PRINTMiddle school of rock
Area kids make good on musical aspirations
ERIK SHOOKMAN
Nick Roberts, Ross Menefee, Austin Culbertson and Isaac Baker of Guilty Party have been together since 2007. The group, which plays a combination of classic rock and original songs, will perform at the Columbia Mall's Cafe Court Patio Oct. 10.
September 25, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
They’re just like any other group of 12- and 13-year-old boys. They want Nintendo Wiis this holiday season, spend hours talking about their friends’ new records on the videogame Call of Duty and listen to their parents complain about how unorganized they are.
The only difference among Isaac Baker, Austin Culbertson, Ross Menefee, Nick Roberts and their classmates at Lange Middle School is that they’ve started their own rock band, Guilty Party. The four friends have been winning competitions throughout Missouri against much older and more experienced bands.
Baker and Menefee formed Guilty Party in February 2007. The two, who share guitar and lead vocal duties, were already in the band Holy Cow, but sought something fresh and original.
A mutual friend introduced the pair to Culbertson, who picked up the drums three week before the group’s formation, and then suggested Roberts, a self-taught bassist. All the boys were in fifth grade at the time, except for Baker, who was in fourth.
Culbertson and Menefee write the lyrics for most of the band’s original songs. The group also covers a variety of tracks from Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Nirvana, among others. The band members focus on classic rock and hope to write more original songs as they become more experienced.
The boys’ parents manage the band. “They manage everything in our lives,” Baker says. “Waking up, going to school, what we eat and now the band.” Baker, Menefee and Culbertson’s fathers have all played in bands — most notably Byron Baker in Cashmere, Sheryl Crow’s pre-stardom group.
The band members and their parents say it is not difficult managing the band and schoolwork. They practice once a week, usually at the Baker or Menefee houses.
“Academics come first; everyone in the band knows that,” Jimmy Culbertson says. The parents believe music is just like any other extracurricular activity, and because of that, the boys have little pressure or problems balancing the band with other activities. The band plays at the Columbia Mall’s Cafe Court Patio for free some weekends and will be playing at The Blue Note Nov. 22 for the Humane Society’s benefit concert.
In March, the band won first place in the middle school division of MU’s Creating Original Music Project songwriting competition. In August, they won the first place prize — $1,000 and 10 hours of recording time — at the RockFEST Battle of the Bands in Mexico, Mo.
“They’re going to go somewhere,” says Lois Brace, director of the RockFEST competition. “I don’t know what their intentions are, but they’re somebody to keep your eye on. If you have a picture, have them sign it now — you’ll be in line for hours in a few years.”
The boys hope to one day be as popular as their favorite band, Avenged Sevenfold. “I really want to go to [one of their] concerts,” Austin Culbertson says. “But dude, it sucks, I’m not old enough.”
