For those who were perhaps too practical to follow a dream of becoming a rock star or perhaps didn't have the skills to do so, Toronto's Terry Moshenberg has started The League of Rock, a fantasy camp for non-professional musicians to play in a band, record, and get direction from established musicians.

"There isn't a skill level on paper," says Moshenberg of requirements to register. "We don't say you have to be intermediate or advanced. It's for adults and you've got to be able to play and you know if you can."

At a cost of $1400, The League Of Rock offers three different programs -- 1) "Join A Band (J.A.B.)," a 10-week Wednesday evening course during which participants are divided into bands, jam and workshop on a weekly basis and eventually record a three-song demo; 2) full day workshops for a maximum of 30 people and open first to members; and 3) something called "reward & incentives" for corporations/companies to build music-based teams.

"As a business model, the foundation of the league is the J.A.B. sessions," says Moshenberg.

The March J.A.B. session is coming to a close and culminates in a jam and listening session with all 10 bands, July 10 at 7 p.m. at Gibson Guitar Artist Showroom (1205 King St. W.) in Toronto. The event is open to non-members for $10.

The next 10-week session begins in July. According to Moshenberg, "feature" coaches will include guitarist Robin LeMesurier of Rod Stewart's band; April Wine lead singer/guitarist Bryan Greenway; bassist Mike Tilka (an original member of Max Webster); guitarist Danny Weis, a founding member of Iron Butterfly; singer-guitarist Rik Emmett, a solo artist and ex of Triumph; and singer-songwriter Alan Frew, the ex-Glass Tiger frontman.

Others guest tutors in July include Goddo guitarist Steve Shelski (also ex of Coney Hatch), drummer Sasha Tucasch (ex-Platinum Blonde), guitarist David Barrett, drummer Dave Betts (ex-Honeymoon Suite), guitarist Joey Serlin (ex-The Watchmen) and drummer Topher Stott.

"Every week, we have a couple of new coaches," says Moshenberg, who he also refers to as League members. "So what's happening is it's ramping up and the idea is that every member doesn't just come out for one session. They are members of a league. They are expected to come out for four sessions across the year and it's going to slowly get better and better, as they get better and better."

The idea for The League Of Rock came to Moshenberg two years ago when he noticed his friends pulling out their instruments again. He also knows someone who regularly spends thousands of dollars to act in plays. Why not do the same thing for bands?

"I was running a software company and I had sold the software off and I had a window of opportunity to the start a project and I was tired of the grind," he recalls. "The first thing I did was write a plan, then I began to look for the people who might be interested."

He called his old friend Frew. "I went to a rock star guy and it didn't take him five minutes [to say yes]," says Moshenberg.

While his press material mentions "famous musicians," many of the coaches are more "established" musicians than instantly recognizable names. When asked if he would like to get members of current charting artists, such as Billy Talent, Sloan, Sam Roberts, Alexisonfire, Nickelback, The Tragically Hip to entice a younger generation of non-pros to check of The League Of Rock, Moshenberg says he has started to approach them.

"There are young guys in our league right now. There are a couple of 25-years-old that are loving it. I have to say that it isn't about one session. The answer is yes, I agree, but I can't have every single great rocker come out every single session," he explains.

"I was out with James McCarty, the founding drummer for the Yardbirds. He's coming back in September to coach. I'm working right now with Robin LeMesurier He's coming out on our July session. I'm on the phone these days with Mike Tilka, the original bass player for Max Webster. He's coming out for our July session."

All the coaches/guest players get paid, says Moshenberg. "We're asking for no favours. This is all about the money."

A similar business, Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp, which operates camps in America and the U.K. over a concentrated period of four or five days, actually has enlisted such heavyweights as Paul Stanley (KISS), Brian Wilson, Roger Daltry, Vince Neil, Ted Nugent, Bill Wyman, Spencer Davis and dozens of other impressive names, so professional musicians obviously get a kick out of the experience too.

For Canada's The League Of Rock, Moshenberg got sponsorship from Gibson Guitar, Long & McQuade, The Argos, Planters Peanuts, and Plain + Simple. The inaugural J.A.B. kicked off in March at the Gibson Guitar Artist Showroom, where the registrants' "draft" took place. "I put them into bands before they even meet," says Moshenberg. "They've all filled out a very detailed skills analysis form and we have discussions with them and we know what they play, what their expectations are and what their tastes are."

So far, unlike Idol auditions, Moshenberg says he hasn't come across any sign-ups who are delusional and don't have the required chops. He also, surprisingly, hasn't run into a drastic shortage of people who play bass or drums or guitar. "When there is a hole in one spot or another, we'll plug a sub in," he says. There hasn't been any unusual instrument choices yet either, but there are no restrictions.

The members then get to name their band. "One is called Buck 10 because she got a ticket for going 110 miles an hour on the way to the draft event," Moshenberg laughs.

"Another is Four Kings & A Queen because there's a girl in the band whose given name is Queen. There's also All You Can Eat Haggis, which has funny Scottish guy in band."

Over the ensuing weeks, the bands then jam and workshop, some composing originals, but mostly doing covers. "They've got 10 weeks to get 'em down because the ninth and tenth week they're laying down these songs live-off-the-floor in a world-class studio," says Moshenberg, who has cut deals with Toronto's Phase one, Q Music, Inception Sound and Whirlwind Sound. "They leave with a three song CD."

There are no parameters on the musical style either. It doesn't have to be rock, but for now that's the way it's leaning.

"The beauty behind this thing is it's about experimentation, pushing your creative limits," says Moshenberg. "Because each session is 10 weeks, it's not the last band you're ever going to be in. So the idea here is to do something you've never done before and do it with a bunch of people you've never met before and come out of it having learned something, taking yourself up to a new level."

The League Of Rock plans to do four sessions a year, but only three this year, the one in July and another in October. Moshenberg's ultimate plan is to have chapters in multiple cities in Canada and the U.S. He's looking at Vancouver, Winnipeg and out East first, followed by Los Angeles and New York.

"We're not going to franchise, but we're going to do joint ventures," he says. "We're going to go into partnerships, so I am actively looking for people out there. The big thing is to find people that are willing to open a chapter or run a chapter. We are really looking and are very open to working with all the best and biggest artists in the country and in the world."

For more information or to register, go to www.leagueofrock.com