Teen POV: Young Rock and Roll Movement in San Miguel de Allende

By Liam Stidham

For as long as I have lived, I have always had a massive musical influence in my life. My mom and dad have always made sure that we are around music, either at our house or at different venues in town. However, I always noticed that the music was in the hands of grown adults, amazing musicians who make San Miguel such a vivid town and I have always wondered how their musical career started and how old they were when they started to play. In recent years though a lot of kids my age and older teenagers have started to play music here in town too. Some of them like to play Classical music in the Symphony and some of them like to play Rock. I like them both.

About a month ago, San Miguel had the Festival de las Artes San Miguel de Allende, FASMA, where cultural and artistic events like concerts, plays, dance, cinema and literature were held. Well, the closing act for this event was a huge concert right in front of La Parroquia directed by my drumming teacher (drumroll please!) Luis Eduardo Flores. There were about 100 young musicians around my age playing the drums, the guitar, the bass and singing right there. It was amazing! I hope you saw it. It was all over the news and people were asking for more events like that.

Music can really shape a kid. Did you know that music speeds up your brain's growth and strengthens your memory? It also helps you change your mood if you're kind of bummed out. If you're playing with other kids it helps you with your cooperative skills. You learn to work as a team. Do you remember your music class at school? I'm sure you had fun! All of us kids have different dreams around our musical path. Some of us like to play solo and some of us like to be in orchestras and bands. When you are in a band you look for gigs at restaurants or parties. Sometimes you get to play at massive events like the band festivals we had at La Luciérnaga, El Sindicato and Bendito Mercado last year.

This year we're getting ready for another big event at La Luciérnaga on October 17. There will be 20 youth bands playing that day. These are some of the bands that will be there: Kuro, Is This It, Cactus Fénix, Índigo, Fried Rice, Almost Sunday, Bleak, Cat Litter, Oral, Carita Feliz, Tiger Lillies, Blizzard, Dorians, Hollux, Exodus, Stoned, Insert Name, and my new band Obsidian. Musik Maschine is currently on hold (Cue the on hold phone music..) All of these bands are currently putting their blood, sweat and tears into getting ready.

When you're in a band you get together a couple times a week to practice and make sure everything sounds perfect. It's not always easy because we have been at school all day, we have been playing sports or doing homework and you STILL have to go to band practice. Sometimes you're already too tired to do it, but once you get there and you start playing with your band mates, hearing the guitar pluck its strings, the bass playing its low-pitched notes connecting with the beat of the drums as the vocalist conveys the story and the emotion of the lyrics, you get a feeling that science or mankind cannot explain. It's pure joy.

I've always enjoyed listening to Rock and Roll and Classical, so I decided I wanted to be a musician so I can enjoy myself and so people can enjoy themselves too.

I hope kids my age and the future generation read this article and come to the event on October 17 at La Luciérnaga so they can enjoy, have fun and be inspired. There is a huge Rock movement of kids, teenagers and young people happening right now in San Miguel de Allende.

So, who knows? Maybe those kids at the event will soon be part of this movement too.

Contact Luis Flores at Flores Drum & Percussion Lessons

Instagram: @floresdrumlessons

Liam Stidham is a twelve-year-old student in San Miguel de Allende