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Show Local Youth Place Second in Battle of the Bands, with Tour of John Lennon Bus, January 21, 2004 MATTHEW HATFIELD/The Associated Press Curtis Funk plays piano with his band, Play It By Ear, during a recording session in a mobile recording studio on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. The bus travels the country conducting workshops to promote musical and visual education. Play It By Ear Succeeds Group enjoys John Lennon Educational Tour Bus time by RINDY FLORES Standard-Examiner correspondent Roy Play It By Ear, a local band from Roy High School, got a once-in-a-lifetime chance to board the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus to record one of their songs. Play It By Ear, a band made up of four high school buddies, won the Standard-Examiner's Battle of the Bands on Dec. 13, defeating six other local high school bands. PIBE's band members, Colby Sherman (lead singer), Brad Hansen (bass), Curtis Funk (keyboard) and Kollin Brinkerhoff (drums), kicked off their big day with an assembly for all of Roy High on Tuesday. PIBE played a set of songs, including "Air Guitar" and "High and Dry," after being introduced by Jeff Sobel, who has worked on the John Lennon bus for three years now. "These guys definitely know what For more coverage StandardNET To hear songs by Play It By Ear, go to www.standard.net they are doing and have a lot of talent," Sobel said. The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is a nonprofit, mobile recording studio outfitted with traditional musical instruments, as well as current technological advances. Since 1998, the bus has provided free hands-on programs to hundreds of high schools, colleges, Boys and Girls Clubs, musical festivals, concerts, conventions and community organizations. "We weren't really sure if we were going to win or not, because a lot of the bands did cover songs and sounded really good; we thought it had to be original lyrics, so that made us a little nervous," Sherman said of the competition. "Power Storm was really good; we were worried about the competition from them," Hansen said. After the assembly, a handful of Roy High students, as well as second- and third-place winners from the Battle of the Bands, toured the bus where Sobel gave a basic rundown of how the equipment and recording process works. Todd Spencer, a sophomore from Fremont High and band member of Power Storm, second-place winners, toured the John Lennon bus and said, "This is such a great opportunity for all bands out there." Tuesday afternoon, PIBE recorded their song "Change" with the guidance of Sobel, who fine-tuned the band's instruments with the high-tech equipment, and after a few practices, the band got it together and recorded "Change." "It was so condensed, but it was cool |