I’m planning to attend a banjo camp this year in June. In fact it’s the Mid-west Banjo Camp, held annually in Olivet Michigan (not far from Lansing). I’m going to attend both the “pre-camp” activities and the weekend camp, meaning I’m going to be immersed in all things banjo from the Thursday evening of that week through to lunch on Sunday, packed with demonstrations, classes, jam sessions and staff concerts.

This camp teaches both Old-Time and Bluegrass banjo styles. Although I like listening to Bluegrass, I don’t have any interest in playing Scruggs-style or bluegrass style banjo. I like playing Old-Time and I like playing clawhammer. Clawhammer, or frailing, describes the way you strike the strings, hand forming a claw shape, down-picking with the fingernail of your index or middle finger and your thumb. All the classes I plan to attend will focus on playing Old-time and playing clawhammer. There are classes on other picking styles for Old-Time music, but for now I’ll stick to one approach.

Instructors on the Old-Time side include Cathy Barton Para, Riley Baugus, Bob Carlin, Adam Hurt, Chuck Levy, Bruce Molsky, Joe Newberry and Ken Perlman – some of the best players around.

There is a full schedule of classes that covers everything from specific techniques to certain songs or styles. There are many scheduled jams as well as time for un-scheduled jams late evenings plus there are two staff concerts. The pre-camp activities are more demonstration oriented, with opportunities for questions and answers.

The camp is on a college campus with basic accommodation and all meals included. It’s about a 5.5 hour drive from Toronto. I’m really looking forward to this. For me, the jams are a huge resource because I want to develop some experience playing with others. And the opportunity to meet and learn from so many top-rate players all in one place at one time should be tremendously helpful, not to mention loads of fun.