20th Sunshine State Acoustic Music Camp

The 20th anniversary production of my Sunshine State Acoustic Music Camp is history. Advanced-level fiddle instructor, the eminent Elan Chalford, sent me an e-mail after the camp with a subject line that perfectly described this year's event: "A fine camp was had by all". That was it!!

Here's the camp web site, where you can find description, pictures, schedule, instructor list, the works: http://www.cgmusicman.com/camp/index.html

The camp is held in a beautiful nature park in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Mid-November weather could not have been more gorgeous on the camp weekend. It was sunny and warm during the days. Clear blue skies prevailed with puffy white clouds away up high. Very, very comfortable. At night it was just cool enough for comfy sleeping. Of course most folks at the camp did lots of jamming and not too much sleeping at night. One night I went to bed about 1:30 AM after sitting by a fire listening to our great old-time banjo instructor Matthew Sabatella and the lovely and massively talented Gailanne Amundsen making music together. (Gailanne works with kids attending the camp, and some years ago she posed for the picture we use on the introductory page of the web site.) I learned later that they went on playing for hours after I gave out!

Eager students came from as near as the neighborhood where the camp is held in Saint Petersburg and as far as Copenhagen, Denmark; Toronto, Canada; and the northern border of Nebraska.

Erling Rasmussen, from Copenhagen, is a very fine fiddler and a he's a heck of a nice person, as is his wife Kirsten. Naturally we talked of me traveling to Denmark next summer to make music with Erling and his musical cohorts over there. Sounds good to me. I've played in Copenhagen before, and it would be nice to go back again with new friends to visit. That will probably happen.

I met singer/songwriter Austin Truax, his pretty wife Rebecca, and their very cool son Shane and daughter Makayla on the festival circuit in the midwest this summer. They've been living in Nebraska and not loving it a whole lot. They'd not been to Florida before. After staying on at my place for a few days following the camp, visiting the famous Clearwater Beach a couple of times, and the sponge docks at Tarpon Springs, rambling around the Gulf Coast, and jamming with my friends, I think they've decided to become Sunshine Staters themselves. We like them, and we hope so!

One of my very oldest musical cohorts in Florida is Jay Wood, now of Eustis. When I first showed up in central Florida, nearly thirty years ago, Jay and I played lots of festivals and other shows around the state. Jay and his wife Valinda now perform and record as Starbird. They put on a terrific show together. I invited them to the music camp as special guests. They came and added much to the weekend. I like to bring in really fine musicians like Jay and Valinda to inspire the students.

Folks seem to think the Saturday night concert, featuring most of the instructors along with special guests I invite, was the best Saturday night concert we have ever had. The level of musicianship was certainly sky high. It was quite a show!! Professional sound man Mike McNeil who comes out each year to do sound for the big show. He does a wonderful job and it is greatly appreciated!

I think our camp instructors are amazing. I've carefully chosen people who have warm, giving personalities, who are fine teachers, and who are very talented in what they do musically.

Genial Jim Strickland teaches Autoharp. Joe Waller teaches the techniques of accompaniment guitar, and his wife Katie is our entry-level fiddle instructor. Katie attracts huge classes of attentive students. Advanced fiddle instructor Elan Chalford delves into sophisticated fiddle subjects such as shuffle bow, grooving the bow stroke, hokum bowing, vibrato, swing style bowing, the loose wrist, shifting up the neck, on and on. Jim Davis, another longtime musical cohort of mine, teaches bass fiddle. My present Florida bass fiddle player, Rick Kennedy, teaches ukulele. There is a lot of interest in this little instrument these days! The amazing multi-instrumentalist Gail Keel, who routinely plays things on the concertina that most concertina players would consider impossible, teaches that instrument.

The guitar is an immensely popular instrument, and so we have a number of classes in guitar styles. Fingerstyle instructor Barry Brogan plays the twenties and thirties pieces that have been played in dance halls and on front porches (and by a few juke joint jazz bands) for decades, and contemporary pieces descended from those traditions. Award-winning Florida guitarist John Alison, who has worked on the professional music road with famed stars from Percy Sledge to Faron Young, teaches the incendiary art of guitar flatpicking. Fred Cantor is a blues guru who brings classes in group playing (what to play, when, where, and how in a group of musicians) to the camp.

