California coast music camp

[humblemex]

I'm thinking about attending the California Coast Music Camp in July and wonder if anyone here has any experience with it. My main interest is singing and playing songs, fills, and breaks, and jamming. I note that there are two mandolin workshops with Steve Smith but most of them seem to be guitar-oriented. Would a mandolin player be able to take a blues class taught by a guitarist, for instance, and get anything out of it or are the classes generally instrument specific. Any feedback on the camp and personal experiences would be most welcome. I have to make a decision soon. Thanks.

Jon

[Mark Towns]

CCMC is a really nice experience. It really got me away from pickin' by myself and into playing and singing with other players. I cannot over estimate the amount of growth one can get over this workshop series. I attended the first one and took a weeklong lesson with John Reichmann, and later did one with Tim O'Brian. Even if you don't get the Mando classes you think you need, you can get alot of valuable, relevant info, practice and experience you wouldn't get otherwise. If you can break away, I'd highly recommend it. I'm still regularly playing with a player I met up there over ten years ago.

[Paul Kotapish]

I've taught at CCMC a couple of times over the years, and it is a wonderful camp and a great way to spend a week playing music. The organization is dedicated to supporting players of all sorts at every level, and a lot of effort goes into making sure that everyone has a positive experience and learns some great new stuff. The organizers are all great players and experienced teachers, and they know what goes into making for a good week.

Classes vary a lot, but in my experience there and at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop (a very similar camp), there are always a bunch of classes open to--and appropriate for--all instruments. You might not get much out of a class that is working on specific fingerings and chord voicings for guitar, but all of the repertoire and style classes should be fine for all fretted instruments.

The week itself is very well run, the facility is at a lovely site in the coastal redwoods, and the faculty is always interesting. The food can be a little dodgy, but the musical environment more than makes up for that.

There are always plenty of great mandolin players at camp in addition to the dedicated faculty--other faculty and participants, too--and you will probably have many opportunities for playing with--and learning from--them, too. There is a slot most afternoons for ad hoc lessons, seminars, and classes, and you can always request specific mando topics. Someone will almost surely leap in to make sure you get what you are looking for.

There are some year-round social gatherings sponsored by CCMC folks so you can keep in touch with all the picking pals you make at camp, too.

On a very personal level, I hooked up with my wife at camp there eight years ago. We now have two little ones who are hacking away on ukes, and we look forward to taking the whole family to CCMC sometime.

BTW, there is a benefit dance for CCMC in Palo Alto next weekend. You can check out the details at the CCMC website.

More about the camp and benefit here. (http://web.mac.com/musiccamp/iWeb/California_Coast_Music_Camp/CCMC%20Home.html)

[humblemex]

Thanks, guys. I've also heard from a couple of other folks who have been there and everyone had a great experience. I sent my deposit check today.

Jon