MVHS journalism adviser Julia Satterthwaite and her band, Vida Blues, performed a 26-song setlist at Freewheel Brewing Company on March 3, 2025. The band, consisting of drummer and Palo Alto High School journalism adviser Bryan Wilson, guitarist and Menlo-Atherton High School science teacher Lance Powell, bass player and Palo Alto High School journalism adviser Rod Satterthwaite and lead singer Julia, covered songs such as “Come Together” by The Beatles and “Moonage Daydream” by David Bowie.
Although Rod used to get incredibly nervous when performing live, to the point of sweating and even forgetting what he was playing, he says that, over time, he has learned how to manage that stress and enjoy the performance.
“Now it feels like when you get up to teach, you’re in front of all these people sort of staring at you, but you have to fake it till you make it,” Rod said. “So you just get into this mindset of, ‘It’s gonna be great, we’re gonna do a good job and I know what I’m doing. So let’s push away the doubts and let’s just power through.’”
The band originally formed when Wilson and Rod started playing together when they were teachers in Michigan. Though the core members of the group went through some lineup changes when both Rod and Wilson moved to California, they managed to get the band back together again, now rehearsing weekly on Saturdays in Redwood City.
“The more that I play, the better I will get, and I’ll never reach a point where it’s like, ‘Well, I guess I’ve learned everything there’s to know,’” Wilson said. “I’ve never reached that, and I don’t think I ever will.”
Much like any band, the members all had different musical origin stories. For example, while lead singer Julia has loved to sing since she was little and Wilson has been playing the drums since his sophomore year of high school, Rod and Powell both didn’t start playing until much later, with Powell learning in college and Rod learning in his 40s.
“I think it’s just really cool to have something, like a skill, that you develop over the course of your life,” Powell said. “You watch yourself get better and better, which is so gratifying. So now I play music every day.”
In the beginning of the band’s career, Rod and Wilson performed at a high school journalism conference, fueling their desire to recruit more members into the band. They began playing at places such as breweries, coffee shops and other restaurants. Since it started about five years ago, the Vida Blues band has played about 30 shows, and continues to be eager to perform in the future.
“The feeling when you perform, it’s a feeling that you can get in very few other places in life, to be on a stage making music to enjoy,” Wilson said. “Most people love music, so to get that opportunity to actually produce it and play it for people, it’s really gratifying.”
