Band rocks the poetry at Greenland school

GREENLAND — The school of rock was in session at Central School recently.

Students in Jeanine Roberts' sixth-grade classes got a lesson in how to rock Thursday from the band Prospect Hill — whose members sport tattoos, piercings and dreadlocks.

Roberts has an all-access pass, if you will, from the band's lead singer, Adam Fithian. He was a student in her English class at Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston a few years ago.

"I'm so proud," she said. "The first time I saw the band perform, I started crying in the audience, it was so rewarding."

Fithian and his band treated students to an acoustic concert and an informational session — fielding questions that ranged from the technical — "which comes first: the melody or the lyrics?" — to the serious — "where do you see yourselves in 10 years?"

"We started the band when we were right around your age," drummer Mark Roberge told the class. "The sky's the limit."

He went on to warn students that music is one of the hardest industries to break into. Prospect Hill doesn't rely on a staff or an expensive record label to promote its music. Between playing shows, practicing and marketing the band on social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook, Roberge described his role as a "non-stop, full-time job."

In addition to teaching life lessons, band members talked about how lyrics and poetry are linked and asked students to pay attention to the words in songs.

Guitarist Andy Bochart said the message behind the lyrics of the band's song "Rollercoaster," which likens a relationship to a theme park ride, also applies to the ups and downs of the music business.

"When you play for 50,000 people you say, 'Wow, this is it.' When you play for 25 people you say, 'Wow, this is really not it,' but you close your eyes and pretend," he said.

Prospect Hill's Facebook page describes the band's music as "hard-hitting, melodic rock." Fithian named Korn, Tool, Lionel Richie, Mudvayne and James Taylor as sources of inspiration.

Students heard softer, unplugged versions of songs off the band's self-titled album, including "Superhero" and "Into the Light."

Roberts turned the concert into a lesson about allegory and hyperbole in honor of National Poetry Month.

"I wanted to give poetry a cooler look," she said of inviting her former student to play. "Some kids think poetry is stodgy and old-fashioned, but these guys are nothing like that."

Prospect Hill will be performing with Korn at a sold-out show May 7 at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom.