Emily McCreight
General Manager
Franklin, TN native Emily McCreight graduated from Belmont University in May 2021. Earning her degree in entertainment industry studies and public relations, she loved nothing more than to come back and be the General Manager for the School of Rock Nashville. Emily is also an alum of our sister school, School of Rock Franklin.
During her time as a student, Emily was a 4-time School of Rock AllStar and also had the opportunity to open for Night Ranger, play on multiple cruise lines, share the stage with several internationally recognized artists, and perform at multiple Nashville Predators games. Some of her biggest inspirations are John Paul Jones, Laura Lee, and The Main Squeeze. Now, Emily finds success with her up-and-coming band, Juke of June. The band won the Tennessee Titans Battle of the Bands and has performed at the Tennessee Titan’s halftime show as well as opened for Moon Taxi.
Caroline Atkerson
Assistant General Manager
Originally from Memphis, TN, Caroline moved to Nashville in May of 2018 after growing up in Bowling Green, KY. Music has always surrounded her in some way, from the local music scene in Bowling Green to going to family members shows growing up. Caroline started taking piano and singing lessons at age 11, and fell more in love with everything music. She continued her music education by completing the audio engineering and music business courses at The Darkhorse Institute. Nowadays Caroline enjoys going to local gigs, playing piano, singing, and trying her best to keep up with her engineering skills. Aside from music you can most likely find her taking pictures of her cats. Caroline’s favorite part about School of Rock is seeing how music can bring together total strangers.
Erica Nichols
Studio Coordinator
Erica is a native of Decatur, MS, and has played the trombone since she was 14 years old. She studied both classical and jazz concepts at the University of Southern Mississippi and earned a bachelor's degree in Trombone Performance. Erica has attended many trombone summer music festivals over the years! She has also participated in the Southeast Trombone Symposium and the Georgia Trombone Summit, and was a Student Worker at the International Trombone Festival Youth Workshop in 2019!
In 2020, Erica moved to Nashville, TN, and worked in the hospitality industry for a couple of years. She is now studying audio engineering at the SAE Institute of Technology (Nashville). You can also catch Erica performing in the Nashville African American Wind Symphony! In her free time, she loves to watch baking competitions and take nature photography!
Angie McCreight
Owner
Angie has loved music her entire life. One of her earliest memories is listening to artists like Elvis Presley, Elton John and more with her parents as a toddler. Angie started singing at the age of five, joining her church choir at the age of eight. In middle school, Angie was a member of the Ketron Singers who performed at the World's Fair in Knoxville, TN and continued to develop her vocal skills with private lessons. Angie continued to perform in high school with her jazz band and performed in the Tennessee All-State Choir, as well as at the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts.
Angie continued her vocal training in college and participated in activities that allowed her to continue to perform. She went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in Medical Technology and worked in pharmaceutical research for over 20 years. In 2011, after leaving her career in the pharmaceutical industry, she and her husband Kelly decided to open the first School of Rock in Tennessee in the Franklin/Cool Springs area and opened the Nashville location two years later. Angie is very passionate about providing this outlet for young musicians and has also seen her own children participate in the program and become School of Rock AllStars. Every day is a gift when she sees the students get excited about their music and performing in live music venues, even when they get excited about just being in the building.
John O'Brien
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
John O'Brien has spent most of his life making music. At the age of 10, he began learning the saxophone and started playing music through school programs. Picking up guitar by the age of 13, he knew that music would always be an important part of his life and sought out every opportunity to perform. School programs provided performance opportunities in wind ensembles, jazz ensembles, marching bands, pep bands, pit orchestras, jazz combos, show choir combos and saxophone quartets. Still needing more, John would form his own bands outside of school. These bands would emphasize original material and range in styles from blues and jazz to rock, pop and metal. Over the years he’s played hundreds of shows all over the Midwest, recorded several albums, and had his music played on commercial radio stations in Chicago and elsewhere.
