With the International Bluegrass Music Museum’s decision to broaden the scope of their mandolin camp rather than continue to specialize in the Monroe style, master mandolin player Mike Compton has decided to set up a camp to fill the void.
The first of these new dedicated Monroe Mandolin Camp takes place September 4-7 at Camp Marymount in Dickson County, Tennessee (just west of Nashville). It is an outdoor wooded site with flat terrain of 340 acres.
There are still places available for students to join the camp.
Compton will host three and half days of hands-on intensive instructional classes for the beginner through to advanced students.
The camp will also stage 16 plus daily classes, of one-on-one private tutorials for all students, with opportunities to work with world class luthiers on your own instrument, and both structured jams led by an instructor enabling students to try out your new chops and unstructured jam sessions which will take place late into the evening.
The mission of the Monroe Mandolin Camp is simple…to further the legacy left by the Father of Bluegrass Music, Bill Monroe. Its goals are:
- to preserve the music created and recorded by Bill Monroe;
- to educate contemporary mandolin enthusiasts about the stylistic elements and backbone of this art form;
- to present a curriculum that allows the players to come away with an understanding of the culture that created the music, and the techniques needed to apply this knowledge to their own musical endeavors.
Mentoring the next generation of bluegrass musicians is an integral part of the mission for camp. Through generous donations, Monroe Mandolin Camp is proud to offer four youth scholarships this year:
- Mandolin Cafe Youth Scholarship: Silas Powell, 11
- Taterbug Youth Scholarship: Lane Yurco, 11
- Blue Moon of Kentucky Youth Scholarship: Harper Powell, 15
- Rawhide Youth Scholarship: Sophie Harnew,14
To assist in raising funds for these scholarships in future years there will be a public fundraiser when camp faculty and a back-up band (of as yet un-announced personnel) will perform at Nashville’s Carter Vintage Guitars. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $20 per person.
If you are unable to attend but would still like to support this worthy scholarship, you can make a donation directly by PayPal.
David Davis, one of the instructor’s has this to say about Bill Monroe Mandolin Camp ….
“To me, Bill Monroe Mandolin Camp is a three and a half day opportunity to be around music historians, players, singers, luthiers. All journeymen artists with a talent to share and a story to tell. The subject is Bill Monroe and the many attributes that he brought to the table of modern music. Everyone is a student here, we’re hungry to learn more. This will be the place to be, the table is set, see you at Monroe Camp!”
Full details regarding camp instructors can be found here.
