This camp was unlike any I have ever been to. The staff included many long-time heroes of mine. My goal was to get as much from them first-hand as I could, while making sure to meet the other campers and see what they were all about. I have been wondering what new things I can be learning and I came to this camp to find out. I knew I was in the right place when Mark opened the week by talking about how much he has learned at his own camp!
The staff included:
I found everyone on the staff to be friendly and accessible. During their "off" hours, like evenings and meal times and so on, they were always around, always willing to hang out, answer questions, and even to play tunes occasionally.
What I liked about this camp was the openess of the daily schedule. The first day was called "Fiddler's Shuffle." The campers, grouped according to ability, visited each instructor for an hour or so. At the end of this ordeal, instructors and campers knew a lot about one another. The next two days consisted of longer sessions and campers could go to any instructor they chose. Then there was another "Fiddler's Shuffle" followed by another open day.
This schedule may not have been ideal for everyone. It makes it hard to go into a lot of depth because there is no continuity to the classes. There have been times in my development as a player when I would have wanted five days of class time with the same teacher going over a subject in depth. What I liked about this schedule was the opportunity for the instructors to be spontaneous. There were many times when instructors would use their free time to drop in on other classes. This gave the camp an amorphous "go with the flow" quality which I found exciting.
The deliberate destruction of musical boundaries continued around the clock at the Mark O'Connor Fiddle Camp. Jam sessions invariably featured a mix of players from diverse backgrounds laying waste to tunes of all sorts. Despite the potential for cacophony a lot of really cool music resulted.
I need to mention the food at this time. It is something I worry about as I go to a camp for the first time. I had a ceremonial last meal on the way down, not knowing what sort of culinary experience awaited. I needn't have bothered. The food, catered by the "Mad Platter" of Nashville, was astonishing. So bummed was I when camp was over that I did not eat for 24 hours after my last meal at camp. (The fact that I slept through breakfast the last day had hardly anything to do with it.)
It is worth pointing out that the administrative side of the camp was very solid. The organizational details were under control at all times and I think this went a long way towards allowing the camp to be so spontaneous and fun.
You're probably wondering how much "face time" with Mark himself is possible at the camp. At the October session there were 70 or so fiddlers. I'm told this is about half as many as there are at the summer session, so it was probably a little easier to actually hang out with Mark, like at meal times and such. Each person was allowed to choose a class to take from Mark (choices included Texas fiddle tunes, waltzes, improvising, and others). In addition to this class (which consisted of one session) Mark presented "master class" type sessions every afternoon and had sessions on the "Fiddler's Shuffle" days. These were open to everyone. Even though he had to miss two evenings of camp due to the CMA award show, Mark was very accessible during the week. He has a lot of insight about all aspects of playing music, and some really cool "weird gig" stories too! Ask him about the time he was on "To Tell The Truth."
I found the other campers to be a stimulating lot. There were all sorts of people: dedicated amateurs, working professionals (a few symphony players, some free-lancers, teachers, one guy who plays in a Branson-type "sit-down" gig, another guy who'd recently moved to Nashville and landed a road gig), and players at all levels of accomplishment. I made some good friends among them and learned a lot from hanging out with them.
To summarize, I think the Mark O'Connor Fiddle Camp is ideal for anyone who seeks broader horizons and wants to see some of the possibilities offered by the world of fiddling. I heard some terrific music, met some wonderful people, and have a lot of new ideas about playing the fiddle. My own goals for this camp were quite vague but I feel as though I got a lot out of the week. I did not go with the intention of learning a lot of tunes (tunes are cheap) or "hot licks" or cool technical tricks. I went to decide what my future as a fiddle player will be like. Towards that end I feel like the camp exposed me to more possiblities than I will have time to explore.
I hope to go back, preferably at a time when there are no hurricanes afoot. Until then check out some Quotes of the Week.
Back to camp diary page so you can
read about the other years.
Or read the 1996 update.
and the 1997 update.
and the 1998 update.
10/30/97: Check this out. I just found that my old pal
Ryan "Captain Fiddle" Thomson has a write-up of the 1994 fiddle
camp on
his website.
Add your own comments to my camp scrapbook.
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