NAMM 2016: The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus

Michael Hepworth

By Michael Cohan

Anaheim Convention Center, CA (Perfect Music Today) 2/2/16—This is third year I’ve attended this NAMM event and have walked jubilantly around the John Lennon bus and have checked out its surroundings. This year I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Brian Rothschild the Executive Director and got a chance to tour the inside of this magnificent bus.

“John life’s legacy was for peace and to put no limits on imagination”

The mission of their non-profit organization is to provide a fully functional mobile recording studio with HD video recording and production facilities. Brian further explains during my interview and the following is the full excerpt from our conversation:

We provide young people with free hands on opportunities to create original music, video, and all kinds of digital media projects. We showcase technologies that can become career paths for many kids who would never realize that there is definitively more going on behind the lead singer or star at the center of the stage.

A crew of three engineers lives on the bus and work with the students each day to create original content. Every day you can find someone working on songs, short films, or production of a live event at music festivals or other locations that feature guest artists. These musicians are more than happy to provide interviews to those aspiring for careers in the music industry. Other scenarios could be learning about camera and production, workflows, and switching.

The bus is divided into three studios separated by sound proof glass doors. This is a major feature of the bus. The front is the video productions suite, the middle is the digital music room, and the back is the isolation studio for acoustic recordings and its Chromatte (green screen) booth for creating colorful backdrops. Of course, you can just leave the doors open to create one large studio. Amazing!

Of course, this is all made possible by the support of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. There are numerous accolades to the memory of John inside the bus. His likeness adoring table tops and a replica of the Imagine Peace Tower that Yoko built in Iceland that reminds us that peace and love connects us all. Many sponsors include companies like Yamaha, Audio-Technica, Sony, NAMM show exhibitors and countless others. In fact, all the products on board the bus are contributed by their sponsors.

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus makes approximately 200 stops annually seeing roughly a quarter of a million students each year. NAMM represents their nationwide kickoff tour for the new year. With the advent of the internet we now have more awareness of a broader range of music so we can continue the mission of the bus by continuing to bridge the gap and educate the young of different styles and genres of music.

I thanked Brian for taking the time to answer some questions and his informative interview. Remember that John life’s legacy was for peace and to put no limits on imagination. Join Yoko and her undying love and spirit for her husband by visiting Lennonbus.org and tour the bus! http://www.lennonbus.org/

• LENNON BUS LAUNCHES 2016 TOUR AT NAMM SHOWThe Lennon Bus kicks off its 19th year with blues legend Dr. John & the Nite Trippers, John Lennon Songwriting Contest ‘Song of the Year’ Winners The Rare Occasions, and Presenting Sponsor Canon U.S.A., Inc
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• YAHOO FINANCE-Yoko Ono, Lennon Bus Host Guinness World Records® Attempt: Largest Human Peace SignImagine Peace Celebration Is Part Of Bus’ NYC Residency To Celebrate 75th Anniversary Of Lennon’s Birth