Overall, I would rate it the best musical learning experience I have had with the greatest effect on my overall musical life. It surpassed all my goals. I came to camp barely able to sing a song, unable to harmonize predictably and with no idea of band mechanics, working together, moving on stage etc., with unformed ideas about kick offs, taking solos etc.

Using a highly structured format with daily harmony singing sessions, daily instrument sessions, daily band rehearsal, some general bluegrass learning, I became familiar with all these things. To put it simply, by continuing to use the things I learned at camp, (and practicing), within 4 months,  I was transformed from the guy who sits at the back of the jam, never leading songs, shy about harmonizing, and an inconsistent solo and rhythm player,  to someone who can lead the jam, sing lead, harmonize and fit in.  In small group sessions, I now can play with semi-pros comfortably, help design or guide the harmony and have a better sense of how to make a small group work.

My wife who was initially a supportive disbeliever in how far I could go, now rates me higher than locals who have played out for years. I am truly amazed and inspired.

The staff at this camp were all excellent.  I make special  mention of  Hereford Percy who spent lots of extra time with jams sharing great musical knowledge and inspiration. Doug Lindsay also spent lots of extra time in extended jam sessions.  Another feature of the camp was the staff''s ability to take those who had not had band experience and turn them into functioning band members in such a short time. They were available to give special help in learning to do harmony arranging and addressing other special requests.

I plan to attend the upcoming camp Jan 2018 with a small group to further refine my individual and group skills.

One important thing, while all the staff are amazing and diverse musicians, camp activities focus entirely on bluegrass ( except very  rarely at jams).  While some ( including me initially) felt this was limiting, in the end I see that to achieve the goals in 1 week, such focus was needed.  Once the skills are learned they can be transferred to other genres without a lot of difficulty.

Cost: At $100.00, this was a bargain. 

Quality of Teaching:  Over-the-top! Don Wayne learned from the master himself, and Jason Skinner has devoted decades to a systematic study of Reno's catalog of technique. Both are excellent at explanation and demonstration. 

The Crowd:  Nice mix of folks, including some from faraway.  Also, probably a 60 year age range from youngest-to-oldest, and all of them stalwart Reno fans. 

Skill Level: You don't have to know any Reno banjo to benefit from this workshop, but, at the same time, this isn't for a complete beginner. While not all of Reno's material was necessarily hard to play, his approach was complex, and it could be intimidating for the novice.

If you get a chance to attend one of these workshops, go for it. You will not regret it. 

I have also included a review I copied and pasted below (in italics) from Fiddle Hangout from the fiddle player in my group, Jack.

"Hello Everyone,  I wanted to share with you Fiddler's my experience last week at Pete Wernick's Bluegrass Class in Boulder, CO.

   The Camp started last Sunday evening with a Social get together but then the Camp started in earnest on Monday morning.  Pete  (Banjo of course) was assisted by his wife Joan, humorist and Guitar instructor, all around good guy and multi-instrumentalist, Hereford Percy, and  a portion of Pete's fellow Long Road Home band members, Jordan Ramsey teaching Mandolin, Martin Gilmore teaching Guitar and Songwriting (man, can Martin sing) and Justin Hoffenberg teaching Fiddle (Boy was I lucky) .  I believe Pete is temporarily out of Long Road Home due to his National and International Tour with Hot Rize. The Camp ran Sunday evening through the following Saturday.  Each day began in the large group with pearls of wisdom from Pete.  Pete would then teach the group a song, verse and melody, then we'd play it with Pete calling out breaks for each group of instruments.  I was the only Fiddler at camp so that pretty well isolated me and forced me to pay attention and step up when the Fiddle break was called. After about an hour and a half in the big group with Pete, we broke into 5 different bands.  Of the 5 bands, 2 or 3 were actual bands who came as a group to work on their stuff.  The rest of us were freelancer but everyone found a good fit.  After lunch we broke into groups by instruments for an hour with our respective instructors.  The nice thing about being the only Fiddler was I got a private lesson from Justin every day.  Justin is an excellent Fiddler and a great teacher and a really intelligent young Man.  After our lesson we would meet again as a large group and work on singing three part harmonies.  That was superb.  Not only the singing but being taught by professional Bluegrass musicians how to structure a three part harmony.  We did these things each day. I'm afraid I'm getting a little long winded so I'll close with a couple of other items.  Friday night we had the student and faculty concert.  The concert was publicized and we ended up playing before a full house which included paying customers.  It was a great week and I learned a ton.  I spent my first 4 plus years of learning Fiddle on nothing more than Fiddle tunes.  Recently I've begun trying to put what I've learned with Fiddle tunes into Bluegrass songs which is my first love.  I would encourage you Fiddlers to consider Pete's Bluegrass Camp.  You can log on to Drbanjo.com and check out future camps.  Look around the site while you are there.  There's a ton of great information to go through.  OK, stick a fork in me, I'm done."

For Californian's, the Huck Finn Jubilee is a real treat.

If you live in Texas or close and are looking for a good camp, I cannot recommend this more. I played in bands for 15 years but have been out of it for 25 years and needed to get comfortable before I ventured back into the jam scene and this was just the ticket.

Of course with Alan Munde there, how could you go wrong. Also Eddie Collins who is a great banjo teacher as well. Both were as down to earth as you could ask for and open to just about anything banjo.

An added treat was getting to jam with the likes of Billy Bright, Dale Morris and a real surprise, Jeff Plankenhorn on Dobro. What a great picker and just great guy, as they all were.

The registration process was a bit odd as I thought I was booking a private room then found out it was double occupancy so I would have had to pay double to have my wife with me. Once I figured it out, I just booked a room offsite and HCAMP refunded the money I paid for the room.

