My son and 2 nephews would probably point to me as their main influence early on in their musical experience. My son elected to go to college and my nephs have a sucessful punk band in Pittsburgh. The main thing I did at first was impress upon them the importance of being aware of what the bass, drums and guitar were doing and where each fit into the music. My equipment was left at their house unless I was gigging and they were always allowed to use it. One neph is a guitarist/songwriter, but can play bass and drums as well. The same for his brother who's primarily a drummer. They both play fairly good keyboard, too.

Also, when they became good enough I showed them the rudiments of recording and amplification. They knew the difference between a monitor mix and a main mix before they ever gigged. Did the best I could to familiarize them with the language of stage performance and equipment.

When they were in high school we rented a hall on 3 different occasions. They found bands from 2 other local schools and sold tickets. They paid for everything up front from lighting trees to stage risers. The bands put up posters in their respective schools and charged an admission. Some parents helped out with security and all the bands made money.

Each time out my direct involvment was less. The 3d time all I did was show up about an hour before showtime, supervise the sound/lighting check and then watch the show. I didn't touch a single piece of equipment or a pot. The bands and friends did everything from set-up to strike with no supervision. There were no fights and the mosh-pit was churning from the first note to the last chord of the night all 3 shows.

Besides my nephews 5 or 6 of those involved in the planning and execution of those shows are 'in the business' either as performers, sound/lighting techs or recording engineers.

More than mentor what I feel I did was to encourage some kids to be subversive, stay in the black, pay up front and don't wait for permission to succeed.