finger-picker - Posted - 04/26/2024:  17:54:28

Curious if anyone can chime in who has been there before. I'm planning on going this year.

1) Will I be carrying my banjo/case around to lots of places? (Wondering about getting a shoulder strap to my case)
2) Will there be a secure lock-up location like a banjo-check room to store my banjo throughout each day that I'm not using it, such as during meals?
3) Should I just bring a clunker banjo or one of my nice ones?
4) Do people bring other instruments to the banjo camp, or will the staff let you use other instruments if you want?
5) Do they teach lessons/instruction on clawhammer or just focus on Scruggs?

Thanks!

Old Hickory - Posted - 04/26/2024:  18:50:26

Congrats on your acceptance. Have a great time.

I was there the first year (2018). Obviously, some things could have changed but here's what I remember:

1) Will I be carrying my banjo/case around to lots of places?

Yes. Some dorm cabins are just uphill from the central area (then a steep walk back up!) but the smaller cabins are on the outskirts of camp. Most of the people staying there in 2018 drove to the center of camp in the mornings.

It's a moderate walk from the dining hall to the big hall/gathering place where Bela offers his morning all-camp lecture.

Classes can be in several different buildings, though mostly in the central area of camp.

A shoulder strap is a good idea.

2) Will there be a secure lock-up location like a banjo-check room to store my banjo throughout each day that I'm not using it, such as during meals?

I don't remember a central lockup. In the dining hall there are big high-capacity shelves. They're big enough for cellos -- this is an orchestral camp part of the year. We all (or most of us) put our cases there. I think camp instructions advised us to make our cases recognizable. I found yellow wrist/ankle wrap at a store I stopped at on the road and tied those to my two banjo case handles.

3) Should I just bring a clunker banjo or one of my nice ones?

Your call. I bought only good banjos. Most campers brought good banjos. If members of Steep Canyon Rangers are there again to provide other instruments for the nightly jams (as they were in 2018), you would be disappointed in yourself to be playing with them on a clunker.

Brevard is home base for Steep Canyon Rangers and Mountain Song Productions, which is management behind the camp, and is their management, or tied in with them somehow (family, I recall).

4) Do people bring other instruments to the banjo camp, or will the staff let you use other instruments if you want?

You're certainly free to play whatever instrument you want in the jams or in your free time. But classes are all banjo, so I would strongly recommend against bringing anything other than banjo to class. It would serve no purpose -- for you, the teacher, or the class.

5) Do they teach lessons/instruction on clawhammer or just focus on Scruggs?

My year it was all three-finger. But I would not call that "all Scruggs." There's melodic, single-string, and whatever you want to call the three-finger style that's progressive in its choices of harmonies without being being either melodic or single string while sounding like nothing Scruggs ever played.

Faculty this year includes Mark Schatz -- bass player and clawhammer player. I assume he's not teaching bass at a banjo camp, so it's likely he's teaching clawhammer. Since everyone's group schedules were made up in advance my year (and I believe every year) I assume your group will be scheduled for a couple of sessions with Mark. I guess that means everyone is going to be exposed to clawhammer.

And I could be wrong.

You could definitely write to the camp organizers to ask all of these questions.

Old Hickory - Posted - 04/27/2024:  09:49:37

Following up the question about clawhammer, here is a sentence from the camp descripion on the home page:

"The instructional focus will be on the three distinct styles of three-finger banjo playing: Scruggs, melodic, and single string."

So I haven't a clue as to what Mark Schatz is doing there as faculty. Perhaps he'll be available for optional clawhammer sessions during the daily free time.

Sunrise Lee - Posted - 04/27/2024:  13:21:28

quote:

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Originally posted by finger-picker

Curious if anyone can chime in who has been there before. I'm planning on going this year.



1) Will I be carrying my banjo/case around to lots of places? (Wondering about getting a shoulder strap to my case)

2) Will there be a secure lock-up location like a banjo-check room to store my banjo throughout each day that I'm not using it, such as during meals?

3) Should I just bring a clunker banjo or one of my nice ones?

4) Do people bring other instruments to the banjo camp, or will the staff let you use other instruments if you want?

5) Do they teach lessons/instruction on clawhammer or just focus on Scruggs?



Thanks!

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I have attended this camp the last two years and will be again this year as well.  It looks like Ken provided some great insight, I can add a few things.

1)   Yes, you will be carrying your banjo around a good bit.  There are some folks I have seen that use small dolly's or even camping wagons, but the far majority of folks carry their banjos around.  

2)  There is not a secure lock-up.  There is an area to stash your banjo in the cafeteria while you eat.  I have never felt like my banjo was at risk with my fellow campers.  Both years I attended my cabin as been a good ways off so I would park my car in the main lot which is central to the classes.  I have stashed my banjo in there a bunch so I wouldn't have to carry it around.  It can get hot during the day though.

3)  There are a lot of nice banjos at camp...  It is a great place to try out banjos.  The campers that I have befriended were more than happy to let me try their expensive banjos just as much as I was happy to get their feedback on mine.  I took my Huber the first year and my Davis the second year.  That being said do what makes you feel comfortable.  

4)  Last year there were a decent amount of fiddles and guitars.  You won't use them during class but if you plan on jamming at night a different instrument can be nice in a 10 banjo jam.  

5)  Mark Shatz teaches a clawhammer class.  That is the one class that is geared to clawhammer the rest will be three finger style, though a wide variety.  Last year there were also a good amount of clawhammer players jamming.  Those jams had the fiddle players and were very much like an old time jam with everyone playing at once.  I enjoyed jamming in those as the vibe is very different from the bluegrass jams, though they have been fun to.  There are a couple bleugrass jams that are amazing to watch that I cannot approach the speed, yet.

Just a couple other thoughts.  I have really enjoyed these camps.  If I could give you any advice I would say that it can be intimidating as the level of musicianship is very good, but make sure you jump in with other campers to jam when you can.  Everyone is super nice and helpful, and there will be people there to play with if you are open to finding them.  My first year I was in a really fun jam that was well past midnight and all the teachers, excluding Bela, crashed our jam to play with us.  It was one of my true banjo highlights to be sitting next to Tony Trischka watching him play old country ballads on my Huber.  Amazing night.  Anyway, please look me up.  ~Clint 

finger-picker - Posted - 05/01/2024:  08:10:14

quote:

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Originally posted by Old Hickory

Following up the question about clawhammer, here is a sentence from the camp descripion on the home page:

"The instructional focus will be on the three distinct styles of three-finger banjo playing: Scruggs, melodic, and single string."

So I haven't a clue as to what Mark Schatz is doing there as faculty. Perhaps he'll be available for optional clawhammer sessions during the daily free time.

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Thanks for info Ken! Helpful as always. 



And thanks Clint I'll be sure to shout around if there is a Clint who replied to my post on BHO awhile ago :-)  I'll be the tall lanky guy walking around with a Nechville probably.