Sue Thierrin said her son, Travis, has been interested in music since her father taught him to play the piano at age 5. Travis eventually picked up the violin and the sousaphone, but getting him to practice proved difficult.

"It was always a fight," she said.

Then Travis started taking bass lessons at The Paul Green School of Rock Music. The challenge Sue and Ray Thierrin face now is getting their son to stop practicing so they can get some sleep.

"We can't even get him off the bass," she said.

The Lopatcong Township couple were so impressed with their son's interest level and dedication to practice only a month into lessons that they decided to bring the school to Easton.

The Thierrins will lease space on South Bank Street now occupied by the Easton Museum of Pez Dispensers for the Lehigh Valley's own School of Rock.

The couple decided in September -- about four months after their son started lessons -- to open their own franchise and looked throughout the Lehigh Valley and western New Jersey for a suitable location.

"We really liked the vibe of Downtown Easton," Ray Thierrin said.

Brothers Tim and Kevin Coyle opened the Pez-themed museum and retail shop in August 2003. Tim Coyle, who now runs the shop, could not be reached Saturday for comment.

It's unclear when Coyle's lease expires or when exactly the Pez museum will close, but Ray Thierrin said he and his wife will have access to the two-story space in early January and plan to open sometime in March.

Albie Monterrosa, of Bethlehem, frontman for the band deSol, will serve as the school's music director, overseeing curriculum and staff.

The school will include lesson rooms, a student lounge and about 1,600 square feet of rehearsal space. Students generally take a 45-minute weekly lesson coupled with a three-hour group rehearsal.

Ray Thierrin, who put his own guitar lessons on hold to plan the business, said lessons center on music theory that students put into practice with the weekly group rehearsals. It's those group rehearsals and live shows that students put on every three to four months that really appealed to the couple.

"Traditionally, a student takes lessons, but there's no real endgame," Ray Thierrin said. "Sure they get better, but there's no real payoff."

They recently attended a three-hour performance of all the New Jersey School of Rock students and were duly impressed.

"They put out some amazing music," Sue Thierrin said.

The Thierrins said they also look forward to students playing during the city's many festivals and events.

"Our interest is really to be part of the community fabric," Ray Thierrin said.

Main Street Manager Kim Kmetz said she's excited to see the business coming to the city. She said she hopes once parents drop off their children for lessons, they'll stay and explore Downtown.

"It's the only one in the Lehigh Valley, and it's exciting that (they) considered other downtowns but really wanted to be in Easton," Kmetz said.
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