Legendary Guitarist Steve Vai Lends Support to
Little Kids Rock and Music Education
Mr. Vai joins the Little Kids Rock Honorary
Board of Directors
May 19, 2005 – Los Angeles, CA - Little Kids
Rock (LKR) an innovative non-profit program that provides free instruments
and free music classes to children, announced today that legendary
guitarist, Steve Vai, will be accepting a seat on their Honorary
Board of Directors. Mr. Vai will be joining current Honorary Board
Members Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, BB King, Jason Newsted, Les Paul,
Dave Mason and pitcher Al Leiter.
"I wanted to do my part to address the fact that music programs
for kids are disappearing at an unprecedented rate," says Mr.
Vai. "My own home state of California ranks 50th in the country
for access to music and arts education. Those of us in the music
word are in a unique position to help bring awareness to the problem
and I think that Little Kids Rock does fantastic work."
"Having an artist of Mr. Vai's stature support our efforts
is a real treat," say Executive Director and founder David
Wish. "It also reminds us that those performers that we all
love and admire understand first-hand the value that music education
has for kids. Cut backs in music education continue despite a mounting
body of scientific research that indicates that music education
brings to students a wide array of benefits. California has been
particularly hard hit by these cuts."
Mr. Wish went on to cite a recent study that shows that in California
there has been an alarming 27% decline in music teachers and 50%
decline of students involved with music programs over the past 5
years. This decline is significantly larger than in any academic
subject, making it clear that cuts in music are disproportionate
to others. Even though the "No Child Left Behind Act"
categorizes music education as a "core academic subject,"
millions of children receive no music education whatsoever.
About Steve Vai
From his self-released solo debut "Flex-Able" (1984) to
his most recent "Real Illusions: Reflections" (Sony 2005),
Vai creates a sound all his own by striking a balance between technical
ability and poetic phrasing. Mr. Vai first stepped into the spotlight
in 1980 as a guitarist in Frank Zappa's band. But Vai's indelible
contribution to music came during his solo career, which includes
combined sales of nearly six million albums. His debut - "Flex-Able"
(1984, self-released) –set the stage for Vai's most influential
and best-selling album – "Passion and Warfare" (1990,
Relativity). The album expanded the lexicon of rock guitar and ushered
in an era of guitar virtuosos in the early '90s.
Mr. Vai is also the President of Favored Nations Entertainment,
a unique label that is dedicated to a breed of artists that have
attained the highest performance level on their chosen instruments.
Favored Nations' releases are aimed at the music lover who is passionate
about real musicianship.
About Little Kids Rock
Little Kids Rock believes that music is a critical component
of first-rate education. Many elementary schools have
been stripped of their music programs. These cuts have
had a disproportionately large impact on children from
low-income backgrounds. Little Kids Rock restores music
to its rightful place in the academic lives of kids
in our public schools by providing a rich music education
program including instrument instruction, free instruments
and trained mentors. Founded by a single elementary
school teacher in 1996, Little Kids Rock is now serving
more than 4,000 students in CA, NY, NJ and TN. Bonnie
Raitt, Paul Simon, B.B. King and Les Paul sit on our
Honorary Board of Directors and we are supported by
friends Carlos Santana, Phish, Bob Weir and others.
More information can be found at: www.littlekidsrock.org
Media Contact:
Allison Neves,
PR Director
Little Kids Rock
415-948-1200
allison@littlekidsrock.org
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