On an average Wednesday after classes are over, one would not expect to hear laughter, rock ‘n’ roll music and the feedback of amps blaring from a classroom.

At Trinity this is not only welcome but encouraged. The Guitar Club is always looking for new members.

“The club is a stress-free and easygoing jam session where the boys can play,” moderator Mr. Jason Daniel said.  

The club, formed about seven years ago, has had as many as 15 members but now has five or six regulars.

Sophomore Will Meyer is one of those regulars and has missed only one or two meetings in two years.  Sessions are held in the Communications Arts Center music room so members can “plug in.”

“Sometimes I will bring pedals from home so the boys can see what sounds they can make,” Daniel said.

The sessions are “my favorite place to play,” Meyer said.

Most people have an idol when they start playing — Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, or Willie Nelson — but Meyer was not inspired by anyone. “I chose to play myself and was not influenced by any particular individual,” he said.

Meyer first picked up a guitar about fours years ago and has loved it ever since. Outside of the obvious choice of rock n’ roll, his favorite genre is metal.

The club is a “judgment free zone,” a place to practice, play and perfect talents. “It is a fun place to play with friends and without having my mom tell them to turn it down,” Meyer said.

Playing guitar may look easy, but a great 20-second-riff may take hours to prefect. “Guitar is easy to pick up, but to get really good it takes a lot of work. It is 10 percent talent and 90 percent hard work,” Daniel said.

Will was at the point in his guitar career where he was hitting a wall. He had played for a few years, mastered a few songs and felt pretty confident, but at one point it seemed that he could not progress any further. Everything he tried to play seemed hard, and he stopped enjoying it.

When he joined the club, he was still in a rut, but the guys he met helped him progress again as a player. Meyer also brought in new members, among them friend Stephen Vega.

“(Will) would come alone some meetings and eventually brought friends with him. He grew our numbers,” said Daniel, who has been playing for 30-plus years.

Meyer, who continues to play and has joined bands, does not consider himself a “mover” or a “shaker” in the club, but he is glad to help keep the jam sessions growing.