Entertainment

October 18, 2009

A teaching moment for Sunstreak

By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@timesleader.com
Features Writer
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If your fan base is in middle school, lead vocalist Tony Rebis said, it makes perfect sense that’s where your band should go.

With that in mind, Rebis and the other four members of the Rochester, N.Y., pop band The Sunstreak will perform two concerts at Solomon/Plains Junior High School tomorrow morning.

It’s a win-win situation, school activities director Brian Fischer said.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for our students,” said Fischer, who is also the music director. “It’s a chance to meet young musicians that are on the road, writing their own songs and recording.”

All together, 600 students will be part of the assemblies, which will include question-and-answer periods.

What kind of advice do the band members have for others who aspire to a musical career?

“We tell kids to have fun, but it’s a lot of work, a lot of struggle, a long process,” Rebis said, noting how the band members started out years ago, playing in each other’s basements and having “parents constantly telling us we were too loud.”

Teachers, don’t worry. The concerts will be acoustic, Rebis said.

The band is promoting its new album, “Once Upon A Lie,” and is “completely stoked” to have been signed by EMI. “It’s one of the biggest labels in the world,” Rebis said.

Bandmates also are pleased to have been mentioned as “a buzz band” in “Seventeen” magazine and to be “on the Internet like crazy with Twitter and Facebook and Myspace. You’re really connecting with us,” Rebis said. “It’s not some intern doing it for us.”

The band also will play Monday evening at the Gallery of Sound store on South Main Street in downtown Wilkes-Barre, in a concert set to start about 6.

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