Member-only story
Rock-and-roll Ain’t Dead
In fact, it's being saved by a growing Facebook group
To borrow from Mark Twain, the rumors of rock’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Over the years, rock has been reported to have been on life support, near death, dead- or worse, irrelevant. Unfortunately, this cycle seems to repeat every few years. The recent death of Eddie Van Halen, who I consider a guitar god and a personal rock hero, has brought this topic to the forefront of my mind once again. It certainly seems to be the end of an era - but is it the end of Rock and Roll? Of course not. In fact, I’ve never been more sure of its survival and coming resurgence.
As a music lover and audiophile, I am continually looking for the next rock band to fall in love with. I used to endlessly search the web in hopes of finding an article that just might point me in the right direction. Recently in the course of my searches, I came across a Facebook group called The New Wave of Classic Rock (NWOCR). The group champions new and upcoming bands from around the globe and gives them a place to increase their visibility and grow their fan base. The NWOCR currently has almost 20,000 group members and although it is a private group, one only needs to profess their love of Rock to become a member. The group was started in October 2017 because the founding members felt there were many new bands coming through playing new music influenced by the classic rock bands of the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and “noughties.” The one caveat is that the bands cannot have had anything released prior to 2010. Many of the band members are active members in the group and they actually respond to messages from fans.
This group has helped rejuvenate my workout and has made the mirrors in my Jeep vibrate once again on my morning commute. I could not be happier. I have found bands from the U.S., England, Australia, Denmark, and more. They are diverse. They are incredible - and many are bands I would have not normally found.
Over the last 9 months, while the world has been shuttered from Covid-19, NWOCR has continued to give these bands a platform to perform through a series of Webfests. These online showcases include intimate living room band performances, acoustic concerts from shuttered music stores, and shows from stages in empty bars. They have been a…
