Festival dates: August 6-7, 2010

August 4,5,6  WED - FRIDAY
Sharon Mills Park,  Manchester MI

2010 Riverfolk Jam Camp

What’s included?

1. ๏ Individual Instruction with your instrument.
   

2. ๏ Group jamming and band lab experience.
   

3. ๏ Showcase opportunity at the Riverfolk Festival.
   

4. ๏ Weekend Festival pass to the Festival.
   

5. ๏ Continental breakfast and noon meals.
   

6. ๏ Bluegrass Instructors: Trent Wagler and The Steel Wheels
   

7. ๏ Cajun-Zydeco Instructors: Joe Hall and The Louisiana Cane Cutters
   

8. ๏ Camp Directed by Keith Yoder  (Jamming Coordinator at Steve Kaufman's Acoustic Camp.)
   

9. ๏ All Levels of experience welcome.
   

10. ๏ Cost: $200.00 fee.
    

11. ๏ Space is limited.
    

12. ๏ Questions? call Mark (734) 323-1761
    

1. ๏ Held at Sharon Mills Park  
   

    along the River Raisin.

1. ๏ Canoeing or kayaking
   

2. ๏ Nature hikes
   

3. ๏ Peaceful and scenic

Jam Camp Instructors
CAJUN & ZYDECO CAMP
Joe Hall : accordion - // Teaching experience at August Heritage, Ozark Folk Center, Fredericks School in Louisiana. Born and raised in Eunice Louisiana, Joseph Hall has gone back to the roots of zydeco, learning to play accordion by studying with legendary Creole musicians. He has learned from Bois Sec, Canray Fotenot, Nathan Abshire, Calvin Carriere, Nolton Simien, and Marc Savoy.  [video: Live at Nu Nu’s]

Mitch Reed : fiddle - // Mitch Reed was 15 he started playing the fiddle. Through his father he became acquainted with some of Acadiana's great masters such as Canray Fontenot, Wade Fruge' and Dewey Balfa.  Mitch currently plays with BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet as well as Joe Hall and The Louisiana Canecutters. Mitch has performed on four Grammy Nominated albums. In addition to performing, he also teaches at several Fiddle Camps, including those hosted by Jay Ungar and Mark O'Connor, and since 1989 Mitch has worked with the Smithsonian Institution Office of Folklife Programs in Louisiana.  During his career Mitch has played alongside the likes of Michael Doucet, Dirk Powell & Christine Balfa, Steve Riley, Natalie McMaster and Kenny Bake

D'Jalma Garnier : guitar, fiddle -  // known for Creole and Cajun fiddle and "outside" musical compositions and collaborations with other artists. D'Jalma Garnier has been the subject and contributor of many articles and documentaries about Louisiana Creole Music. He plays fiddle and guitar and has performed with many leading Creole musicians. His study of Creole fiddle playing was advanced as the result of a two-year Texas Folklike Resources Grant to study and perform with the NEA  National Heritage Award winner Canray Fontenot. D'Jalma has taught this material repeatedly at the Augusta Heritage Camp, for Louisiana Folk Roots in Lafayette, and in other workshops at home and abroad. 

Gerald Broussard : bass - // brother of Jeffery Broussard and son of Delton Broussard, a Zydeco legend from Opelousas

Paul Lavan : Drums, rubboard, percussion - // has played all his life in Louisiana with numerous bands, Cajun & Zydeco.

BLUEGRASS / OLD TIME CAMP

Trent Wagler : Guitar, banjo - // Trent was born to a Mennonite family in the small town of Bean Blossom, IN. As early as 4 years old, Trent was singing gospel music on stage with the Wagler Family Quartet. He spent a significant part of his youth living in Kansas and listening to what was termed “grunge” music. After moving to the Shenandoah Valley, Trent began playing solo and developing his own unique mix of traditional and original roots music pulling from the Shenandoah Valley’s rich American musical heritage and his own musical background. [Video: Steel Wheels]

Jay Lapp : Mandolin - // Growing up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and in northwest Indiana, Jay Lapp was surrounded by the four-part harmony of Mennonite hymns as well as music from his parents’ eclectic record collection.  Jay plays for the Steel Wheels and has composed and recorded original music for several independent films and theater productions. One of the songs he recorded and performed with a band he co-founded, Goldmine Pickers, was featured in a television and radio commercial for Nissan-Europe in 2006. Goldmine Pickers has released two albums, an eponymous CD that came out in 2004, and 2007’s “Lonesome Gone”; Jay wrote numerous songs on each recording.

