BEST LOCAL SOUND
My First Street loft, with its main drag-facing windows slung open to let in the breeze, makes the perfect vantage point for Downtown Fort Myers happenings. When we hear a heartfelt rendition of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” drift through the window on a first Friday, my partner and I know to grab our shoes and head to the cordoned-off street below for a taste of River District talent—it’s time for Music Walk.
There’s a typical cast of characters we’ve come to know and love—the soulful songstress whose speakers ring out late into the night; the swing-centric husband-and-wife duo, who bop along near Scoops on First; and the yacht-rockers on Hendry Street, holding a mic in one hand and twirling passersby with the other. The largest crowd by far gathers around the School of Rock Fort Myers House Band—the genesis of Southwest Florida’s next generation of musical talent.
The group drew me in instantly when I heard Heart’s 1977 classic “Barracuda” cut through the evening buzz back in the fall of 2023. It’s not a song taken on lightly—just getting through the first verse means sliding to the peaks and valleys of vocal range while bending between all-out belting and breathy tones. Wading through the ever-thickening crowd crammed between Downtown House of Pizza and The Lucky Screw, I kept waiting for the vocalist to slip off-key or modify the range, for the charging bassline to miss a beat. But, the moment never came. Then, through a window between shoulders, I saw the band clearly—a mix of well-equipped teen musicians digging into their instruments with abandon. The vocalist, a 12-year-old girl, sprinted across the street-level bandstand and dropped into a knee slide while cresting the heights of the song’s crescendo.
‘Who are these kids?’ I wondered. School of Rock Fort Myers, it turns out, is the Lee County outpost of a nationwide program promoting musical instruction through performance-based learning of contemporary music. (Naples opened its branch of the program in October.) Lifelong musician Doug Harris launched School of Rock Fort Myers in 2020, offering instruction to roughly 200 students aged 3 to 73 with a variety of classes based on age and proficiency level. Known for its lengthy sets packed with technically tough, crowd-favorite singles, the School of Rock Fort Myers House Band represents the best of the best talent from the musical incubator.
Photography by Anastasia Walborn
Photography by Anastasia Walborn
Photography by Anastasia Walborn
Photography by Anastasia Walborn
Every six months, School of Rock Fort Myers students put themselves to the test in the hopes of joining—or holding their place in—the House Band, which performs five to six professional gigs monthly. Auditions are rigorous, requiring mastery of roughly 30 songs ranging from rock to funk to R&B alongside a host of musical theory questions.
The band’s current lead bassist, 15-year-old Preston Lich, and 16-year-old powerhouse vocalist Alexa Hartley know the process well. Both work as professional musicians—Preston’s band, Shy Blossom, opened for Sister Hazel back in March, and Alexa’s duo, Kinetic Souls, performs from Naples to Cape Coral—but that hasn’t made auditions simple. “I actually failed my first House Band audition miserably,” Preston says with a laugh. “I was in House Band for six months, but the next time, I didn’t make it,” Alexa says. Doug likens the process to competitive travel sports—anyone can play the game, but moving to the next level requires uncommon skill and dedication.
While the House Band is largely self-led—appointed section leaders build setlists and manage set-up and break-down at shows—music director Devin D’Amato helps mold the band’s sound by introducing new songs to their repertoire every few months. “There’s a couple of factors that I try to hit,” he says. “Number one is entertainment value. Do people know this song? Most important, can they dance to it?”
Challenging his students out of their comfort zone is equally valuable. When Devin sees a gap in one member’s musical education, he pulls songs that put that skill on display and pushes the band to perfect the timing, technicality and tone. This iterative, performance-based approach positions the House Band a cut above other performers. They don’t have to overthink the next note or verse—Devin’s instruction makes that part second nature. Instead, the rock ‘n’ roll attire-clad clan is laser-focused on bringing the energy, whether that be through power slides or twirling drumsticks. “I know most of the bands in town, and I constantly hear them say, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe [the House Band] was doing that song. We would never even think about taking that one on,” Doug says. For Preston and Alexa, it’s just another night at Music Walk, filled with high-fives, inside jokes and a steadfast audience singing along—myself included.