The No Rehearsals
The No Rehearsals are basically Parents Who Rock founder’s Alma Schneider’s pick-up band—and they are all really busy. Besides being a mom to four kids, leading PWR, and running her own business, Take Back the Kitchen, Alma sings. John Paul Uva, guitarist, is a CIO in real life, and plays in his own band, Sock Monster, in addition to playing in the No Rehearsals—and other bands—occasionally, on the side. Doug Andrews is a technical editor at work, a jazz guy at home and plays rock ‘n’ roll on his stand-up bass at night. Theater systems engineer Miguel Rodriguez played drums for years around Jersey clubs in bands like Louder Than Words, The Lucky Socks, Baked Fresh Daily, and now plays with his Miguel Rodriguez Presents MRP. And, of course, being in PWR, they’ve all got families too—12 kids between them. And spouses. So, not a lot of time.
Truth is, with everything else she’s doing, Alma needed a band that could get by sort of on the fly, and that’s just what they are. They’re all good enough that they can pick up a song and wrestle it into submission in a few tries. They play an eclectic mix of rock and alternative music—everything from indie hits like “Passionate Kisses” from Lucinda Williams to great, undiscovered songs from people like Amy Speace. And Alma’s got a couple dozen originals she’s just waiting to get the guts to pull out. For Alma, it’s a dream come true—(to quote the aforementioned Lucinda, “Is it too much to ask—I want a full house and a rock ’n’ roll band.”) she’s a mom with four kids and she’s in a rock ‘n’ roll band. It’s also a chance for all of them to get out of the house (not for Alma as much actually, since they mostly rehearse in her living room), and have some fun making noise and raising money for good causes.
As for rehearsals, more are planned—as needed, whenever they get a chance to play out. Although the most rehearsals they’ve ever had before any show seems to be three. And the fewest—well, once they ran through the set in Alma’s kitchen for a few minutes before it was their turn to take the stage, which was more like a warm-up. But once they started playing, you never would have known.
The No Rehearsals, from left, Doug Andrews, Miguel Rodriguez, Alma Schneider, John Paul Uva. Photo by Liz Uva.
