"SIOUX FALLS, SD - A series of concerts last week raised more than $1 million for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Sioux Empire. The money is being used to fund the new Brennan Rock and Roll Academy in Sioux Falls.
Charles Brennan is the founder and CEO of the dollar loan center. But back in the 70s, he lived just a few blocks from what is now the Rock and Roll Academy and he's never forgotten the influence the Boys and Girls Club had on his life.
""It was a life changing experience for me then and that was just playing basketball and foosball, pinball, hanging out with my friends. I can't imagine what effect it would have had on all of us if they actually had a music program,"" Brennan said.
That's why Brennan started the Rock and Roll Academy. For $25 a year, kids can come to the Rock and Roll Academy and get music lessons for free. And while kids in the club got invited to a free show by the band Hairball, eventually they'll be the ones taking the stage.
""Then the magic starts. When we find a child who knows how to play guitar or keyboards, learns a song, gets in a little band and then gets on the same stage that Alice Cooper was on Thursday night,"" Brennan said.
Boys and Girls Club member Alannah Coster already knows what it feels like to be a rock star.
""I got to go on stage and play guitar and I got to hear all this music, so it's been great being here,"" Coster said.
Other kids agree and say the Rock and Roll Academy makes being in the Boys and Girls Club cool again.
""I remember back when there was like 30 people a day and now we're averaging about 120 people a day,"" Boys and Girls Club member Michael Moore said.
And that's music to Brennan's ears because you never know where the next big act will come from.
""They all started somewhere and every one of these artists, Gene, Alice, everybody started with nothing,"" Brennan said.
But whether the kids make a living playing music or not, Brennan says it's worth the effort and that's why the Dollar Loan Center paid for 75 kids to join the Academy for free.
""The population of the Boys and Girls Club grew by 20 percent yesterday [Friday] in one day and it was amazing. It brought tears to people's eyes,"" Brennan said.
Gene Simmons of Kiss and Vince Neil from Motley Crue performed for the kids and offered musical advice. They helped raise over $1.3 million for the Rock and Roll Academy.
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