The Music Building Continues Its 30-year Claim To Music Fame

The Vesties Perform On The View


From its 70 rehearsal studios housed in a 12-story high rise in Manhattan, the famed Music Building has nurtured the talents of budding music legends for nearly 30 years — Madonna, Billy Idol and Blondie once rehearsed in the building's studios at 584 Eighth Avenue before they became music icons.

Now the only musical venue of its kind devoted to providing rehearsal outlets for undiscovered talent is poised to launch yet another smashing success — The Vesties. The all-girl band from Brooklyn recently performed on the hit daytime talk show "The View" as first-place winners of a national contest.

The Vesties performed a live rendition of "Oh, Caravan," a 30-second Christmas carol they submitted as part of The View's Caroling for a Caravan contest sponsored by Dodge. Contestants were required to write lyrics and submit a video of their performance of a Christmas carol that uses specific keywords.

The Vesties' video beat thousands of contestants to win the contest, which features three winners each week. The Vesties' award-winning video was filmed in the Music Building and can be viewed on their MySpace page.

"We sat down and thought about the lyrics... and we brainstormed the whole concept," said Vesties' band member Julie Kowalchick, whose band has practiced in the Music Building for over two years.

The Vesties' appearance on The View marks the band's first national performance and is what co-producer Joseph Guido hopes is the first step in what will be a long musical career. The Vesties have performed at venues across New York and Seattle for nearly three years. The band is made up of Julie, a guitarist and vocalist; Willow, a keyboardist and vocalist; and drummer Mary Jane.

"Opportunities like this come once in a lifetime for an unsigned band," said Guido, a music industry veteran who once played in the NYC bands The Brats and The Koalas, and who produces the Vesties along with Scott Sheets (formerly of The Brats and Pat Benatar). "The band has been working hard rehearsing and writing for a long time and I am sure this national appearance will be the catalyst that gets them signed."

The Vesties won a new 2008 Dodge Caravan, $15,000 in cash and plenty of accolades from The View guest co-host Ricki Lake.

"You're a pretty hot band," Lake said after the Vesties' performance.

The Vesties plan to use their winnings to travel to New York, Florida and Atlanta in February 2008 as part of the group's first national tour. The band recently released their first 11-song CD, "The Vesties." The band is also scheduled to record a single with Joe Blaney, who produced The Clash.

It's another great opportunity for the iconic Music Building, said Roget M. Lerner, Chief Financial Officer of the Music Building.

"We are always happy when one of our tenants gets the recognition and national exposure that so many of them deserve," Lerner said. "We're a place that's conducive to musicians, and if they want to be in music, the Music Building is the place to be."