Yellowknife (Mar 24/06) - A pair of teen bands played at last weekend’s Block 1,000 Rock and Roll party, which they said is one of the few opportunities they have to show their stuff in Yellowknife.

The bands Pandora’s Bliss and Four Inches Short both played at the event, held at the SnowKing’s castle on Yellowknife Bay. The members of each band were all under the age of 19, with some as young as 13.

“It doesn’t exist, as far as I know,” said Erich Hintz, 18, a member of Pandora’s Bliss, about the state of Yellowknife’s all-ages music scene.

He said aside from one-off events like the Rock the Folks battle of the bands, where young bands vie for a spot on the Folk on the Rocks Sunday stage, and the Caribou Capers, he couldn’t think of many opportunities for someone his age to play.

Hintz said he was looking forward to turning 19 so he could perform in bars and licensed venues. However, he said his sister and bandmate Julie, 14, would still need special permission to perform.

Stephen Pretty, president of the Recording Arts Association of the Northwest Territories, said getting young people more involved in the Yellowknife music scene was part of his organization’s mandate.

But finding regular places to play was a broader problem, he said.

“Even older musicians are fighting a bit of a losing battle,” he said, citing the move towards “canned music” in many bars and venues.

Pretty said RAANT has set up an annual youth event around the Bushed Festival, and was trying to start up a series of mentoring programs and workshops this summer.

The programs would introduce young musicians to demo recording, promotions and stage performance.

“We noticed when we did our youth concerts that some of the bands didn’t know how to do a sound check,” he said. “The more professional they sound, the more successful they’ll be.”

However, these plans are dependent upon funding from the NWT Arts Council, he said.

Tim Jaworski, sales manager at CJCD, said the radio station’s annual Music in the Park battle of the bands tries to address these problems also.

“There are a lot of good young bands out there that don’t get a chance to play often, other than in front of their friends,” he said.

“This gives them a chance to show their talent to the city.”

Though he said nothing was finalized, the prize given is normally 10 hours of recording time and a mastered demo from Spiritwalker Productions. Erich Hintz said he plans to study music and business in college. He hopes he can use what he learns to help young artists through RAANT, something that Pretty said he encourages.

“There’s strength in numbers, so if more of those youth musicians work with us we can get some things done beyond the token shows,” he said.

Though they also think things will be easier when they come of age (the oldest members are 16), the players in Four Inches Short said they won’t let it stop them now, as they practice in storage spaces and play whenever they get the chance.

“On the back of my Jimi Hendrix shirt, it says, ‘Music is my religion,’” said guitarist Kenny Williams, 13, who has been playing for nearly seven years. “That’s who I am.”