John Ondrasik says playing The Coach House is a dream. The Five for Fighting singer considers it among the top five venues in which to perform.
“It’s very rare that you have these saloon-type bars where you sit down, have dinner and people can scream so much that you can’t hear yourself one minute, and the next you could hear a pin drop,” he said.
“It’s that venue.”
Five for Fighting performs at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano this Friday, April 26. But this isn’t a typical gig. A string quartet will accompany him.
“These shows are so amazing for me,” he said. “It’s a rebirth of the excitement of playing, having this orchestra behind me. I have world-famous composers behind me. I can’t do that with a rock band. The audiences really appreciate it.”
Ondrasik has peppered the past eight to nine years with this show. Sometimes, he walks off the stage and lets the musicians “show their stuff,” he said.
“It’s a very intimate show, very musical, very storytelling,” he said. “I had a blast last summer with the Barenaked Ladies, opening for them, playing to 8,000 people every night. It was like rock star band camp. To go back and forth with these shows is really great. It keeps everything exciting for us.”
Music and maintaining music in schools are important to Ondrasik. His mother was a piano teacher, staging full musicals. Still, 50 years later, her former students approach Ondrasik to tell him how wonderful she is.
“Music teachers for young kids are so critical,” he said.
So important that Ondrasik and The Tullman Family Office, through its operational philanthropic wing Tullman Community Ventures, launched the “Music Matters Challenge,” which runs through April 30.
The grand prize winners will be announced on May 14. It asks Americans to create an original rendition of the song “Let Music Fill My World,” a track recorded and written by Ondrasik and students of the Farragut Career Academy in Chicago, while sharing their own story of a time when music greatly impacted them, changed their life, or moved them to where they remember that story today.
The challenge is designed to spotlight the magic of music and bring awareness to the generational impact of removing music from schools. To enter the contest, visit letmusicfillmyworld.com.
Ondrasik hosted a similar project in Chicago and raised $250,000. Through that process, they raised enough money to fund a music teacher for three years.
“We thought, ‘Let’s take this nationally and raise awareness of problems like this,’ ” he recalled.
“We want to raise awareness of the fact that 4 million students in America do not have access to music in the schools,” he said. “Music helps with mental wellness, keeps kids out of trouble, assists with academic literacy, social welfare, being able to communicate. If you have music in the schools, your life’s a lot better. We’re really excited about it.”
He's also excited about playing The Coach House.
“We’ve done every permutation of Five for Fighting at The Coach House,” he said. “We’ve had special guests, special moments, a lot of laughs and a lot of singing. The folks at The Coach House certainly like to sing along.”
WHO: Five for Fighting with a String Quartet
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday, April 26
WHERE: The Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano
COST: $48
INFO: thecoachhouse.com