The Bluegrass, Old Time, and Roots Music program at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN has announced their first ever summer camp for young pickers in July of 2024.
The five-day camp for students 11-19 years of age is designed to both offer instruction and coaching for teen grassers, individually and in band settings, and offer a look at the college experience in this program at ETSU.
Aynsley Porchak, fiddler with the Tennessee Bluegrass Band, and a graduate of the ETSU bluegrass program, will serve as camp director. Her faculty will include Trey Hensley, Kalia Yeagle, Dan Boner, Ben Bateson, Angelica Branum, Jeremy Fritts, and others to be announced.
Director of the bluegrass program at ETSU, Dan Boner, says that campers will see exactly what life is like for students studying full time there.
“ETSU students sit knee-to-knee each week with professional artists and academics who are household names in bluegrass music. We are thrilled to extend this experience to a new generation of young musicians in a condensed, weeklong, on-the-ground, ‘mini-ETSU’ immersion.”
Each day will offer classes grouped by primary instrument, and students will also be placed into bands who will be coached in the skills required to play with others, all based on experience and ability. Elective classes will also be available each day, and time for jamming is, of course, scheduled.
All meals are included in the registration fee, and students can either stay in the school dorms during camp week ($750), or choose a commuter rate to stay at home or elsewhere ($550).
More information can be found on the ETSU Bluegrass Summer Camp web site, where students can join an email list to be notified when registration begins.