One of the foundations of music, is, of course percussion. Goody Haines is a multi-talented singer/songwriter/musician who also happens to own one of the prettiest smiles around. She is a wizard with percussion instruments and offers her students a wide range of percussion options.

An instructor who has been teaching at the camp for almost all of its life is Joe Reina. Joe is my harmonica player of choice when I'm performing in southeastern USA, and he is one of the best anywhere. He's a master of his instrument, and Joe can truly makes the harmonica walk and talk.

Another of our instructors who has been with the camp for most of its 20 years is Dennis Devine, one of Florida's best acoustic musicians. Dennis joins us year after year to share his encyclopedic knowledge of mandolin. Everyone who takes his classes reports him to be one of the best--a great teacher for folks at any level!

Marg Chauvin is a fine musician who plays and loves the harp. She is a professional teacher who knows how to introduce students to this ancient and beautiful instrument. Marg has performed in a wide variety of events from the Wings & Strings festival, to Scottish Highland Games.

What can I say about Mac Perry? He is one of those deeply and widely talented musicians who plays all sorts of musical instruments. He has been teaching pennywhistle, bodhran, and Irish pub singing at the camp. This year I had requests to add a class in Native American flute. I contacted Mac to see if he knew anyone who could teach that instrument. I should have known he could---and he did, at this years camp, in addition to the other things he teaches.

Bruce Ford is an eminent performer in the lap (Appalachian) dulcimer world. He is also a gifted and encouraging teacher of this traditional American instrument. In 2002, he founded EverythingDulcimer.com, a leading dulcimer website. EverythingDulcimer.com teamed up with Dulcimer Players News and hosted the Chattanooga Dulcimer Festival in June 2008.

Singing! Suzanne Alvarez has a beautiful, powerful, supple voice, and she teaches music camp students how to sing correctly. Her musical interests range from folk to classical to musical theatre to electronic music, to sacred chants from around the world. She also plays a neat old musical instrument called the harmonium. Some of the most beautifully harmonized singing around is found on CDs made by Carl Wade, Barbara Shafer, and group. Carl and Barbara teach how to do it at the camp!!

Someone has to write the songs the singers perform. One of those who does that is Doug Spears, who has been writing songs and performing for more than 30 years. He has been repeatedly recognized for his well developed craft. His song Break Some Stones won first place in the American Songwriter Magazine Lyrics Contest. In January 2006 Songwriter Universe Magazine selected Doug's song This Old House as a top song.

One of our unique classes at the Sunshine State camp is Never Too Late. Originator and teacher Carroll Smith first began playing music when he was over fifty years old. Today he is a wise, witty, and beloved old-time banjo picker and a philosopher with much that is important to teach those who are beginning in music, at whatever age.

Understanding of the systems in which music is designed and created, how they function and why, is of immense help and importance to anyone seeking to learn music. Music theory is a big subject. Most of my time at the camp is taken up in non-teaching pursuits, but every year I do teach as many of the fundamentals of music theory as I can get into an hour of class. This is a starting point.

Bruce Johnson runs the camp tutoring area, which he has done very well indeed every year now for a while. He's there all weekend to help those who need help, or put them in touch with those who can help them as needed. Bruce also puts together the student shows, which take place during the lunch breaks each day and give students a chance to get up in front of real live audiences (the rest of us) to perform. Jenny James does a great job of coordinating and mentoring the jamming circles, which are in almost constant action during the weekend.

I've already put money down to secure the music camp site (Saint Petersburg's Boyd Hill Environmental Studies Area) for next year, and I'm already working on ways to make next year's camp the best ever.

The music camp 2009 was wonderful fun and wonderfully satisfying. Putting on the music camp is one of the most rewarding things I do all year---and I do a lot of very rewarding things each year. I see each day of my life is a precious gift. Everything that comes along is a special adventure in a blessed life.