Steve Rossi
Regional Music Director
Steve Rossi brings many years of experience to the School of Rock as a seasoned performer. Steve has performed on stage with Rock legend and guitar virtuoso, Peter Frampton on his North American tours, as well as other well-known artists such as vocalist extraordinaire Taylor Dayne, 80s Rock legends Cinderella (North American tours), 60s Rock n' Roll pioneer Gary U.S. Bonds, and many other high profile bands and artists across several continents. He has appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "The Arsenio Hall Show" and NBC's "A 70s Celebration" with Taylor Dayne. Steve has also appeared with headliners The Bee Gees and other notable 70s artists. Other appearances include Solid Gold with Gary U.S. Bonds and on MTV's "The Grind." Steve's album credits include Stevie Wonder, John Kay, Steppenwolf and various other artists. He is an independent composer/producer of music for television multimedia. Clients include ABC/Disney, AE, Discovery Channel, Nickelodeon Networks and The Travel Channel, as well as various other corporate and independent clients. Steve scored two seasons of "Surprise by Design," hit home improvement series on Discovery Channel, and is currently composing and producing original, in-program music for "Good Morning America." He is a guitar teacher, bass guitar teacher and piano teacher at School of Rock Franklin and serves as the Regional Director of Music Programming for our Franklin, Nashville and Mt. Juliet locations.
Drew Kohl
Guitar, Bass Guitar, Keyboard Teacher
Drew is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He has taught lessons on piano, bass, acoustic and electric guitar for over nine years. He graduated with honors from the guitar program at the Atlanta Institute of Music. He was also accepted into the classical piano and music composition program at the University of Georgia. After studying at UGA he moved to Nashville, TN to pursue songwriting, performing and teaching.
Drew enjoys teaching beginners of all styles and intermediate to advance students on songwriting, music theory, rock, indie, folk, bluegrass and country styles. He has studied and transcribed songs from a variety of artists for students including The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and CCR, as well as contemporary bands such as Death Cab For Cutie, The Avett Brothers, Ryan Adams and Modest Mouse to name a few. He enjoys working with students and helping them play the songs they love.
Joey Burcham
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
Joey Burcham started playing bluegrass guitar at the age of 4 in a small music shop in Southern Virginia. After moving to the suburbs of Washington, DC in 2011, he developed a love for live music and quickly expanded his arsenal of instruments and musical ideologies. Now, almost 20 years later, he uses his talents as a multi-instrumentalist both in the studio and on the road. After 5 years of living in Nashville, Joey has toured with notable nationally recognized country, pop, and rock acts, as well as engineered, mixed, and produced for dozens of bands, both domestic and international. Outside of music, you can find Joey playing PC games and watching videos on Youtube.
Laura Clough
Keyboard Teacher
Laura Clough is a pianist, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from a small town in Upstate New York. She recently graduated Berklee College of Music with a degree in professional music with concentrations in songwriting and production. Although Laura grew up playing classical and jazz primarily, her influences include rock/pop/soul/R&B artists such as Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, the Beatles, Jazmine Sullivan, and Earth, Wind & Fire. New to Nashville, Laura is getting her footing and playing in several bands (as well as her own) and continuing to write and produce for others. Growing up shy and quiet herself, Laura strives to help kids and teens open up their minds and creativity with music and have a great time doing it.
Dermot Berg
Guitar Teacher
Dermot Berg first picked up the guitar at 8 years old after being inspired by playing Guitar Hero 3, and began taking classical lessons in Princeton, New Jersey. However, he became more interested in the Rock and Roll he was exposed to in Guitar Hero, and discovered the Princeton School of Rock, where Dermot became a longtime student. While there, Dermot was introduced to many of his influences such as Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen, as well as a wide array of classic and iconic music.
In 2018, Dermot moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University. In 2022, he graduated with a Commercial Music Degree as a guitar principal, with an emphasis in Music Technology. Dermot also enjoys hip-hop, jazz, funk, and a variety of other genres. When not playing guitar or listening to music, he can be found playing video games and watching movies.
Scott Soifer
Drum Teacher
Scott began taking drum lessons in Dayton, OH when he was 9, and didn't stop until he attended Berklee School of Music at the age of 21 as a performance major. He moved back to Dayton to teach full time, moved to Nashville in 2010, and taught at School of Rock Franklin. Scott toured nationally in American Pink Floyd, and performed in the Blues Rock duo Two Bit Charlie. He is currently drumming for the Grammy nominated artist, Jamie Floyd, and teaching martial arts. Scott prides himself on individualizing lesson plans for students in a way that is challenging and fun, while helping them find their own voice on the drums, learn versatility and achieve their goals.
Maxx Blois-Rosetti
Guitar Teacher
Growing up in New Jersey, Maxx picked up a guitar at the age of seven and never put it down. Maxx is known for his precision, speed and accuracy, while maintaining feel and musicality. He specialized first in rock and metal styles and later incorporated more sophisticated styles such as fusion and progressive genres into his playing. Maxx has placed highly in many solo competitions and received accolades from notable guitarists such as Tom Quayle, Sarah Longfield, Rich Henshall, and Jack Gardiner. Lessons with Maxx focus on developing technique, learning and applying theory as well as correcting bad habits and improving form.
