Sponsored by
Rok stars of the future
If such things as real live music producers still exist they should catch the next train to Haywards Heath.
The town's best kept secret has just blown its cover in the form of the singers and performers of Hereward Kaye's incredible Rok Skool.
Former Flying Pickets' lead singer Hereward founded Rok Skool in Bridge Road, Haywards Heath, 16 months ago with the vision of helping aspiring young pop and rock musicians.
And in their Cool Yule Show at Clair Hall the school's pupils shone as the stars of the future.
The show, staged for the pupils by Hereward and his elder son and business partner Leon, was as sleek as you can get in a performance by amateurs. Although this was a night for the next generation of stars, it is hard to ignore the enormous talents of those leading them, namely Hereward and Leon.
Hereward, a successful composer and a former lead singer with keyboardist Rik Wakeman as well as the Flying Pickets, accompanied, discreetly in the background, nearly every act on either keyboard or acoustic guitar.
Leon, an established singer in his own right, played keyboard, electric guitar and sang with several of the bands or soloists. His voice and stage presence filled in the gaps that Rok Skool's pupils lacked simply by virtue of their youth.
Perhaps most notably, Leon accompanied his younger brother Rory, 13, in You'll Never Walk Alone and together they were a formidable duo. Rory, it seems, has inherited the Kaye genes for singing.
Other soloists were equally noteworthy, including Holly Tasker who played keyboards and sang O Holy Night with a voice rich in tone and gospel resonance.
Isabel Downing, too, is a talent we should hear more of and her rendition of Katie Melua's hit Closest Thing to Crazy was delivered beautifully after a few bars that revealed her nervousness. Equally talented was an even younger Mia Foden singing Christina Aguilera's song Hurt with what seemed like the voice of a woman coming from a child.
But probably what Rok Skool specialises in most is its bands and eight of them were given the chance to perform.
With names like crikeymikey, U Can't See Me, Convikted and Rascal, each one was in the market for doing things their own way.
Among the band members were some big personalities plucking guitars, strutting quiffs and cool jackets and vocalising their dreams with such determination that it was unnerving to see them afterwards and discover that some were barely five foot tall.
In summary, this was a show that oozed coolness with crowd pleasers like The Jackson Five's Rockin' Robin, Springsteen's Santa Claus is Coming to Town, the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations and Lennon's Happy Christmas (War is Over) and a finale by all the contributors of the Band Aid hit Do They Know It's Christmas?
But it was more too – it was a demonstration of excellence by an organisation that we can all celebrate is now well and truly on the map and here, in Haywards Heath.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Haywards Heath
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
