TeachRock Help on the Way 2026

Six musicians who have no business being on the same stage at the same time, playing for a reason that makes sense of it.

Corey Glover of Living Colour and Galactic takes vocals. Rob Eaton of Dark Star Orchestra and Tim Palmieri of Lotus are on guitars, Aron Magner of the Disco Biscuits on keys, Noelle Saison of King Saison on bass and Vinnie Amico of moe. on drums. Every one of them sings. The set is built around mashups of classic hits with the Grateful Dead catalog, which is exactly the sort of idea that only works when the players are this good.

Between the music, TeachRock presents its Star Teacher Awards, honoring educators who have found a way to get music into their classrooms.

Why Connecticut. TeachRock and the Connecticut State Department of Education built "An American History of Rock and Soul" into the state's first course-in-a-box, now running in districts across Connecticut. TeachRock was launched by Stevie Van Zandt with a founders board of Bono, Jackson Browne, Martin Scorsese and Bruce Springsteen, and it gives teachers free, ready-made lessons connecting music to history, math, science and wellness. Around 80,000 educators use them, reaching more than a million students. Ticket money keeps the materials free.

Good to know. This is year two of Help on the Way, and it is a fundraiser rather than a standard show. General admission is $175 and includes a raffle ticket, with doors at 7 pm. VIP is $300 and adds a 5:30 pm happy hour with band meet-and-greets, an open bar running the whole show, food, an acoustic set from Bone Dry, a second raffle ticket and a commemorative laminate. The dress code, in the venue's own words, is to look your rock and roll best. Of the VIP price $200 is tax-deductible, and $175 of the general admission price. TeachRock is a project of the Rock and Soul Forever Foundation, a 501(c)(3). Tickets are handled on Eventbrite, so the venue's event page sends you there.