This is a project about rockstars, though you’ve never heard of them. They do not go on world tours or enjoy a lavish lifestyle. They do not play to thousands of screaming fans, like they might have imagined when they first picked up a guitar, but they are rockstars because they have decided that’s what they are.

The project centers on three men — Cameron Navetta, Danny Bowron and Scott Demers. Now all in their mid-twenties, they met in middle school and grew up playing music together. The friends play shows all around Metro Detroit, to audiences rarely topping 50 people, and have a handful of albums under their belts.

The men are all members of two different bands. Cameron Jones, for which Navetta is the front man, and Jackson and the Poolsharks, headed up by Bowron.

All three maintain day jobs, pursuing their music in evenings and on weekends. Navetta apprentices at his father’s flooring company. Bowron and Demers work together at a meat market. Though none make a living off their music, they plan to pursue it the rest of their lives. 

This project is about growing up and the pressure to sacrifice passion for a paycheck.

These men may not be famous, and they may not make much money, but they are rockstars, and that’s all they’ve ever wanted to be. For them, the small shows they play are the fulfillment of a dream to be on stage, sharing their music with others.

While many people strive to find a career they love, these men have chosen to not to define themselves by where their paychecks come from, but by their passion.