Take six very talented young people, put them together in a band that plays music written before any of them were born, and you get The Headliners.
Performing the songs of Chuck Berry, Dire Straits and other classic rock musicians, The Headliners took first place in the youth division at Airdrie Public Library’s Battle of the Bands at ¡Glitch! Gaming Lounge in the spring.
Ranging in age from 15 to 17, it was a win that surprised them but also confirmed what they love doing.
“Any of the bands could have won, but we were so together,” says singer Liz Turner. “It was an energy I’ve never experienced.”
Lead guitarist Francis Freckleton adds it was the loudest they’d ever played, but also, “the most fun we’d ever had.”
Bassist Tysen Boyd chimes in: “It felt like after all the practice, we just locked in.”
Rhythm guitarist and vocalist Leah Carr sums it up. “There was a moment when you knew you’d got the crowd, you’d got the song and, no matter what happened next, that moment was so good, no one’s going to remember what came after,” Carr says.
Turner, Carr, Freckleton and Boyd, along with fellow members Paul Triska and Ashlynn Lavallèe, attended different high schools, but met at Airdrie Music Lessons (AML), where director Anthony Burbidge put them together three years ago in one of the Rock Band programs he offers.
“We’re good together,” keyboardist Lavallèe explains. “Anthony had us playing in shows outside of our lesson times.”
The Headliners have performed at the Festival of Lights, Peace in the Park and, more recently, the grand opening of Inspire, which was one of the Battle of the Bands’ winning perks.
Triska, who plays drums, came up with the band’s current name.
“We were originally called The Leaches,” he says to a chorus of laughter from his bandmates. He explains that they often shared, or “leached” off of one set of music during practices.
They wanted to change their name and, because Burbidge seemed to always put them at the end of sets, Triska had an idea.
“Being the final act all the time, it was sort of like we were the headliners, and it stuck,” Triska says.
Multi-instrumentalists, the band members either attend classes or teach them, or volunteer at AML. Carr, who recently graduated high school, began attending AML when she was six.
“I’ve learned so much about myself and these people [her bandmates],” she says. “It’s been a great opportunity.”
Turner, also a recent graduate, agrees: “It’s basically teaching kids music, and you learn a lot about it that way.”
Burbidge, an Airdrie singer-songwriter, started AML as a home-based studio 15 years ago, and has grown it into an award-winning centre with more than 20 staff. He says The Headliners are some of the best young musicians he’s ever seen.
“Most of them have been doing music since they were little, but what makes them special is that they’re not competitive with each other,” he says. “It’s magic how they work together. I always encourage friendships in the bands, and they’re honestly friends.”
The bandmates practise weekly, often in Triska’s parents’ basement, and plan to keep on performing and growing as a band.
“We’re working on writing our own songs,” Lavallèe says.
Adds Triska: “I personally can’t wait to see what our original stuff is like, because we do have a broad range of musical interests and inspirations.”
Indeed, Triska’s into hard rock, Freckleton is a fan of the blues, Boyd likes heavy metal, Turner and Carr enjoy classic rock, and Lavallèe says she’ll “listen to anything.”
“If we combined all our musical tastes together, it could be something totally new,” Turner says.
Boyd summarizes the band’s ambitions: “I’d like to reach for the stars, of course. We’ll see.”
Airdrie Music Lessons is located at 204 1 Ave. N.E., airdriemusiclessons.com.
