Taking their places in the center of the Stanford Cardinals’ Maples Pavilion, 6th graders William, Jeremy, and Max shouted out to the audience with a rousing cry of “How you doing, Stanford?” Then, the young three-piece rock band launched into a medley of songs, including some of the biggest rock hits from across the last 50 years. If there’s one thing we admire more than young musicians here at The Music Man, it’s young musicians who know their musical legacy, and this band certainly does.
With a medley including ‘TNT’ by ACDC, ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ by Neil Young, ‘Union’ by the Black Eyed Peas, ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends’ by War, ‘We Will Rock You’, and ‘We Are The Champions’ by Queen, and ‘Rock and Roll’ by Led Zeppelin, their set had audience members, young and old alike, rocking out in the stands. Impressing online fans too, the video hit count reached over 14M, with one viewer commenting, “I’m a 72-year-old rocker and so glad to see that rock will never die. Rock on!”
While all were between the ages of 11 and 12 at the time of their Stanford show in 2015, the members are now all between the ages of 20 and 21, and up until three years ago, WJM was still rocking out together. While Max left the band in 2018, members William and Jeremy kept things going as a duo. They continued to upload more iconic rock covers to their YouTube channel, as well as performing at #FOMOTOUR and the legendary Burning Man Festival.
They also progressed into releasing their own music—a development we know our Music Man readers love to see from talented cover bands. Their most recent release was in 2020, with the single ‘Heart On Read’. The catchy original song impressed listeners, many of whom checked them out after seeing their Stanford performance and left comments reading, “Honestly, it sounds like a hit that you’d hear on the radio. I’m not sure how y’all aren’t popular yet.”
Since their 2020 release, everything has gone quiet on the WJM front. However, William and Jeremy are now putting their efforts into a new five-piece band called The Runarounds. Over the last couple of years, The Runarounds have been building up their own fanbase, with gigs and an album released in 2023. Now, they are going to be the stars of their very own TV drama, with a fictional story based around the real-life band. We know our Music Man readers love seeing young musicians’ journeys from the start. From WJM’s days at the Stanford halftime show to The Runarounds’ new TV drama, it is clear that the journey for these musicians has only just begun.
If you would like to hear more from this talented band you can subscribe to their YouTube Channel for more incredible music. To stay updated with their latest news and performances, be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram . For additional information, visit their official website .
