The band "Kiss" is touring across the nation this summer. On Saturday the group visited the Brennan Rock and Roll Academy in Sioux Falls. The academy dedicated rooms to each of the band members.
Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer, Paul Stanley and Eric Singer each have practice rooms at the Brennan Rock and Roll Academy dedicated to them. The band was in town for the dedication on Saturday afternoon. The groups bass guitarist Gene Simmons says this new Rock and Roll academy is almost like a school to learn how to be a rock star. He says he wishes he had something like this when he was growing up.
"I taught myself like everybody. We all taught ourselves. The idea that you can have kids who can get some professional help in getting here. Here’s how you play, here’s what a chord looks like, here’s what a kick in a snare does, it’s a big you know it’s a leap forward. It’s like taking the express train; much faster to maybe having bigger self-aspirations," Simmons says.
Simmons says this is also a place where kids can make their own decisions in a life of rules.
"Aside from school, aside from mom and dad where there are rules; finally they get a chance to decide for themselves, how and what to do and how they feel about stuff. This is a life changing place. It’s going to affect positively, lots of kids," Simmons says.
He says this is a program that can keep kids off the streets and out of trouble. Simmons says he has been to a lot of different cities but none with a school to actually teach kids the rock and roll basics. He says Sioux Falls could play a role in finding the next big thing.
"And the next kid who’s going to change people’s lives may as well come from right here," Simmons says.
"Kiss" was in Sioux Falls for the opening of the Academy in March but not all members were able to make it. This is the first time the group has been to Sioux Falls in recent years with all four of its members present.