Our Weekend Warrior coaches are all musicians in their own right, many with extensive national and international reputations. They also happen to be very good at passing on their knowledge to others. They are genuinely committed to the Weekend Warrior program and in helping you to develop your individual playing skills and mentoring the band as a whole.
Click on your State below to find out more details about your local Weekend Warrior coach.
Queensland | New South Wales | Victoria
 Dai Pritchard (Alexandria)
Dai has been playing guitar for 25 years plus. In that time he has played with Australia's who's who including Marcia Hines, Jimmy Barnes, Olivia Newton-John, Doug Parkinson, Glen Shorrock and for eight years with the late, great Billy Thorpe.
Dai is still an active musician, playing since 2005 with Australia's powerhouse, Rose Tattoo. In his acoustic solo performances he includes current and recent hits as well as time
honoured favourites, all done without a net, just one guy and one guitar.
 Paul Christie (Mona Vale)
Paul Christie, bass player of Mondo Rock has worked with nearly every rock performer in Australia. He started The Party Boys with James Reyne in 1982, recording seven albums.
Paul has unparalleled access to a who's who of Australian entertainment and has worked with celebrated international musicians including Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter (Steely Dan, Doobie Bros), Joe Walsh (Eagles) and many others. A board member of the PPCA (Phonographic Performance Company of Australia), he has also lectured at the Australian Institute of Music and published two Music Industry books for Warner Chappell.
 Bob McMahon (Brisbane)
Bob has extensive knowledge about the Weekend Warrior program and has been running the program for music stores since 2005. Bob went through a program and enjoyed it so much he became involved and eventually in charge of the program. His first band stayed together for 5 years and were well known amongst Country Rock enthusiasts.
Bob plays rhythm guitar and is a lead vocalist and does so primarily for enjoyment. He coaches bands occasionally but mainly his role had been to coordinate other coaches. Bob knows how to put bands together and how to get results after putting hundreds of musos through the program. Bob also runs the “Uncle Bob Music Club” and runs regular social jams for weekend warrior members and others.
 Roger McLachlan (Blackburn - Victoria)
Roger McLachlan is a true doyen of the Australian Music Industry.
Most well known for his bass playing and recording with the legendary outfit Little River Band, Roger has recorded on classic Australian albums with the likes of John Farnham, Kate Ceberano , Diana Trask, Colleen Hewett, Anthony Warlow, Broderick Smith, Peter Cupples, Normie Rowe, Graeme Goble, Ross Wilson, Colin Hay, Marcia Hines and The Seekers just to name a few...
He has toured extensively both nationally & internationally, has performed on countless television programs, musicals and has contributed to Movie Soundtracks such as Crocodile Dundee, Evil Angels, All the Rivers Run and The Man from Snowy River.
He is also a talented songwriter & producer.
 Paul Norton (Flemington - Victoria)
Paul Norton started playing bass in various bands in his teens, which led to the formation of Melbourne band The Runners. After a couple of years of constant live work, The Runners were signed to Mushroom Records in 1981 and released their first single Sure Fire Thing in 1982 followed by the album Hitting the Wall, followed by the single Endlessly. The Runners toured constantly throughout the early eighties and went through many lineup changes before disbanding in 1985.
Paul spent the next couple of years playing with various bands (Wendy and the Rocketts, Steve Hoy and the Hoy Boys) before launching a solo career in 1988.
Paul released his first single Stuck On You, which reached number two on the Australian charts.
Paul then went to London to work with producers Paul Muggleton and Mike Paxman on the next single I Got You and the album Under a Southern Sky (the song Southern Sky was later chosen for Australia Day Celebrations at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Paul worked live with his band for the next couple of years before teaming up with American musician/producer T-Bone Wolk (Hall & Oates, Carly Simon) to work on his second album Let It Fly which was recorded at Metropolis studios in Melbourne and mixed in New York at Electric Lady and Bearsville studios. Let It Fly was released in 1992 with the singles When We Were Young and Lil Red Riding Hood.
Paul worked live with his band over the next couple of years touring extensively throughout Australia including many aboriginal communities and Arnhem Land.
In 1994 Paul met Peter Wells RIP (Rose Tattoo) and Cletis Carr and together they formed Hillbilly Moon and later that year released the album Hillbilly Moon Volume One with the song She Left Me receiving solid airplay on Country Music Television.
Paul was Musical Director and wrote the score for The Australian Shakespeare's production of Much Ado About Nothing and the finale for the critically acclaimed comedy Certified Male.
Paul has written for and with some of Australia's finest performers including Debra Byrne, Gerry Hale, Wendy Stapleton, Donna Fisk and Michael Cristian, Dobe Newton and Colleen Hewitt.
In the last few years Paul has divided his time between writing producing and working live and is currently working on a new album.
2006 saw Paul tour Australia with the Countdown Spectacular, where 27 of Australia's top Rock Acts of the eighties performing to 100,000 people nationwide.
 Ronnie Peers (Blackburn - Victoria)
Since arriving in Australia from Liverpool England at the age of 10, Ronnie Peers interest in Guitar playing has never wavered. In fact over the years, his thirst for more knowledge about guitar playing and technology has only increased.
While working for the Roland Corporation he was Roland's only national Guitar clinician, holding Workshops and Clinics right throughout Australia in Music Stores and Trade shows, demonstrating the latest technology on offer for guitar players, musicians and recording engineers. He travelled to Japan where he spent some time with the Company's Research & Development team.
Ron is a session musician and studio recording engineer, and has worked live his entire guitar playing life. His musical prowess ranges from Blues, R&B, Funk, Country, Rock, Metal, Soul, Pop, Fusion and Jazz, playing each with equal enthusiasm and dexterity.
The list of artists he has worked with is too many to mention, but here is a short list of some of the few: Stylus (Australia's white soul band who had many hits in the 70S), George Benson, Lee Ritenour, Ike & Tina Turner, Tina Arena, Kool and the Gang, Boz Scaggs, Errol Brown, Thelma Houston, Russell Morris. Ross Wilson. Daryl Braithwaite, Vanessa Amorosi The 5th Dimension, Renee Geyer, John Farnham, Tommy Emmanuel.
Ron is currently producing an album for Coli Crosby & has just finished a new album for bassist Wayne Jones, & also singer songwriter Kevin Walton. Ron is about to record a new studio album with his band Stylus for release in Japan.
 Bob Spencer (Kew and Melbourne CBD)
Bob has been a part of the Australian music scene for (says he) more years than he cares to remember. Bob joined Sydney respected rock outfit Finch in 1972, won the Pepsi Battle Of The Bands in 1974, joined The Skyhooks in 1977 and recorded several albums and performed with this Australian icon band for three years. In 1985 he joined another Aussie icon rock n' roll band, The Angels. All of Bob's albums with The Skyhooks & The Angels have been certified either Platinum or Gold, and in 1998 Bob was presented with a ARIA Lifetime Achievement Award & inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame.
He divides his time between being the Melbourne Coach for "The Weekend Warriors", being a guitar tutor & band coach, presenting master classes & clinics, running a mastering & recording studio, writing, recording & producing.
Bob has been involved in Weekend Warriors since its introduction into Australia - his experience, skills, manner and love of mentoring musicians make the Weekend Warriors a great experience for musicians
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