Guitar hero gives his pointers

The next generation of rock stars showed off their stuff Saturday in front of a rock and roll legend.

Derek St. Holmes, a former vocalist and rhythm guitar player for Ted Nugent, judged competitions among young musicians in Deerfield and Libertyville.

Guitarists, bass players, drummers, keyboardists and singers ages 7 to 17 performed solos and received tips from the pro at Deerfield Music and Libertyville Music.

Eight-year-old Kaleb Carlson won the Libertyville Music solo competition and received a week at Camp Jam, a rock 'n' roll summer day camp for kids. He sang and played guitar to the classic Monkees' tune, "I'm a Believer."

"It's the best song I know by heart," said Carlson, a second-grader at Fremont School in Mundelein who practices guitar 30 minutes daily.

"He's a great little talent and to do an old Monkeys tune was fantastic," said St. Holmes.

Every child who performed was a winner, gaining valuable experience onstage, he said.

"What's cool is that the kids who don't play an instrument come to one of these contests, and pretty soon they're asking their parents for lessons," said St. Holmes.

"I was a little nervous, but it was fun," said Mark Dunsing, 11, a fifth-grade student at Rockland School in Libertyville, who played drums.

Andrew Marnoch, 10, a fifth-grader at Butterfield School in Libertyville, wrote his own drum solo for the competition. He also plays the piano.

"This is a good way for the kids to gain experience performing," said Heidi Marnoch, Andrew's mother.

St. Holmes started touring the U.S. four years ago to get kids involved with music and to promote Camp Jam.

"Camp Jam is about getting young musicians together under one roof and teaching them to write songs, perform and to work on other people's songs," St. Holmes said.

In addition to playing live music, the young artists also showed off their skills in the virtual world, competing for the best score on the popular video game Guitar Hero.

"We had a really good turnout," said Larry Biernacki, the owner of Deerfield Music, Libertyville Music and Antioch Music. "It brings out the parents. To see them get involved in their kids' music is very satisfying."