Third Grade Teacher

Self-described "lo-fi arena rock" quartet Third Grade Teacher featured the vocals of real-life third-grade teacher Sabrina Stevenson. Stevenson was active as a singer by 1999, gigging throughout Silverlake and Hollywood with guitarist David Guerrero, bassist Sharon Schloss, and drummer Art Jencks. Sound-wise, 3GT carved out a niche on the rock face somewhere between metal and punk revivalism, leaving plenty of room for Stevenson's wildly shifting vocals and bizarre stage antics (tap dancing, speaking in tongues, crawling on the floor, etc.). The band self-released its first album, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1, in 1999, and followed it a year later with The Underklass. They also appeared on a few compilations, including Sympathy for the Record Industry's Alright, This Time Just the Girls. Around this point, Third Grade Teacher's lineup shifted to include bassist Laura Smith and drummer Rob Ahlers. 2003 saw the release of 3, which was eventually picked up by Bay Area indie Pinch Hit.