Eric Brubaker : Fiddle - // Eric was born in Oregon, but spent most of his formative years in Harrisonburg. Eric’s interest in music began at the young age of 3, when he started asking his parents for violin lessons. He took lessons at Eastern Mennonite University’s preparatory music program starting at age 5 and continuing through high school. It was in high school that Eric began to get interested bluegrass and old time fiddle music. He started playing fiddle tunes with friends and seeking out traditional music at the the area’s various festivals and jams. Eric has been in numerous bluegrass and old time bands, including Reuben’s Potted Ferns, Rural Sprawl, and the Leftover Biscuit Boys. He is also an accomplished bass vocalist,.

Brian Dickel : Bass - // Bass player Brian Dickel originally hails from the small town of Frytown, Iowa located just south of Iowa City. Starting at an early age, Brian performed vocally with his musical family and soon after he would add the trumpet, which he played for 13 years in bands, ensembles, and orchestras as well as singing in various choral groups during this time. Eventually college would move Brian to Harrisonburg, VA where a newfound love of the guitar and bass would alter his life in many ways. After a few stints with various bands, including an old-time band with Eric, Brian reunited with Trent in forming the Steel Wheels. He also builds high-end acoustic guitars for Huss & Dalton Guitar Company

A performance camp for aspiring musicians. Do you wish you could meet others who share your musical interests? Improve your playing? Want to enjoy a band experience? Here is your opportunity to spend three days learning from top professionals and have fun at your own level.

What’s a Jam Camp?
If you have never heard of or attended a Jam Camp you might be asking, just what is a Jam Camp? Jam Camps are a spin off of the individual instrument camps that have become so popular. Each year thousands of musicians, of varying degrees of proficiency, pack up their instruments and head off to camp. Their goals and objectives are as varied as individuals themselves. They look forward to meeting old friends and making new ones. They hope to become more proficient on their instrument of choice and they look forward to the camaraderie that takes place when you are with a group of people who share your same love and passion.

Many people who have become quite proficient with their instrument, find it difficult to play with other people with different instruments in a group setting, They practice all winter learning new songs and look forward to joining in on the fun around the campfire, only to get to the festival and find out that either no one knows their new song or they only know it in a different key. Sometimes you are lucky enough that they all know your song but you don't know what to do when they are playing their song. This is where attending a Jam Camp can help'

At a Jam Camp you can expect some, one on one, time with an instructor and your instrument of choice. We are fortunate, at the Riverfolk Jam Camp, to have some of the most knowledgeable instructors in the business. Besides being knowledgeable they are great human beings who genuinely enjoy helping others get the most out of their instrument and learn to enjoy music with others. There will be group lessons on all of the various instruments and of course lots of time jamming with others.

You will learn how to hear chords and chord changes and you will learn tips on playing in time, after all rhythm is KING. You will learn how to play along on songs that you don't know and learn the role of your instrument in a song. You will learn the dynamics of playing loud and soft, fast and slow and you will learn how to support a song with your playing, instead of interfering with it. The instructors will stress and you will learn "jamming etiquette".

The Jam Camp will take place at the Sharon Mills Park. There is plenty of room inside and out, so weather should not be a factor. Each day will begin with a continental breakfast followed by the morning session. At noon the meal will be catered by local catering services. The afternoon session will conclude around 3:30 o'clock p.m. Each evening the students will be encouraged to take what they learned in the classroom to the laboratory. The laboratory will be at a local eatery in town or a real live jam session and honest to goodness campfire.

At the Riverfolk Jam Camp each student will be assigned to a group or a band. Each group will decide on a name for their band and with the help of the instructors, they will learn one or two songs. At the Festival each band will perform a tune. Those persons attending the festival will vote by ballot for their favorite band and the band getting the most votes will open the Saturday night show. Think of it as the Riverfolk Jam Camp Idol. Don't be intimidated, this is meant to be fun and a chance to show everyone what you learned. So start practicing and building up those calluses. Get ready to have some fun, make friends and jam like you have never jammed before.

www.riverfolkfestival.org  - (877) 748-3655

"Our mission is to engage the community in music and arts experiences which nurture creativity and promote cultural diversity."