Jack Schneider has loved playing the guitar for decades.
"But I’ve never really taken time to study it," he said. "Life just gets in the way. I’ve just been too busy."
Schneider spends his days running J. Schneider & Associates Ltd., a training and compliance company that has served the oil and gas industry for 40 years in Lafayette. When he’s not on the road in some remote town in Texas or traveling abroad, he spends evenings in his music room, surrounded by an impressive collection of guitars.
Jack Schneider plays his guitar at the 2023 Good Time Rock Retreat in Lafayette.
Schneider's music-loving-but-life-gets-in-the-way sentiment defined participants' approach to the Good Time Rock Retreat — an adult-only retreat specifically designed for wanna-be rock-and-rollers that was first held at Cite’ des Arts in Lafayette in July 2023. This week the experience, which turned out to be transformative for its participants starts again this week.
That feeling Schneider references is why the retreat was created in the first place.
The brainchild of Grammy-nominated, Lafayette-based musician, Danny Devillier of The Music Room teaching studio, the Good Time Rock Retreat — GTRR for short — offers adults of all experience levels a chance to live out their rock-and-roll fantasy for one entire week.
Participants of the 2023 Good Time Rock Retreat: Back row, left to right: Chris Adams, Mel Brahan, Matt Hanchey, Marla Kristicevich, Francis Pavy, Lance Champagne, Dave Trainer, , Mike Baldwin, Danny Devillier, Virgile Beddock, Jack Schneider, Daniel Jackson, Steven Musumeche (red hat), Robin Bonin, Joseph May. Front row, left to right: Blaze Petersen, Haley Baronne, Alyce Morgan, Lian Cheramie, Mindy Tobin, Emily Borgen, Brandy Aube, Katy Richard, Meagan Berard Rankin, Jessie Devillier, David Crochet, David Crochet (father and son).
The value of play
“I’ve taught music for 25 years. With most adult students, you can sense this deep desire that has always been there to play music. But you have to coax it out of them more than you do with kids,” said Devillier. “There’s this idea that, if after a certain age you haven’t done it already, it’s too late to learn how to play music — or that you have to be born with a certain level of talent.”
For many, once they pass a certain age, the name of the game is typically to avoid at all costs the experience of being bad at something. The vulnerability required to truly be a beginner keeps a lot of people from trying something new. They avoid being bad at something for a while until they get better.
“People don’t realize how accessible music is," said Devillier. "Sometimes it takes someone to say, ‘You can do this, let me show you how.’”
From left to right: Lance Champagne, Lian Cheramie, Daniel Jackson performing at the 2023 Good Time Rock Retreat
Under instruction from Devillier and other Louisiana music powerhouses David Crochet, Jessie Devillier, Maegan Berard Rankin and Dave Trainer, retreat participants are grouped into bands.
They learn rock songs from artists ranging from The Beatles to The Beastie Boys, and practice for hours in preparation for one common goal: to put on an epic live performance on the final night of the retreat.
“And melt faces,” says Devillier.
At the heart of the experience is play. To play music, and to play with others who share a common interest.
A true artist, Devillier likes to leave creative space for unexpected ideas and pivoting.
The show goes on
“I knew the concept would work,” he said, recalling its creation. “But I also like the idea of figuring out some things together. We have to put on a show for the public, yes. But the staff is killer, and they will make it happen. There’s a trust there that no matter what, we can make this fun for people — and have a great show.”
One band at the 2023 Good Time Rock Retreat named their band, "The Marthas," after one of the group's member's aunt who passed away the week of the retreat.
Some of the greatest rock songs of all time were the result of play and improvisation, after all. It worked for The Beatles, maybe it can work in a retreat setting too.
Many participants are stepping into the collaborative music space for the first time, which can be nerve-wracking.
“We all know we’re going to be on stage at the end,” said Schneider. “For a lot of us, it’s the first time, and you want to do it well. But you’re working with other first-timers. It’s not going to be perfect, but that’s not the point. You’re in it together. And it’s a blast.”
The camaraderie that develops among the group of strangers in such a short amount of time lends a kids’ summer-camp energy to the retreat.
“I went there for the music and ended up really enjoying the people,” Schneider said. “Our instructor would be working with someone else, and I’d start playing ZZ Top, and the drummer in my band would look at me like ‘Yes!’ and start a groove.”
From left to right: Alyce Morgan, Brandy Aube’, Marla Kristicevich, Jessie Devillier, Emily Borgan, Danny Devillier in foreground -- practicing in 2023 for their performance at the Good Time Rock Retreat.
In 2023, for the final performance, in front of a screaming crowd, each band performed three songs, and the entire group performs two finale numbers as one big, loud, family band. Plans are in place to do a similar performance again this week.
Bands and songs are painstakingly chosen in advance by the instructors. It can be complicated to mix and match the experience levels and instrument choices of 25 participants.
Come together
At varying degrees, the bands formed "come together." In 2023, one of the groups named themselves "The Marthas," after member Mindy Tobin's beloved aunt who passed away during the week.
‘A screaming crowd’ is not an exaggeration. Imagine a room filled mostly with close friends and family getting to see their loved ones live out a dream while performing songs everyone knows," Devillier said. "There’s zero cool factor, and that’s a good thing."
Backstage, there are lots of high-fives, hugs, dancing and a few happy tears.
The excitement and nerves are palpable with a dose of personal accomplishment oozing mix — plus the pride of recent strangers coming together as bandmates.
“Watching videos from last year and seeing the crowd losing their minds with excitement reminds me of how special this thing is,” said Devillier. “The energy felt like an exchange of pure joy that was given and received by both the crowd and participants the whole night.”
But for most, living the fantasy wasn’t about the final performance. The real fantasy was having the time to practice something they love — to have space, as an adult, to play.
To be a beginner, with no expectations or repercussions.
Except, of course, to melt faces.
The second annual Good Time Rock Retreat runs from July 5-13. There are two final performances at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. July 13 at Cite’ des Arts in Lafayette. Admission to the performances is $18.