“AMPD” has been the name for the On Track Music and Groove Dr’s famous Student Rock Band Program for over 20 years! Scott Graves started developing the program in the mid 1990’s as the On Track Guitar school was surging in popularity due to it’s unique approach for personalized private guitar lessons.
Scott had always wanted to offer his students a unique opportunity to learn how to play together and take their playing skills to a whole new level. So, nearly 30 years ago, before the School of Rock movie, in the height of the “Grunge” era, Scott began putting together “Performance Groups” to play at his student recitals that he had dubbed “Student Fest” (a student of his suggested that he call his recitals “Scott Fest” as a clever take on the popular “Ozz Fest” which was well know in those days. Scott thought the spirit of the show was all about students, hence the name “Student Fest”).
Back in those days On Track was a “Guitar Only” school so the first versions of the performance groups featured guitar students playing to programmed drum tracks and performing instrumental versions of songs with a few students singing where they could. The program was really successful but it needed something more…
Then came the meeting of FATE.
One afternoon a guy by the name of Rick Senese walked into the old On Track studio that was located on Highland Drive in Holladay, Utah. He was passing out flyers promoting drum lessons for himself and his wife Sherrie. They called their unique drum teaching duo “The Groove Dr’s”. Scott knew Rick as the famous “Sneez”, the king of drum sales at Wagstaff Music and well know studio cat and live player on the local scene. Scott and Sneez began to imagine what it would be like to combine forces and give The Groove Dr’s drums students the opportunity to play with On Track’s performance groups. They decided to give it a test run at Scott’s upcoming Student Fest…
The result was a match made in heaven!
The response was overwhelming. Scott and Sneeze new that they they were on to something incredible. The next year they formed several bands for the Student Fest event and they held a contest to name their newly formed band program. One of the student’s (Tristan Reeve- who is now much older, and an incredible musician) submitted the the name “AMPD” as a name for the Student Rock Band Program. Scott, Sneez, Sherrie, and Scott’s wife Hazel, brainstormed ideas for an acronym that AMPD could represent. They came up with: the “Alliance of Music Professionals” and the rest is history.
AMPD bands are now a legend in the Salt Lake Valley and since those early days and that first fateful meeting of the original Groove Dr and the On Track Master, we’ve added bass, vocals and even keyboard to our bands. We have had thousands of students take part in the On Track Music and Groove Dr’s famous AMPD Student Rock Band Program and we have formed hundreds of bands.
We have been privileged to work with so many awesome people over the years and we love what we do. Our efforts have inspired many other “start up” schools in the area, but we truly are the original AMPD Student Rock Band Program featuring On Track Music and the Groove Dr’s!
Thanks to everyone who has been a part of On Track Music and Groove Dr’s over the years, and thanks to all of you who continue to be a part of our program and know exactly why On Track Music truly is the “Right Way To Learn To Play”.
Peace out 🙂
Scott Graves