloads) #17, #25
J Jail Band (11 downloads) #28, #39
Nife Sedj ( 6 downloads) #35, #53
7 Car Pile Up ( 5 downloads) #38, #58
BioHazard ( 4 downloads) #42, #64
Box Head Rock ( 2 downloads) #48, #77
The Blondes, Red Warlock, Vintage and Cosmic Skeletons didn't make the worldwide top 100 but made it onto the UK charts at positions 61 to 64 respectively. They all had 1 down load.
Plays Chart
In addition, as of 9am Sunday 15th March, Nathaniel and Marnie are in the UK charts at #12 for Plays (14 plays) and at #24 in the Worldwide charts.
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Posted - Friday 13th March '09 - Wicked Awards Night is a great success.
Earlier this evening the School of Rock finished hosting their first ever awards night. The vibe was excellent and after the awards were all given out we had the count down to the start of the Kerchoonz competition. Sandy and Lee fired off two 4 foot confetti canons to mark the kick off the event.
The event was videoed. Lee's converting it to DVD disc.
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Friday 13th March - 4pm
UPCOMING NEWS ITEMS
We've just created this web site and in a couple of hours time we have our Friday the 13th Wicked Awards Night. That should give you an idea of how rushed this web site is at the moment. Immediately after the Awards we'll be coming back and updating as much as we can.
Please fill in the contact form and let us know all the things that you would like to have included on this web site and we'll try our best to accommodate your ideas.
