Steve Kaufman Acoustic Kamps 2010

Steve Kaufman's Acoustic Kamps are enrolling students for next June's two weeks of instruction (13-19 June, 20-26 June 2010) in Maryville, TN. A full brochure for the Kamps is here, and a downloadable flyer with all details is here.

For Irish readers (or indeed anyone else) we can't do better than quote a report by Cathal Cusack which appeared in Bluegrass Ireland newsletter early in 2006:

Steve Kaufman has run his Acoustic Kamps for ten years now and they have been voted #1 by the readers of Acoustic Guitar, so you can expect the best of the best at this week. I attended the more popular second week of Kamp in early June [2005], again in the guitar class.

The week at Kamp revolves around classes in the morning and afternoon, tutor concerts in the evening, and jamming at all other times. There is an organised ‘slow jam’ early in the morning that allows even a relative newcomer to the music to join in, or (if you feel up to it) the opportunity to play before the concert at open mic. The classes are graded (you choose your own grade so there’s no examination) so you share a class with people of roughly the same ability. The class then rotates through the teacher list so you have a lesson with each of the teachers... This is a big event with something like 500 attendees. Despite its size there is a wonderful friendly atmosphere. The warm weather ensures that music is played until well into the morning and you can’t but enjoy yourself.

It is hard to describe how good the event is without sounding like a salesman, but the teachers are amazing (just go look at the website!), the tutor concerts are amazing, the opportunities to play with students and teachers are unlimited, and the event is run with Teutonic efficiency! The only downside is that you and your instrument need to be prepared for a long and reasonably expensive trip to Tennessee; but oh, how it’s worth it!

A link to the Kamps website will be in the right-hand column of the BIB till the end of May 2010.