Mountainside Teen Performs at CBGB Festival in Times Square

Mountainside resident Teddy Cole, a 16 year-old music student at the School of Rock afterschool music program in Chatham, performed at the CBGB Festival in Times Square on Sunday, October 12. Cole played with the School of Rock AllStars, which is comprised of some of the top young musicians from across the tri-state area.

“Being a part of the CBGB Festival was extremely exciting,” says Cole, who shared the stage with Devo, Jane’s Addiction, We Are Scientists, Robert DeLong, and Surfer Blood. “The crowd was huge, and their energy was better and stronger than anything I’ve ever experienced.”

The School of Rock AllStars is a select group of young musicians ranging in age from 12 to 17. School of Rock students who wish to join the AllStars take part in a coast-to-coast audition process before a national panel of judges. The top 1.5 percent of School of Rock musicians from across the United States is ultimately invited to join the AllStars, and they perform at major festivals, concerts, and events throughout the year.

“Any student who studies at School of Rock Chatham and meets the program requirements has the opportunity to audition for, and possibly be part of, the AllStars,” says School of Rock Chatham General Manager Jamie Lima. “Our unique performance-based curriculum builds confidence and joy that extends into all of our students’ social lives, academic endeavors, and of course, live shows. When parents see this transformation, they’re blown away. And based on the reaction of the crowd to the performance of Teddy and his band at the CBGB Festival, they were pretty blown away as well.”

The one-hour set that Cole and his AllStar bandmates played at the CBGB Festival included Patti Smith’s “Because the Night”, Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”, Queens of the Stone Age’s “No One Knows”, and the Jackson Sister’s “I Believe In Miracles”.

When he’s not rocking the stage in front of tens of thousands of punk-loving music fans in Times Square, Cole is a junior at Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights.