Ashby Rosenberger
General Manager
Ashby’s love of music runs deep. He got his first electric guitar at age 12 and hasn’t looked back. He’s never played professionally, but has spent years playing in groups with friends for fun. He sees music as the world’s most easily accessible and ubiquitous form of therapy. The world needs more music - and musicians! - which is why he finds managing a School of Rock so gratifying.
Ashby graduated from Ohio University with a BFA in acting. He grew up in the Cincinnati area but moved to Chicago shortly after college where he lived for 15 years, before moving back to Cincy in late 2019. Before joining School of Rock, Ashby directed business administration and office services for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing in Chicago, where he spent 7 years sharpening his management skills. Ashby has been with School of Rock NKY since we opened in April, 2021. He has great expectations for the future of our school and is eager to watch our school and our students reach new heights!
Brandon Harris
Music Director, Guitar Teacher
Brandon Harris started with School of Rock Cincinnati in early 2022 and is now the Music Director for School of Rock Northern Kentucky. In addition to serving the school as Music Director, Brandon teaches guitar lessons and directs Performance Program groups and Rock 101 classes. Brandon believes that being in a band is so much more than just playing in front of a live audience; he believes it is an opportunity for students to develop healthy relationships and build a community that supports each other.
Brandon utilizes his experience working in the mental health field to teach students music and help them grow into confident individuals. Brandon loves a wide range of music, from classic bands like the Beatles to heavier bands like Mastodon. As Music Director, Brandon is excited and prepared to use his teaching experience to help School of Rock Northern Kentucky further build upon their already amazing music community.
Alex Lail
Assistant General Manager, Little Wing Teacher, Rookies Teacher
Alex has loved music all her life. She started singing in choirs at 8 years old and never looked back! She went on to play flute, marimba, vibraphone, and tuba throughout her schooling. Her focus has since shifted to bass guitar and vocals. Some of her favorite performances include playing at Lucas Oil Stadium and the Kentucky Derby with the University of Louisville Cardinal Marching Band.
After working at Disney World Resort for two years, Alex moved back to Kentucky to pursue teaching. She taught preschool for four years before joining the team at School of Rock Northern Kentucky, where she still gets to teach littles and help them foster a deep, lasting love for music. Music education is one of Alex’s passions and her goal is to imbue every child she meets with that same love and devotion. In addition to teaching the Little Wing and Rookies programs, Alex also hopes to use her role as Assistant General Manager to help School of Rock NKY grow into the best it can be!
Kat Buckler
Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Arriving from Texas, Kat has played the keyboard for over a decade. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Keyboard Studies from A&M University-Central Texas and her Master of Music Theory from Texas State University. Now pursuing her Ph.D. from CCM, she is excited to join the local community.
As a teacher and a disabled musician, Kat strives to inspire other musicians and students to follow their musical passions no matter their disability or age. Whether your goal is to learn that cool song you heard on the radio or prepare for the stage, she is here to help!
Mason Daugherty
Bass Guitar Teacher
Mason Daugherty is a bass teacher who's been playing professionally in a myriad of genres since 14. He holds a degree in Jazz Bass from Morehead State University and is currently pursuing his Masters at CCM. His expertise includes both electric and upright. He is very excited to be joining the team at School of Rock.
Sam Gorman
Vocal Teacher, Drum Teacher, Little Wing Teacher, Rookies Teacher
Sam comes from a musical family and learned how to play drums and sing at the annual Gorman Family Christmas Jam. Sam studied voice and drums at Denison University, graduating in 2013. He still plays with several classmates from Denison. Sam likes to make and keep it FUNKY!
Travis Gray
Drum Teacher
Travis showed interest in the drums from a very young age. Because of this, his parents signed him up for weekly drum lessons, which started a lifelong passion for playing the drums. Once he was in high school, Travis auditioned and earned a spot in his school’s drumline. After he graduated, he went on to play for multiple world-class drumlines.
Travis is now an active gigging drummer in the Cincinnati region. He has used his extensive background in marching percussion to refine his technique and playing style on the drum set. His goal is to inspire others to fall in love with the drums, just as his teachers did for him.
Keith Humphrey
Guitar Teacher
Growing up in a musical household, Keith has been exposed to music of all genres his whole life. He began playing bass at the age of 7 but switched over to guitar and saxophone about two years later. As he experienced and learned more within the classical, rock, and pop genres, he landed his first professional gig at 12. In his early teen years, he began playing slide guitar, electric guitar, and lap steel. During this time, he began studying with midwestern blues guitar phenom Paul Holdman, who taught him extensive guitar theory and techniques. His father, a fellow musician, also taught him advanced music theory. He began to get more serious with woodwinds as well, diving into bari saxophone, flute, and later contrabass clarinet. This all lead to him playing in the Indiana All-State Band and the Indiana All-State Honor Band in back-to-back years. In Late high school, guitar once again became his primary focus when he began studying jazz guitar with the world-renowned guitar player, instructor, author, and editor Sandy Williams. With Sandy’s guidance, not only was he accepted to play in the Indiana All-State Jazz Band, but was accepted into every music school he auditioned to with multiple scholarships. He accepted the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music’s offer, where he is currently finishing his undergraduate in Jazz Studies under the direction of Brad Myers. Keith has marketed himself as a “hired gun,” playing with various one-off shows as well as being an in-demand sub-guitarist. He has also done extensive pit theater work with the Indianapolis branch of the Summer Stock Stage Company and The Rick Weil Theater Company. Currently, he plays with Bluewater Kings, Monte, The Interstate Commerce Commission Organ Quartet, My Exact Style, Philadelphia Phil, and Friends, as well as various jazz groups, one-off shows, and record dates. He also has toured around the Midwest with various acts, including Rosewood Coast. He has a passion for teaching that developed in high school when he became an instructor of woodwinds at a summer camp his junior year. He began teaching at various music stores around the Cincinnati area before finding his home at the School of Rock. His biggest goal as a teacher is to open students’ eyes to how impactful music is on human life, to expose them to many different genres and subgenres of music, and to further their love and understanding of music.
Rob Keenan
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Vocal Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Rob Keenan is a guitarist, singer/songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Cincinnati, OH. He is a local solo performer and was in the internationally recognized duo Dawg Yawp.
Rob has been singing most of his life and began piano lessons at the age of 7. He started writing songs on the guitar in high school and fell in love with music. Rob played and recorded with his band Echoes and continued studying at Indiana University, graduating with honors at The Recording Workshop. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston and since has performed and toured nationally.
The sitar/guitar/synth psychedelic folk duo Dawg Yawp played NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert in 2017 and has been featured on Consequence of Sound, Conan O’Brien’s “Team Coco,” and beyond. He teaches guitar, bass, keys, and vocals at School of Rock in Cincinnati and NKY. Rob loves all things sound!
Jake Kolesar
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Keyboard Teacher
Jake Kolesar is thrilled to join the School of Rock team! An active member of the Cincinnati music scene, he plays bass in the local indie rock band The Earthly Delights and in the jazz guitar duo YesterSwing. Specializing in keyboard and guitar, Jake has recorded original music and performs regularly as a solo artist. As a teacher, he strives to cater to the unique goals of each student, focusing on the styles that they are most interested in learning. Jake is also passionate about teaching songwriting, improvisation, and music theory.
Jeannie Marie
Vocal Teacher
Justin Martin
Guitar Teacher
Justin has been trying to pick out a melody on any instrument you put in front of him since grade school, eventually settling on guitar and bass in his early teens. A series of fun if ill-fated garage bands developed throughout his college years and beyond, accompanied by further study of all the guitar’s possibilities across different styles. As time wore on, collaborative musical endeavors unfortunately had to be placed on the back burner, but Justin still spent his free time exploring jazz, expanding his keyboard playing, and mining the depths of music history through internet and record bin alike.
Guitar of course remained a constant through it all, and through a strange confluence of life events that is best recounted in person he eventually began focusing primarily on solo acoustic finger-style playing. Over the past several years this had led to him learning dozens of popular songs across nearly every genre imaginable, developing a repertoire he is hoping to bring to performance in the very near future. In the meantime, he is also excited to get back to his electric guitar roots with School of Rock, exploring the myriad possibilities of the instrument along with the students he is teaching.
Eric Mayleben
Drum Teacher
Eric's music career began when he convinced his 5th grade band teacher to let him switch from saxophone to drums. By the 7th grade, his band was playing atschool dances and pool parties. By the end of high school, you could find them playing at bars on Fridays & Saturday nights. Over the years, Eric has played in several local, regional, and national touring acts including Forehead, The Kelly Richey Band, Matt DeCoster, Chrome, DixZ Highway, Reeking Havoc, The Amy Sailor Band and 90 Proof Twang. He's enjoyed national radio airplay with his band Lorenzo, whose Hollywood Records' debut release was recorded at the world famous Sunset Sound in Hollywood, CA and produced by none other than Kevin Churko (Ozzy, Hellyeah, Disturbed, 5 Finger Death Punch, Halestorm, Papa Roach).
Eric's current band, 90 Proof Twang, is a southern Rock/Country band from Cincinnati, Ohio that formed in 2012. 90 Proof Twang released “Six Pack” in 2014 and "Poor Boy's Paradise" in 2015. You can hear “Baby, I Got This” from the new cd on the 99.3 Country Aurora, Ind., WAIF Cincinnati 88.3, Country 103 Gladwin, Michigan and Classic X Radio.com. They've been awarded "Best Country Band" by City Beat Magazine in 2015, 2017 and 2018. 90 Proof Twang plays about 100+ gigs a year and have shared stages with acts such as Blackberry Smoke, Craig Morgan, Chris Jansen, Jackyl, The Steel Woods and more.
Eric has been teaching students almost his entire music career. And once again, Eric is offering lessons at School of Rock NKY in Florence. Each lesson is tailored to match the students abilities and to fit what the student wants to achieve. Call today and schedule a lesson with Eric!
Alaina McKeown
Vocal Teacher
Alaina has been surrounded by music from a very young age; her grandparents, great-grandparents, and even her father, Andy McKeown (who might sound a little familiar) have been gigging and playing since before she was born. From rocking out to Shinedown in the car at age 2, to her first ever Halestorm concert at 11, to middle school choir at 13, Alaina has always been drawn to the community music has to offer.
During high school, Alaina balanced a steady diet of rugby tournaments and student government with weekly vocal lessons and yearly performances. Now, as a graduating Psychology major from the University of Cincinnati, she's excited to take what she knows about music and what she knows about people to help others experience the boundless love music has given her.
Andy McKeown
Guitar Teacher
Andy comes from a long line of musicians and music teachers, including his grandmother, his uncle, his mom, and his dad. Andy watched his parents gig for years before picking up the guitar at 12 years old. He played in several bands in high school then took a long break while establishing a family and a career outside of music.
Andy continued to play guitar on his own before rejoining the gigging scene 10 years ago. He has a great interest in vocal and instrumental harmonies and how they work together. With a deep love of music and how it connects people across all ages, races, socioeconomic backgrounds, etc., Andy is excited to impart his love of music and his 30 years of guitar playing to a new generation of students.
Allison Moll
Vocal Teacher
Allison hails from the mean streets of NKY but has lived in NYC for the last 16 years. Music, especially singing, runs deep in her family DNA and she has been singing publicly since she was 4 years old. Most of her childhood she was known as the youngest of The Monroe Sisters and sang all over Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois. Knowing her love of music and singing she joined any choir she could, her favorite being Show Choir and singing with her Jazz Band in high school which led to her getting to sing all over Europe when she was 16. Growing up a preacher’s kid she dreamed to grow up and be Amy Grant. She has performed on multiple stages, churches, clubs, bars and parks. She also enjoyed every musical she could audition for and loves winning lottery tickets to Broadway shows but tries hard not to sing along.
Allison most recently has served as the Creative Arts Director at Forefront in NYC leading bands and singers. As well as working on her own recording project, she also has had the privilege of singing BGVs on more than a dozen projects and loves working in recording studios. She loves the process of learning a song and working with multiple people to create a beautiful sound and emotion. No matter how long it takes. After working with a vocal coach in her late 20s she realized the great need for stretching her voice and confidence. She constantly talks about her high school choir director and music mentors that saw something in her she hadn’t and would have never seen herself. They pushed her to not only be a better musician but to see singing in a whole new holistic way. But she also credits 8 years of piano lessons and her oldest sister for her love of harmonies as she would always demand she sing the melody so Allison and her other sister had to find the harmonies. Now she loves teaching them.
