(above photo ~ songwriters circle at Smithers Adult Guitar Camp)
Today's article is about the community of guitar camps and workshops. I've had a lifelong passion for guitar camps. I've been lucky enough to attend (mostly as an instructor) from the time I was a young adult up until now. My first introduction to this cultural phenom was at the granddaddy of them all: Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, which happens in the state of Washington. I once attended PSGW for three weeks as a student! It was very intense (in a good way!) I think it's fair to say it changed my life as a musician and as a person. I found my tribe at these camps, and I got to study dobro and guitar with some of the best players and instructors of all time. Three weeks was amazing. One week, I was just there as a student. Two other weeks, I was there as a student and a volunteer.
This was in the early '90s, and we were all so much younger back then. Jam sessions would go basically until the sun came up. The day would be filled with classes and great meals, and the nighttime would be full of jam sessions and hangouts. You could take part in the jams or you could just sit and learn and watch some of the master players.
One thing I love about guitar camps was it isn't about the music business at all. It's about music, and people can come in at whatever level they are at. It's a community of choice put together through the excuse of learning how to play music. I can't think of anything better than that.
After attending Puget Sound for a couple of years and learning so many different things on different instruments, it gave me the foundation for what a guitar camp should be and what a teacher's place in a guitar camp should be, and I went on to teach at camps from as far away as Slovenia and England to Texas and Alaska, and from British Columbia to Ontario.
I've been very fortunate to be at some of the best. The picture that you see above is from last summer's Smithers Guitar Camp, which is my favorite. There are so many finely tuned details that go into how the folks in Smithers put on their camp that is missed by other camps, including food quality, special themed parties, and nighttime situations that allow for different things like song circles, jam sessions, small gatherings and large gatherings. There's something for everyone at this camp.
I first taught at Smithers in 1997 and have gone on to teach at 14 of their camps. You make some lifelong friends at these camps, because often many of the attendees come back whenever they can. If you think about it, if I taught there 14 times, that translates to three and a half months there, largely with the same group of people. So it's pretty hard not to make some lifelong friends and follow them through their journeys, including births and deaths and marriages, and… boy, you name it!
It's a pretty magical thing. Lots of people attend these camps as hobby musicians, and they are happy to leave with just a few extra songs and new techniques in their hands.
Others are serious songwriters, although they might not be trying to make a living as musicians. That doesn't matter. They just wanna write songs, and there's nothing wrong with that. The people who put on the camps are usually a very special breed of folks who get the importance of what they're doing. This is a place where people can find themselves and find new groups of friends who can relate to what they do outside of their own work. It's a beautiful thing.
If you've never been to a camp, you should check them out. Try to find one close to your own community. They happen everywhere. Or, start one! My favorites are the ones that happen in closed camps where the only people allowed into the area are those people actually attending the camp. They have a big kitchen, so there are communal meals that happen, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and it's a safe space. Everybody starts to feel really safe sharing their music, trying to play things in front of people that they've never done before. It allows for a really close community immersed in music. To get to teach at these camp/retreats is almost a sacred position. You are influencing people in their lives in a profound way, no matter what age they are, and in return, they offer the same gift to you.
See you 'round the campfires!