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Pentucket Regional High School alumni Jon Hayes recently made a return visit to perform his music and teach students about songwriting.
Superintendent Justin Bartholomew and Fine & Performing Arts Department Chair David Schumacher said Hayes, of the class of 2014, is the latest of four different guests to visit Beat Lab, Guitar and choir students. Each provided students with insight into the music industry.
Hayes is an alternative singer and songwriter. Since graduating, he has written several original songs and has toured and performed across the midwest and northeast. During his visit to the high school, Hayes gave students a lesson in songwriting and performed a few of his original songs.
“Working with alumni and local artists is a vital means of connecting with our community and inspiring our students to pursue their creative passions,” said Schumacher. “It humanizes their work because they hear how the challenges they face are shared by those working professionally.”
Earlier guests this semester included “Astronoid” band members Brett Boland and Casey Aylward, both of the class of 2007; beat-maker Ryan Spellman, brother of alum Bobby Spellman of the class of 2006; and North Shore singer/songwriter duo Susan Levine and Doug Kwartler.
Boland and Aylward, who spent the summer on tour with Blink-182, spoke to students about their experience establishing a band and touring internationally.
Spellman used his experience as a beat-maker to teach Beat Lab students tips and tricks for composing beats. Spellman, who produces beats under the artist name “Just Steezy Things,” has accumulated more than 350,000 followers on social media and 15 million streams on Spotify.
Levine and Kwartler, who make up the folk band “The Lied-To’s,” taught students how to use intuition to write music.