Basically it's instrument classes in the mornings, structured jams in the afternoons and wide open jamming in the evenings. If you are looking to become comfortable playing with other instruments, you'll be at the right place.

Got some nice little treats like stickers, a swiss army knife and some rags for cleaning your instrument. The facility is great, it's an old resort but built out of rocks like many things in Kerville Tx. Deer everywhere. They have camp spots but it's basically a parking lot with hookups. Okay for a self contained trailer or motorhome, not so much for a popup or tent, but is just fine if you don't want to pay for a higher priced room.

All in all, I would, and will, do it again and highly recommend it.

www.hcamp.org

This is how the Stackner Theater describes it: Legendary musician and 2013 Grammy-nominee Stephen Wade brings his near-lifetime exploration of Southern musical traditions to the Stackner. Best known for his long-running one-man show, Banjo Dancing, Stephen's newest piece is based on his award-winning recent book that uncovers the largely hidden but surprisingly influential makers of iconic American folksong. Drawn from the celebrated Library of Congress field recordings of the 1930s and '40s, this exhilarating theatrical concert features spoken word, projected images, and live music-making. The Beautiful Music All Around Us is guaranteed to be a performance unlike any you have ever seen.

Mr. Wade had a plethora of instruments on stage, all of which he used to tell his story, many of which were the actual instruments of the musicians he learned from and talked about in the show. He even had a mountain banjo that Frank Profitt made. Some of the songs that he played or were part of the production were, Bonaparte's Retreat, Shortenin' Bread, Coal Creek March, and Goodbye Old Paint. His skills on the banjo are second to none!

The way he weaved the history of the original performances and performers and how their music came to be, really brought the them to life and connected dots you never knew existed.

I suspect that many banjo players and builders are actually historians in a way and by building and playing their music and the music of others, it keeps tradition and a little bit of history alive. Something that gets passed down to a new generation. That is pretty much the focus of Stephan Wades work. By telling the stories of others in his show, he keeps past musicians and their songs alive for all to enjoy.

If you get a chance to see this show, I would definitely recommend it. The price may be a little steep at $65, but maybe a birthday present to yourself will rationalize that price away.

Sal

I have been restoring old banjos for a couple of years, but had limited knowledge.  I had been wanting to learn enough to build my own banjo, so when I saw that this workshop was being offered, I immediately signed up.  As it turns out, I learned everything I had wanted to know, and more. 

Considering the workshop was only 6 days, I had expected that we would be using power shapers and jigs for things like carving necks.  However, Patrick handed out rasps and cabinet scrapers, and taught us how to hand-shape a banjo neck. We steam-bent rim plies, did our own fret work, etc.  It was a lot of ground to cover in 6 days, especially since some of us (10 of us took the workshop) had little or no woodworking experience.  However, Patrick amazingly kept us all on track, so we had 11 completed banjos at the end of the 6 days, and I think everyone was very pleased with what we accomplished.  Patrick and Adam (who also works with Pisgah Banjos) were extremely helpful and really gave away their banjo-building “secrets.” 

The one aspect that I really appreciated about the workshop is that it wasn’t just a lesson in working in a banjo factory; we actually learned enough to go home and build a professional-quality banjo with very basic tools.  I'm already planning out my next banjo.

I should also mention that Bill at Warren Wilson College was a great host, and he and his wife went above and beyond in providing us with lunches and snacks for the week.  

WWC and Pisgah Banjos are offering the workshop again March 16-22, 2014.  You can see some photos of the class on PBCO’s facebook page, and I’ll try to upload a few on my BHO homepage as well.

I bought the early bird full festival/camping ticket but, not being a camper, I found a place to stay down the street. As I got to the festival the first night (open only to campers) I was intimidated.  It was bigger than I had expected. It had rained the day before so it was a little soggy too.

The weather was PERFECT.  I know they can't control the weather, but I really lucked out with the mild temps, sunshine and breeze (and lack of rain).

In no time, I found that the folks were just great. The booths, the concessions, the artists and volunteers all made me want to come back again in 2015.

The first day I tried to plan my entire day out, see every band, attend every banjo event, etc.  I quickly learned how exhausting lugging around a 12 lb banjo up and down the hill would be.  Once I relaxed and say the bands I really wanted to see, attended the banjo/slow picking events I really wanted to attend.... I was able to settle in, spend my funny money and enjoy it all.

The volunteers and workers and Grey Fox staff were top-notch.  They answered my questions and gave advice.

The booths and food was great.  I could get a deli sandwich or crepe or Thai.  I could hydrate with water or grab a Gatorade or a Diet Coke.

The artists were wonderful too. I had not expected them to be so "down to earth" but I still keep in touch with a few of the pro banjo players. I really liked the bands, and the variety gave me a taste of main-stream bluegrass and some of the fringe.

I attended the banjo workshops and the slow jams (I'm a new picker) and people were so inviting and accepting over all different skill levels.

There are only TWO things I would do to improve (in my mind) Grey Fox.  First, I would start the parking in the Car Corral at the bottom of the hill instead of the top.  But having everyone drive to the top of the hill, they're needlessly messing up the rest of the field (which makes it hard for sports cards on slippery/muddy grass). It also punished the early birds who have to walk up and down the hill (but no ticks on me!).  Maybe there's a reason they do it they way they do, but I think starting the parking at the base of the hill will preserve the grass a little longer.

Second.... I should have won that Grey Fox custom Stelling banjo!!!!  OK.... maybe it's just a dream, but I had a really good feeling I was going to win it!

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