A string of lights hangs from the ceiling of the basement. In the corner, a drum set, guitar stands, and mic stands are all surrounded by posters of rock bands such as Rob Zombie, Rancid, My Chemical Romance, and Guns N’ Roses.
The band gathers in a circle, their backs to the world, and in their circle the drums start, the guitars blare, and the vocals begin: “‘Cause I’m just a teenage dirtbag, baby…,” comes belting from a young girl.
This is the practice space for The Sugar Gliders, Dawson Creek’s hit youth band.
The band is made up of girls ages 10 to 13, and they have become a sensation in Dawson Creek, rocking shows at the George Dawson Inn (GDI), playing covers of alternative and punk rock hits.
The Sugar Gliders have been the headliner for the Youth Jams in Dawson Creek.
The band includes Ruby Dobrowolski, 13, Ivy Dobrowolski, 13, Alivia Neumann, 10, Emma Smith, 13, Aubrie Neumann, 13, and Keiva Levin, 10.
Emma Hawkins started the Youth Jams about a year ago as a way for local youth bands to have a spot to perform, letting some bands play one song if that’s all they knew, and others play as many as they knew.
The Sugar Gliders, knowing the most songs, were put at the top of the bill.
The Youth Jams are building a stronger musical community in Dawson Creek, as musicians jump on instruments to support youth performers or play a song live so they can sing a karaoke-style version.
Hawkins realized the need for a space for youth bands to perform beyond the school talent show and an annual school Christmas concert.
“I always wanted somewhere to play when I was their age, because we just played in the music room and the talent show.”
The room at the GDI has been filling for the Youth Jams, and Hawkins says the crowd continues to grow after each show. Local musicians, teachers, coaches, and even family from out of town are coming to see the kids perform.
“The music community who shows up every single time and is so pumped for the kids, every single time, that’s huge, and it makes us all feel good; the kids feel great, they’re on stage, and they’re rocking, but we feel good because we get to feel like there’s something after us,” said Hawkins.
The entry fee is by donation, and any additional funds raised from the show go toward purchasing instruments for the youth, says Hawkins.
For the Sugar Gliders, playing in front of an audience is when they get to have a lot of fun.
“It transitioned from absolutely terrifying to this is so fun, having a blast; the last one, we had the most fun,” said Ruby, the band’s drummer.
Tatyana Dobrowolski, a parent and teacher, has seen the band members’ confidence grow as they explore music and performing.
“I see them at school and the way that they carry themselves at school, and the way that they interact with other students; it has really just grown them as people,” she said, and noted that having shows for youth to perform in gives them a healthy way to explore their emotions and feelings.
“Culturally in the north and in these small communities where there’s not a pile for kids to do, they often end up doing really unhealthy things.
“One of the things that I’m the most excited about is the different people in our community trying to grow youth programming, it gives them a really safe and healthy way to explore themselves and grow,” said Tatyana.
“We have a great community building in Dawson Creek right now and there’s some really passionate adults who are working in a lot of different areas to give these kids more things to look forward and to focus on, like with the Youth Jams and the children’s music theatre and choir and band, we’ve been really trying to build up the youth music scene in a variety of ways.”
“We’ve been trying to make it as affordable as possible, because we just want more kids to have that expression and that access.
“It’s a kind of expression that will help you maintain healthy mental health throughout your entire life.”
Hawkins said she is also working towards building up a collection of instruments for the Dawson Creek library.
“I wish I could buy a guitar for every kid who wants one, but I can’t,” she said, which led to finding a way to make sure instruments were available to people who wanted to play.
The library now has a few guitars and hopes to expand to a drum set and amps for people to borrow using their library card and return for the next person to use.
As for the Sugar Gliders, they are working on some original songs and hope to showcase their new music in the future.
“I want to get so popular that if you look up the sugar gliders, the little fuzzy babies don’t just come up,” said Alivia.
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