Jared Tuitel
Guitar Teacher, Piano Teacher, Drums Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Singing Teacher
Jared Tuitel is a music teacher who enjoys sharing his passion for music while meeting his students where they are with understanding, empathy, and compassion. He attended Berklee College of Music right out of high school to study music and guitar graduating with a Bachelor's degree in professional music. During his time at Berklee, he played in a band with his schoolmates who played shows all around Boston and the east coast. After graduating, he worked for a daycare that put on mini concerts for families and their kids. This propelled him into his teaching career which he began shortly after when he moved back to his hometown of Grand Rapids Michigan teaching at local music academies. During the pandemic, he was brought into the world of teaching on zoom and began teaching for an online company on top of the local academies. Jared has most recently relocated himself in Nashville Tennessee to continue teaching and expanding his music career.
In his free time, Jared enjoys working on his personal music endeavors. He also enjoys running, swimming, meditating, and spending time with his family and friends. He was lucky enough to study abroad in Valencia Spain during his last semester at Berklee.
Angel Leiser
Bass Teacher, Guitar Teacher
Angel Leiser has been involved with the School of Rock for 13 years. She started learning guitar and bass at the North Palm Beach School of Rock in Florida when she was 11 years old. From then she played in multiple bands in high school, and was a 2016 School of Rock All Star for bass. She continued learning music at a local college and also learned jazz bass while attending! She moved to Philadelphia with her band in 2019 and in 2020 started working at Mainline School of Rock. She enjoyed her time in Pennsylvania, but decided she wanted to pursue audio engineering in Nashville. She’s now enrolled at Blackbird Audio school and will graduate next year! She loves music with a passion and is excited to be teaching at the Nashville School of Rock!
Jenna Hunts
Vocal Teacher, Keys Teacher
Jenna Hunts is a singer/songwriter, performer, and recording artist from New Orleans, Louisiana now residing in Nashville, Tennessee. Jenna has been a School of Rock instructor for five years. Since age seven, she has performed locally around the New Orleans area at events such as Family Gras, Freedom Fest, and Gretna Fest as well as venues including The House of Blues and The Howlin’ Wolf Den. At the festivals listed above, she has opened up for artists such as Clint Black, Kellie Pickler, Maddie and Tae, Jessie James Decker, and more. Starting at eleven years old, she began composing and releasing her own music, which can be found on all music platforms. In 2020, Jenna graduated from Loyola University of New Orleans majoring in Popular and Commercial Music. Jenna has competed in nationally televised series, including American Idol, and in 2020, received the Golden Ticket to Hollywood. She is known for her powerful vocals and has been compared to artists such as Christina Aguilera and Amy Lee, who are some of her top musical influences.
Garrett Goodwin
Drum Teacher
Garrett is a drummer and percussionist from central New Jersey. He graduated from Berklee College of Music with a drum set performance degree in 2021 and moved to Nashville shortly thereafter to pursue a career in music.
Garrett loves teaching and performing and feels most at home when behind a drum set. His influences include Carter Beaford, John Bonham, and Steve Gadd. He believes that anything is possible to learn if you start really slow and build up muscle memory. Garrett loves helping students achieve their goals and is honored to teach at School of Rock!
Jason Powers
Guitar Teacher
Jason began playing guitar at the age of 15 after seeing a solo by Eddie Van Halen. That was and is the catalyst that has inspired his pursuit of the instrument to this day. At the age of 21, Jason attended the Atlanta Institute of Music with an emphasis on performance and theory. After school, he performed and taught guitar full-time for years. Most of his experience was as a studio musician where he was blessed to have worked with many notable artists in the R&B, Jazz, Rap, and Christian industries in Atlanta at that time. After years of studio work, Jason decided to pursue engineering, mixing, and production. He was blessed to have worked in many of Atlanta's flagship studios during that venture. Jason's passion now is to continue to press on to become the best musician he can and to invest himself in others to help them to fulfill their musical goals.
Ryan Venable
Singing Teacher, Guitar Teacher
Ryan Venable is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has just recently moved back to Nashville after spending 8 years performing and teaching music in LA. He is a classically trained pianist, but his main instrument is the guitar. Ryan has played for a few bands as the guitarist and lead singer and also performs solo acoustic shows. He also has an album and a couple of EPs out on all streaming platforms. The projects are all self-produced. Ryan currently teaches guitar, piano, and vocal lessons at School of Rock Nashville!
