It’s hard to shake off the glow from the 2019 Summer Music Camp. Every year is a great experience, of course, but this year had lots of magic in the air.
Peter Langston and Tina Webster, Camp Directors, do the impossible—make running a tight ship look easy and relaxed.
Every camper I talked to raved about their instructors, whether it was Richard Brandenburg’s songwriting class or the members of the Lonely Heartstring Band in their various classes, or Keith Terry’s rhythm bass. The list goes on.
In the same vein, there were five-star reviews for the TAs as well. One camper said about Maureen Blumenthal, who TA’d Laurie Lewis’s vocal harmony class: “She is the best TA ever.” I’m sure others felt the same about their TAs as well.
And, not enough can be said about all the volunteers, from the roustabouts who set up classes and filled water jugs, to the ticket takers at lunch, to those who worked the front office, making sure everyone found their classes and got their questions answered.
I managed to find time to slip into a couple of workshops, and found the joy of changing my fiddle strings (seriously – joy) with Laurie Lewis, and got some great practice tips from Maddie Witler and Patrick M’Gonigle.
The camp ended with a Vern’s Stage performance from two members of Della Mae—Celia Woodsmith Boyd and Kimber Ludiker—and one member from Lonely Heartstring Band—Maddie Witler. To say that this performance was astounding would be an understatement. As a vocalist and guitarist, Celia (Woodsmith) Boyd leaves nothing on the table. Couple that with Maddie Witler’s amazing mandolin artistry and Kimber Ludiker’s fine fiddling, and you have a trio that had the audience out of their seats more than once. As a transition from camp-mode to festival-mode, it was a perfect segue.
We are working hard to make camp more ecologically conscious and sustainable. This not only helps the environment, but also keep camps costs down for all. We did away with single-serving water bottles, and are implementing a lanyard, folder, and badge recycling program. If you join us next year, BYOL (lanyard) if you have one. We are looking into ways to do more ride-sharing next year, so that we have fewer cars on the road as well.
For those of you who read my once-a-month welcome columns here, you know that I like to put together playlists. This column is no different. You can follow my Spotify playlist for CBA camp, which features the songs from the “Official” CBA Camp Songbook, as well as the bands and performers who taught and played during camp, listed here, many of which are collaborations between teachers:
- Greg Blake
- Celia (Woodsmith) Boyd (Della Mae)
- Alison DeGroot
- Tatiana Hargreaves
- Evie Ladin
- Laurie Lewis
- Keith Little
- Lonely Heartstring Band (Maddie Witler, Charles and George Clements, Patrick M’Gonigle, Gabe Hirshfeld)
- Ivan Rosenberg
- Patrick Sauber
- Mike Stahlman
- Annie Staninec
- Keith Terry
- Jack Tuttle
- Erin Youngberg (FY5)
If you couldn’t make this year’s camp, I hope you’ll join us next year. We aim to make each year better than the last. If we’re successful, next year will knock your sandals off. And if you have a suggestion for how to make camp even better, write to me, your CBA Music Camp Liaison, at cba.maggies@gmail.com.
Here’s the playlist, and if you don’t have Spotify, these are the cuts I’ve included:
- Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves – Eighth of January
- Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves – Willie Moore
- Bill Monroe – Foggy Mountain Breakdown
- Bill Monroe – I Saw the Light
- Clarence White – Salt Creek
- Dale Evans, Roy Rogers – Happy Trails
- Della Mae – Boston Town
- Della Mae – Empire
- Doc Watson – Sittin’ on Top of The World
- Evie Ladin – Lost Indian
- Evie Ladin – Precious Days
- Flatt & Scruggs – Cripple Creek
- Flatt & Scruggs – Fire Ball Mail
- Flatt & Scruggs – Lonesome Road Blues
- FY5 – Coeur D’Alene
- FY5 – White Colored Pencil
- Gene Mills – Another Day (feat. Ivan Rosenberg)
- Greg Blake – Hills of My Home
- Greg Blake – Summer Wages
- Ivan Rosenberg – Stevens Steel
- Jerry Garcia – Drink Up and Go Home
- John Reischman – I Am a Pilgrim
- John Reischman – Itzbin Reel
- Keith Little – The Gift
- Keith Terry & Crosspulse – Body Music
- Keith Terry & Crosspulse – Body Tjak
- Kruger Brothers – Two Dollar Bill
- Larry Sparks – In the Pines
- Laurie Lewis – Cowboy Jim (feat. Tom Rozum, Andrew Conklin, Patrick Sauber & Tatiana Hargreaves)
- Laurie Lewis – Is the Blue Moon Still Shining
- Laurie Lewis – Walking in My Sleep (feat. Tatiana Hargreaves, Andrew Conklin, Tom Rozum & Patrick Sauber)
- Laurie Lewis – Who’s That Knocking? (feat. Andrew Conklin, Tom Rozum, Patrick Sauber & Tatiana Hargreaves)
- Lester Flatt – John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man
- Molly Tuttle – Moonshiner (feat. Jack Tuttle)
- Molly Tuttle – Red Prairie Dawn (feat. Jack Tuttle)
- Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Will the Circle Be Unbroken
- Pete Seeger – Goodnight, Irene
- Reno & Smiley – Love, Oh Please Come Home
- Ricky Skaggs – Bury Me Beneath the Weeping Willow
- Sideline – Handsome Molly
- The Country Gentlemen – Roving Gambler
- The Kentucky Colonels – Long Journey Home
- The Lonely Heartstring Band – Graceland
- The Lonely Heartstring Band – Just A Dream
- The Lonely Heartstring Band – The Tide
- The Lonely Heartstring Band – The Way It All Began
- The Seldom Scene – Working on a Building
- The Stanley Brothers – Mountain Dew
- Trisha Gagnon – Hummingbird (feat. Laurie Lewis)
- Woody Guthrie – So Long, It’s Been Good to Know Yuh (Dusty Old Dust)
If you couldn’t join us for CBA Summer Music Camp this year, put it on your calendar for 2020. It promises to be even better, because that’s how we roll.
