Ben and Katie Morey are testing out instruments in the attic of Bookeater cafe on South Clinton Avenue. Ben strums the chords to his song “Vacuum” while Katie accompanies on drums. The sound is raw and charming, fitting of a practice space.
But in this room, it’s usually kids making a racket.
The Moreys, a married couple, teach well over a dozen student bands at their Submarine School of Music down the road, which they founded in 2018. The groups boast names like Toad, The Speaking Speakers and The Bananamals — youthful and fun, like the musicians in them, ages 6 to 17.
Ten of these student acts will perform on May 31 not in Bookeater’s attic, but on a special stage in the backyard of the cafe. The Moreys are calling the festival South By South Wedge.
“We’ve had all of our bands perform at the Lilac Festival for the past three years. This year, we just had too many bands,” Ben explains. “We were like, let’s try to do our own festival where all the bands can play for as long as they want to. They’re not limited to just playing one or two songs.”
But a day-long fest requires practice. Luckily, the Moreys landed the Bookeater attic as a rehearsal space thanks to an agreement with the cafe’s owners, whose two children take lessons at Submarine.
Like any shared space, there are rules. Ben grabs a yellow slip of paper from the wall.
“On day one, we read them…,” he begins.
“The band practice oath,” Katie finishes, “which is hanging up on the wall in the attic so they can be reminded if they forget.”
The vows, as Katie reads them, are simple but clear, focusing heavily on respect and community: “We will respect the space that we get to use. We will respect the instruments and equipment with love and care. We will respect everyone’s time and try to stay focused and present.”
To that last point, there’s an essential follow-up: no noodling.
“When someone’s ripping on the guitar and we’re trying to get something done, it’s just for them,” Katie explains. “They can do that at home.”
Ben and Katie would know. They’ve spent years performing in their own bands locally, and still do. Katie’s solo band played at Bookeater earlier this month, and both will perform in Ben’s band The Eyes at South By South Wedge, alongside other faculty groups like the power-pop crew in Comfy and the string group Clinton’s Folly.
Proceeds from the festival will benefit the school’s scholarship fund, which helps Submarine offer sliding-scale tuition and subsidies on music lessons.
Ben says the showcase is the culmination of plenty of practice and natural chemistry between their students.
“It’s always fun at the beginning of the year when we’re kind of creating our dream bands at the school,” he says. “Like, oh man, what if we got Vera in this band with Rosie? That would be like a really cool combo.”
The Submarine School of Music’s South By South Wedge festival runs May 31 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Bookeater, 836 S. Clinton Ave. Details and ticket info here.
Patrick Hosken is CITY’s arts reporter. He can be reached at patrick@rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2024.