Annalee Condiles
Singing Teacher, Rock 101 Director
Annalee Condiles is currently a student at Belmont University majoring in Music Business (live event management) and minoring in dance. She first got involved with singing through musical theater and to this day can call herself a proud theater kid, although the School of Rock program is really where her love grew.
Annalee is a School of Rock alumna and was part of her school's House Band and was also an AllStar in 2019 and 2020. Her rock inspirations range from Earth, Wind & Fire to No Doubt to Black Sabbath, and she is so excited to share her passion for singing with the School of Rock community in Nashville!
Tara Curran
Singing Teacher
Originally from Westchester, NY, Tara Curran has been singing since she was 6 years old and began her School of Rock journey at the age of 9 with the Bedford, NY location. She was raised with various musical genres, including classic rock and metal, but found her calling in the blues, gospel, funk, and soul. Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Christina Aguilera, Janis Joplin, and Susan Tedeschi are among many on her long list of influences, but don’t let that fool you! Tara’s sound is entirely her own. Her soulful, powerhouse vocals and her unique and captivating stagecraft have been a mainstay of the Westchester County/New York City music scene since she began her professional career at 11 years old.
Outside of her early School of Rock training, Tara trains with renowned vocal coach Don Lawrence, focusing on the Lawrence Technique, a technique used by artists including Lady Gaga, Mick Jagger, Christina Aguilera, Whitney Houston, and Axl Rose.
In 2022, Tara was invited back to School of Rock Bedford as a vocal instructor before moving to Nashville for a 2023 study-away program, where she fell in love with the city, the music scene, and the people. She has spent the last year gaining industry experience at Big Machine Label Group, focusing on Promotion, Streaming, and Marketing. Currently, Tara plans on transferring to a school in Nashville and hopes to continue to learn more about the Music Industry and release music soon!
Tara’s goal is to create a trust-based relationship with her students, and she is so excited to help cultivate their love of singing and performance!
Noah Miller
Drum Teacher, Show Director
Noah started playing drums at the age of 13. He grew up in New York City and then later moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia where he went to School of Rock Main Line. He participated in the House Band and eventually became a School of Rock AllStar.
Noah attended Belmont University, graduating in 2018 with a degree in commercial percussion with an emphasis in the music business. Noah's favorite musicians are Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Tool, and Jimi Hendrix.
Paris Varnier
Singing Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Paris Varnier began singing lessons when she was 5 years old. She now holds a degree from the University of North Texas in Jazz Voice. During her time at the University of North Texas, Paris won awards that included two Downbeats along with the "Outstanding Soloist" award from Elmhurst Jazz Festival. She sang and recorded albums with the Two O'Clock Lab Band and the Jazz Singers.
Paris plays piano and guitar and enjoys writing original music. Paris's specialty lies in education and she has taught for over seven years. She has extensive training in vocal anatomy and health and enjoys teaching all styles of music! She worked as the head of music at a private school in Austin, Texas for two years before relocating to Nashville. Paris values a safe and fun educational environment that encourages students to grow into well-rounded musicians who love their instruments!
Trevor Devine
Singing Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Trevor Devine is a musician, composer, songwriter, and mental health advocate. Born and raised in Michigan, Trev graduated high school at Interlochen Arts Academy where they studied Vocal Performance. In 2014, Trev moved to St. Paul, MN to attend McNally Smith College of Music for Music Composition.
Trev is the front-person in the Nashville-based psychedelic rock band, The Immaculate Beings. Trev moved to Nashville in September 2023 with their band to continue pursuing their life in music. Trev is a vocal, guitar, piano, songwriting, and beginner bass teacher at School of Rock Nashville.
Jordan Caulk
Singing Teacher
Even though she came from a musical theatre and choral background, Jordan has lived and loved rock music her entire life. As a child of the 90s, some of her favorite bands include Alice In Chains, Queens of the Stone Age, and Soundgarden.
Jordan isn't just a fan of grunge and alternative rock, however; she sang with a traveling cover band that played medleys of everything from oldies to rap to metal to Top 40s, and she learned plenty about the classics during her years working at the School of Rock in Naperville, IL.
In addition to expanding her musical repertoire, Jordan has also used her time at School of Rock to learn how to play the keys and bass guitar!