Allison has a deep love and connection to singing and finds her joy and passion there. She believes music can bring people together like nothing else can. She and her husband and son have just returned to their roots in Cincinnati which is where they met and married. She has 4 kids all who are incredible musicians and loves singing with them. She had a dream to be the next Partridge Family so she is crossing her fingers that her son, Ellis, will be the drummer that will complete the band. And that they aren’t embarrassed to jam with her.
Stephen Schwarz
Drum Teacher
Stephen (pronounced Stef-en) Schwarz has been a drummer for what seems like his entire life. He started playing drums at the age of 10, when his sister and her band would leave their equipment he would sneak in and play their drums. Stephen’s parents finally got him his own drum set when he was 17 and he never looked back. He has been playing professionally since that time and still currently plays with three local bands. Stephen has played with some of Cincinnati’s largest touring bands including Prizoner, Relics & Bad Habit. He also owned and operated the best drum shop in the area. Stephen’s teaching style is a bit unorthodox as he is self-taught, but his technique and style are both well developed.
Cameron Smith
Bass Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Vocal Teacher
Cameron Smith is something of a performing arts renaissance man, dipping his toes into all of the different artistic pools, but being careful to never fully submerge himself into any of them. However, he certainly comes close.
Cameron has been playing guitar since the age of 12, bass since the age of 16, keys since the age of 20, and singing throughout his whole life. He’s only drummed for 3 years, but he really likes it, and is hungry to learn more.
Born in Chicago, but raised in both Cincinnati and Northern Michigan, Cameron was homeschooled until college, where he moved to Southern California to enroll in the Young Americans College of the Performing Arts and earn his degree. Founded in 1962, The Young Americans were the first show choir in existence. It was here Cameron learned to sing professionally.
The Young Americans tour and outreach programs allowed Cameron to travel the world and work with thousands of kids of varying ages and backgrounds. He has toured in America, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Germany, Poland, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan (where he spent most of his time). He toured mainly as a singer and guitarist, but also did some tap, jazz dance, and hip hop, and even ran sound and lights!
Cameron has also worked two summers at the Boyne Highlands dinner theater as a performer and house bassist. It is the oldest dinner theater in America, with notable alumni including Marc Cherry, Stephanie J Block, Eden Espinosa, and Mark L Wahlberg. He also spent a summer working at French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts, where he taught and directed bands at the Rock Shop, where the band Maroon 5 formed. He was featured in the pit orchestras at FWF for the shows, Pippin, Theory of Relativity, Mean Girls, Zombie Prom, and Spring Awakening.
Cameron is proud to be teaching Guitar, Bass, and Vocals at School of Rock. He aims to help kids and adults achieve their goals, and to develop a voracious appetite for music, as well as a deep passion for on stage performance. He hopes to reveal to students the great strength they have within themselves and the impact that they have on everyone around them.
Lindsay Travis
Vocal Teacher
After 13 years in the Big Apple, Lindsay is returning to her midwestern roots! Cincinnati born-and-raised, she studied voice, musical theatre, and viola at the School for Creative and Performing Arts and earned B.A. from Northern Kentucky University's Theatre and Dance Department.
In NYC, she went on thousands (literally thousands) of auditions for Broadway, tours, and regional productions, attained membership in Actor's Equity Association (the professional union for performing arts). Favorite rolls include, Val in A Chorus Line, Laurey in Oklahoma, and under-studying (and going on for!) Sandy in Greece. Lindsay's classical training and musical theatre experience gives her a unique passion for vocal health and proper technique. Singing should be fun and never forced!
On her days off you'll find Lindsay chasing after her three young boys and teaching them the lyrics to "Bohemian Rhapsody" (both the original and the muppet version). Favorite jams include CCR, Earth,Wind & Fire, and Sam Smith.