Former Blue Öyster Cult drummer inspires students
NEW YORK - Some music students in Morningside Heights are learning from a member of one of the most iconic bands of the late 1970s. On a Fender electric guitar in a basement, bare-bones music room, Blue Öyster Cult's former drummer Albert Bouchard is inspiring a new generation of musicians.
The students who attend Edward Reynolds West Side High are here because their other school didn't work out. Audrey Ducasse says she needed a fresh start, she is one of the benefactors of the school's structure and teachers like Bouchard.
21st Century Fox has a long history of supporting creativity and the arts. In a partnership with Give a Note Foundation, I had the honor of giving the music department a $3,000 grant.
The program has carved on youngsters who have gone on to make a living with their music. ASAP Rocky is the latest but not the last. Audrey or Max might be the next.
For Bouchard, who largely funds the music department out of his own pocket, whether they make it big or not there are lessons to be learned through the music.
Click here to hear about Blue Öyster Cult's cowbell that inspired a hilarious "SNL" skit.