Rock Garage brings live local bands to Speedway’s ‘Rock on Main’

The Rock Garage formed during the pandemic and since then they’ve been able to bring more than two dozen bands to the vogue and helped people ages 7 to 90 come together for lessons and form bands.

You can also see some of their bands playing June 4th and 5th at one of the oldest Indianapolis Music Bars, Melody INN (Illinois and 38th). It opened in 1935 and their booths are the old Teepee Booths (Indiana State Fair Grounds).

Today, we were joined by The Rock Garage band, “The Interim Project.” They performed two of their original songs, “Win or Lose” and “Double Shot.”

As pandemic conditions have pushed the annual Carb Day celebration outside the gates of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Rock Garage will help fill the void by taking over one of the main stages on Main Street in Speedway, during the town’s annual Rockin On Main event. Rock Garage will schedule more than two dozen bands to play on stage for 8 solid hours while visitors enjoy all the food, fun and features of this great event. Fans of Speedway tradition will also get to see and hear the famous Gordon Pipers play on stage and throughout the festival.

Rockin On Main will take place Friday, May 28, on Main Street in Speedway from 16^th Street to Ford Street, which will be blocked off for pedestrians only. Three stages of live music, beer gardens (with proceeds to benefit the Speedway COVID-19 Relief Fund), food trucks, vendors and local restaurants will be set up on Main Street for visitors. While listening to the music, visitors can check out a handful of vintage Indy Race Cars, including the 1963 Parnelli Jones, 1932 Miller and the 1972 Bobby Unser car.

“We are very proud to bring our unique blend of amateur rock musicians and bands to this great event on Carb Day and we hope it will inspire others to dust off their guitars and join our movement to fill the Indy area’s small, local music venues with great music as we emerge from the pandemic,” said Dave Foellinger, co-owner of the Castleton-based music lesson center and rock band program.

Rock Garage is a program open to all skill sets from beginner to advanced. If you’ve ever had a dream of performing on stage, Rock Garage is designed to make that happen. We’ve built a system of instruction, rehearsal, and performance second to none.

The Speedway event is free to visitors, but Rock Garage will be accepting donations for the non-profit Indiana Independent Venue Alliance, whose mission is to help small businesses, whose livelihoods depend on live music. These venues have suffered due to the pandemic closures and restrictions. There will also be an opportunity for visitors to learn more about The Rock Garage and become a new member.

“This will be a great day for so many of our musicians who have been working together and honing their skills at smaller venues during the pandemic,” added Foellinger. “We have more than 125 members who are either taking lessons from our experts or have been placed in one of our bands, or both. They bring different talents and different skill levels, but they all share a love of playing live music on stage!”

Rock Garage was born out of the Pandemic shutdown when Dave & Kate Foellinger, Steve & Kimberly Klinger and Preston & Rocky Nash joined forces to start a Facebook group for musicians to talk about music, upload their songs and share ideas. The group grew to more than 800 members from all over the world and eventually led to establishing a new website and a physical location in the summer of 2020. The Castleton business, located at 8115 Center Run Road, has three large rooms for bands to rehearse and record their music, and smaller rooms for private lessons.

Rock Garage’s program is built upon the principles of band chemistry, live experience, and having a good time. Rock Garage places its members into bands who, under the guidance of one of our professional music directors, choose or create their own music and then play on stage at a variety of small venues across central Indiana.

In addition to being placed in bands, individuals who are just starting out can choose online or in-person lessons for guitar, bass, drums, ukulele, mandolin, banjo, and vocals. All lessons and band assignments are open to both adults and children.

For more information visit, RockGarageMusic.com, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIN.