It isn't every day that you get a chance to meet one of the world's biggest rock stars and the opportunity to bid on his guitar, but that's just what happened recently to the crowd at a special joint fundraiser for the John Swett High School Band Boosters and PAINTS (Promote Art in the Schools). If you haven't already figured out the name of the singer and his band from the photo and its background color, well, you probably need to listen to more good new music. Anyway, as many of you know our friend Billie Joe Armstrong and his Green Day band mate Mike Dirnt grew up in our area and once attended John Swett schools.
The guitar auction was the high point of PAINTS' Bird House Gala and Auction on May 25th, held in nearby Piedmont. After Billie mingled with the crowd the auction bidding began and the hammer didn't come down until $9,350, a very nice price for an autographed guitar. This amount was then split between the JS Band Boosters and PAINTS, leaving the Boosters with $4,675. However, Mr. Armstrong was kind enough to match this amount for John Swett, leaving the Boosters with the guitar's full sale price to spend on their myriad of needs (new electric and acoustic intruments, repairs to existing instruments, uniforms, etc.). JSEF's role in all this was simply acting as the fiscal agent on behalf of the smaller Boosters organization, but we thought the news was good enough to share.
Band Boosters helps to support and maintain the venerable band program at John Swett High School, which has been around since 1928. If you'd like to learn more about the group and the music program itself, be sure to visit their website at http://www.johnswettbandboosters.org.
If you're a Green Day fan and would like to make a donation of any size to support Billie's hometown school district or the band program at John Swett High School, please help us out by donating today. We're a tax deductible 501(c)(3) organization that supports John Swett Unified District schools and we definitely would appreciate anything you could give. Who knows, your support may help us produce the next musical prodigy from the area.
We'd like to thank Billie Joe Armstrong for his generosity and giving back to the community. We look forward to Green Day's three (!) new albums being released in the coming months, beginning on September 25th. Feel free to come back and play the Crockett/Rodeo area anytime!