"Band Together For NYC III" Brings FORTUNE 500 Musicians Center Stage to Raise Money for Little Kids Rock

FORTUNE’s Battle of the Corporate Bands and Off Wall Street Jam Outfit NYC Schools with Music Programs

April 14, 2004 – Montclair, NJ - Little Kids Rock (LKR), a non-profit music education program that provides free instruments and instruction to children in public schools, announced today that it will be the recipient of funds generated from the Third Annual Band Together by NYC, a benefit featuring corporate rockers. The event will take place at the Lion’s Den in New York City on April 30th at 7pm. The $20 tickets will support LKR’s mission of restoring music education programming in public schools. Tickets for the event may be purchased directly from the Lion’s Den web site www.cegmusic.com/lionsden/ or at the show. The Lion’s Den is located at 214 Sullivan Street in New York City.

Band Together For NYC was the brainchild of corporate rockers Bill Bennett and Charles Mangano to raise money and donate instruments to public schools impacted by the events of 9/11. The first event came about in 2001 when Bill and Charlie, with the help of the "FORTUNE Battle of the Corporate Bands", invited bands made up of business executives to play in New York. That first event drew 300+ spectators and earned enough money to buy guitars, amps and drums for two public high school music programs.

This year, Little Kids Rock has become involved to make sure the legacy of this benefit grows and succeeds at introducing public school kids to the great opportunities music provides. The program this year will include two bands from Off Wall Street Jam: "The Rolling Bones" and "Newspaper Taxi". For the third year, Band Together will also feature "The Difference" from Air Products, a FORTUNE 500 company based in Allentown, PA. The Difference were the inaugural winners of the 2001 FORTUNE Battle of the Corporate Bands and they enjoy a loyal fan base who make this event an annual pilgrimage to New York City. The fourth band is "The Prowlers" featuring FORTUNE managing editor Rik Kirkland and FORTUNE Small Business magazine's editorial director, Brian Dumaine.

"Collectively, these bands represent the best of corporate America making a commitment to kids and rock and roll, added Charles Mangano, co-founder of Band Together for NYC. "This is exactly the right partnership for Little Kids Rock, an organization that is taking the country by storm as they work to bring music programming back to our kids."

"It is so wonderful to work with successful folks from the business community who understand the value of 'giving back,'" said David Wish, Executive Director of Little Kids Rock.

Bill Bennett ran Off Wall Street Jam (www.owsj.com) in NY bringing together amateur musicians who made their living in corporate America. Charles Mangano is one of those executives. Together they played for The Rolling Bones, a band that competed at the FORTUNE Battle of the Corporate Bands at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 2001 and 2002. Bill was always committed to the music scene in lower Manhattan and to public school kids and this benefit was one of the many ways Bill contributed back. Sadly, Bill died in a car accident in late 2003 and this benefit lives on in his memory.

Other support for this event comes from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum as well as Gibson Custom guitars.

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 2,000 students in CA, NY, NJ and TN. Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, BB King and Les Paul sit on our Honorary Board of Directors and we are supported by friends Carlos Santana, Phish, Bob Weir and others. Little Kids Rock programs are scheduled to launch in the Los Angeles area in 2004.

Media Contact:
Allison Neves, PR Director
Little Kids Rock
415-948-1200
allison@littlekidsrock.org