One young boy, for example, told them he had to spend Christmas in the homeless shelter, and he would never be happy again. "But at the end of the class, he had the biggest smile," says Wheeler. "Music has always played a healing role in people's lives, both as an expression of joy and as a reflection of the pain and suffering in life."

They've seen kids who seemed to be on the sidelines, with no friends, jump in and take part. They've seen kids with physical problems feel like they are just like everyone else because they can play the harmonica. They've seen kids who were shy step up and be leaders.

"We've also seen kids with latent music talent really blossom," says Weldon. They did one extended residency program where they spent three months working with the kids, teaching them to write songs. They had a contest and then took the winning songs and put them to music and recorded them.

"Then we played them for 700 people at the Egyptian Theater in Ogden. You can't imagine what that did for the kids," he says.

And that's why they are so committed to the program. Both work as musicians, playing with various bands. Weldon also teaches guitar. Wheeler has a bar in Ogden, where he brings in nationally known blues artists.

But Blues in the School has almost become a full-time job, they say. And that's just how they like it.

"Can you imagine how lucky we are?" asks Weldon. "We get to feed kids who are starved for music, for the arts."

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com