What Do Led Zeppelin & Ozzy Osbourne Have in Common? The Louisville Leopards, of Course!
If you need some inspiration and love Led Zeppelin, today will be a win-win for you! I was getting my weekend dose of the Today Show and saw a news story on this group of talented kids and their teacher. (Check out the Today Show report I saw here.) I was was blown away by their talent and their teacher's dedication! Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin was so impressed he posted their video on his Facebook page and- - wham- - almost 4 million hits later they are world famous!
The Louisville Leopard Percussionists are a large group of kids from diverse backgrounds from ages 7 to 14 brought together by one remarkable teacher. Diane Downs started her first percussion ensemble back in 1993 when she found some old instruments in a school storage closet. Fast-forward ten years to 2003, when she launched the Leopards as a free-standing non-profit open to all kids in and around the Louisville, Kentucky area.
These kids learn to perform on a number of different percussion instruments, they develop music appreciation, creativity and skills, which in turn gives them life-long personal values of discipline and leadership, as well as a strong sense of community.
Now 22 years later and this group continues to thrive, traveling to concerts across their area and around the country. They've sold so many CDs that they're actually sold out of several of them! Enjoy and marvel at this tremendous group of kids and their teacher!
This one is Zeppelin:
This one is Ozzy: