Mandolin Cafe Event/Gig Calendar

2017 6th Richter Mandolin Camp for the Rest of Us
Jim Richter, Don Julin & Mandolins Heal the World, and the Grant Street Inn announce the 6th Richter “Mandolin Camp for the Rest of Us” w/ special guest Don Julin

The 2017 Jim Richter “Mandolin Camp for the Rest of Us”–with its special emphasis on rock and blues styles—will be Tuesday July 18th through Saturday July 22nd at the Grant Street Inn in Bloomington, Indiana.

As for years 2012 through 2014, the special guest instructor is acclaimed performer, composer, author of Mandolin for Dummies, and mastermind behind mandolin instruction website Mandolins Health the World Don Julin (http://www.donjulin.com). I’m very excited that Don is able to join us, as his good humor, engaging teaching style, formidable musical knowledge, and incomparable technique has always created a wonderful new layer to the camp experience.

Besides rock and blues mandolin styles, this camp focuses on deconstructing the barriers that keep each of us from being the most creative and productive on our mandolins. I do not subscribe to “beginner-intermediate-expert” labeling—especially self-labeling, as I often think it undervalues or devalues the mandolinist. Creativity and ability are both spectrum-based, free of artificial levels and competition.

The curriculum has previously covered:
• Blues mandolin
• Rock mandolin
• Jazz mandolin
• Arrangement
• Basic music theory
• Technique
• Practice routines
• Electric mandolin
• Jamming

However, as years past, the attendees will also help refine the curriculum by completing the questionnaire that is a part of the registration form. Let us know what you’d like to learn and we’ll do our best to work it into the schedule.

Returning this year will be concurrently held “special topic” classes. For example, while Don is teaching basic music theory, Jim will accept a handful of students for blues arrangement. Or conversely, while Jim is teaching a general class on practice routines, Don will hold a small group on jazz standards.

Individual instruction is a standard part of the camp. For 2017, individual instruction will be increased to 50 minutes per attendee–up from 20 minutes from years past.

Cost: Tuition for the workshop is $350 ($358 if paying via Paypal). This covers camp instruction, printed materials, individual instruction, and the faculty concert. It does not include dining or lodging. Link to the registration page.

Housing: For out of town folks, I encourage you to use the Grant Street Inn as it is the center of activities and is offering a great discount for our group. Just tell them that you are booking for the Richter Mandolin Camp to ensure the $119 plus tax rate per night.
http://www.grantstreetinn.com 812-334-2353. Reduced rates are available from Tuesday 7/18 through Saturday 7/22.

Lesson Plan/Special Topic signups: Once I receive a sufficient number of registration forms back, we will finalize our curriculum. At that time I will send each of you a schedule of classes where you can list your class preferences. After sending this back to me, I will finalize our class rosters.

Registration: You can email me (jim@jimrichter.com) for questions or to put a hold on a spot for you. You can register through my online registration form or you can fill out the last page of the registration information and submit to me via post when you mail your check. Address is on both the hard form and the online form. Thanks!

About Jim Richter
Over the last 10 years I’ve built a reputation as a solid blues mandolinist who draws heavily from classic electric blues guitarists, such as Freddie King and Hollywood Fats. Due to my extensive background as a blues-oriented rock guitarist, I’ve garnered respect and notoriety for my mandolin renditions of tunes by Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin. This respect also extends to mandolin instruction, as I’ve become one of the more visible blues mandolin instructors. 2012 saw the release of my iPad interactive mandolin instructional book Richter Mandolin. In terms of recent discography, Will Kimble and I were recently on The Road Home/Butch Baldassari Tribute CD and Gordon Bonham and I were on The Tribute to Yank Rachel CD. A licensed mental health clinician and advanced psychology doctoral student, I have also advanced the notion that identifying the individual barriers to releasing our inner musicianship should be a core part of music instruction (much like the role sport psychology with athletes). The success of the Mandolin Camp for the Rest of Us hinges upon this belief.

About Don Julin (www.donjulin.com)
Don Julin, author of the best selling “Mandolin For Dummies” (Wiley 2012) has developed a reputation for being one of the most eclectic mandolin players/teachers on the scene today. Based in Traverse City, Michigan, Don has been playing, teaching, and writing music with the mandolin for over 30 years.

His original compositions have been used on many network and cable television programs along with NPR’s All things Considered. Recent clients include Sony Classics, HBO, VH1, MTV, NBC, Showtime, Bravo, National Geographic Explorer, Fox Sports, Hermann Miller Corp. Barmensen Labs, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, and filmmaker Michael Moore.

Don is a favorite of the students wherever he has presented mandolin workshops. A short list includes: The Mandolin Symposium, Rockygrass Academy, Elderly Instruments, Wheatland Music Camp, Dusty Strings, CMSA conventions, Weiser Fiddle Festival, Jim Richter’s Mandolin Camp, Cesar Pollini Conservatory (Padova Italy), Midwest Mandolin Festival and others. He also maintains a steady schedule of private students via Skype.

As a performer, Don has toured Europe multiple times playing jazz and original compositions. He has been in a variety of regional bands ranging in style from Honky Tonk, to Reggae, to an acoustic Frank Zappa cover band. The last two years were spent living out of a van playing over 400 “maximum bluegrass” gigs from coast to coast with Billy Strings.