I just got home from Rock Camp!! Day 2. What a blast! These kids are all so amazing. We have sectioned off into three bands. There are 12 kids – making up three bands. Each band is choosing 3 -5 songs to learn and perform for the final performance tomorrow night.
Each one of them is going come out with a great story to tell. I see confidence building in shy kids. I see kids working together and communicating well. I see them making compromises when needed. It's amazing. PLUS, I've seen some pretty amazing rock moments. Photos to prove it!
In my band I have Jess (guitar/vocals), Zach (drums/vocals), Ellinore (keys/vocals), and Ethan (guitar/vocals). They are becoming a band right before my eyes (still need to pick a name). They are making their own decisions, even running their own rehearsals. I can just step out of the way and watch them work. They are switching instruments when needed and they are all singing - lead and/or back ups. They are so supportive of each other. It warms my heart.
We have one more day (9.30 to 2.30, that's it!!) to learn one or two more songs, plus run our set a few times. It's a lot of hard work in a short amount of time. But the experience they are getting is invaluable. I am super excited and can't wait for the performance tomorrow evening.
I will post some photos here - so you can see how it works.
Thank you to all the kids for such a great experience. I am learning a lot from you. Thanks to all the parents for helping this to take place. Until tomorrow!!!
Congratulations all you GMC rockers! Three really fun days - the photos prove it! Check out this page (3 pages) of photos...... see for yourself!!! Tracy http://flickr.com/photos/28966411@N06/
Elisa Libraty on the GMC 3-Day Camp: The time that I spent with you, Tracy, Peter and James this week has been as wonderful as it is unforgettable. When I first heard that you were putting together a camp for kids based around rock, I was intrigued. I love music, but I’m not really a “rock” singer. When I walked through those doors that first day and met all of the kids that we got to work with, I felt a pretty strong surge of acceptance. It didn’t really matter that I haven’t had that much experience with rock; everyone was there to have fun; that was the number one objective.
We were grouped into bands and were told to pick songs. Right away, I clicked with the members of my band. I mean, they were all extremely talented musicians, picking up melodies in a snap and putting their own spin on things. Also, I want to say a big “thank you” to them for understanding my vocal boundaries.
We had three days to put together a performance-worthy set, and I think we accomplished that. We did four songs; four songs that everyone liked/could live with. Four songs that we knew would work on stage. I was so surprised we didn’t even have one disagreement the whole time. And we had great help available whenever we needed it. James was amazing, he worked relentlessly with us when we asked, and left us alone to make musical magic when he felt unneeded. He was a great facilitator who knew when to let the magic “brew” on its own!
By the end of our three days, I felt it had gone by way to fast! The night of the performance was just one big adrenaline rush, but once I got onstage, everything clicked into place like a Rubik’s cube. Throughout my life, musically, I’ve been pretty oppressed, told by my voice coaches that I shouldn’t sing most of what I wanted to sing, like rock and pop, because it might damage my budding vocal chords. In rock camp, now, I was being told that not only could I sing it, but that I had a knack for it! The only word I could come up with to describe that performance was “liberating.” Yeah, maybe it’s corny, but I felt so musically liberated.
Again Josh, thanks so much for making this musical journey possible for me! It was one of the highlights of my summer. I’d love to just perform all over again with my band. Please do it again sometime soon! And maybe give us a couple extra days—I think five days would be great.
Angus Algrant on the GMC 3-Day Camp: thanks josh, the camp was so so awesome and everyone was really nice, when are u guys doing it next ? i think u should do it longer in the summer - Angus Algrant
Reed Caratzas on his 3-Day Camp experience: I had an absolute blast last night! It was great playing onstage and watching the other bands play. I was just wondering if you had any pics or videos, because I'd love to see them. Anyway I had a awesome time at camp, it was a great experience and I would love to do it again. If you cooking anything up like this again I'd love to be in it.
5 comments:
I just got home from Rock Camp!! Day 2. What a blast! These kids are all so amazing. We have sectioned off into three bands. There are 12 kids – making up three bands. Each band is choosing 3 -5 songs to learn and perform for the final performance tomorrow night.
Each one of them is going come out with a great story to tell. I see confidence building in shy kids. I see kids working together and communicating well. I see them making compromises when needed. It's amazing. PLUS, I've seen some pretty amazing rock moments. Photos to prove it!
In my band I have Jess (guitar/vocals), Zach (drums/vocals), Ellinore (keys/vocals), and Ethan (guitar/vocals). They are becoming a band right before my eyes (still need to pick a name). They are making their own decisions, even running their own rehearsals. I can just step out of the way and watch them work. They are switching instruments when needed and they are all singing - lead and/or back ups. They are so supportive of each other. It warms my heart.
We have one more day (9.30 to 2.30, that's it!!) to learn one or two more songs, plus run our set a few times. It's a lot of hard work in a short amount of time. But the experience they are getting is invaluable. I am super excited and can't wait for the performance tomorrow evening.
I will post some photos here - so you can see how it works.
Thank you to all the kids for such a great experience. I am learning a lot from you. Thanks to all the parents for helping this to take place. Until tomorrow!!!
Congratulations all you GMC rockers! Three really fun days - the photos prove it! Check out this page (3 pages) of photos...... see for yourself!!! Tracy
http://flickr.com/photos/28966411@N06/
Elisa Libraty on the GMC 3-Day Camp: The time that I spent with you, Tracy, Peter and James this week has been as wonderful as it is unforgettable. When I first heard that you were putting together a camp for kids based around rock, I was intrigued. I love music, but I’m not really a “rock” singer. When I walked through those doors that first day and met all of the kids that we got to work with, I felt a pretty strong surge of acceptance. It didn’t really matter that I haven’t had that much experience with rock; everyone was there to have fun; that was the number one objective.
We were grouped into bands and were told to pick songs. Right away, I clicked with the members of my band. I mean, they were all extremely talented musicians, picking up melodies in a snap and putting their own spin on things. Also, I want to say a big “thank you” to them for understanding my vocal boundaries.
We had three days to put together a performance-worthy set, and I think we accomplished that. We did four songs; four songs that everyone liked/could live with. Four songs that we knew would work on stage. I was so surprised we didn’t even have one disagreement the whole time. And we had great help available whenever we needed it. James was amazing, he worked relentlessly with us when we asked, and left us alone to make musical magic when he felt unneeded. He was a great facilitator who knew when to let the magic “brew” on its own!
By the end of our three days, I felt it had gone by way to fast! The night of the performance was just one big adrenaline rush, but once I got onstage, everything clicked into place like a Rubik’s cube.
Throughout my life, musically, I’ve been pretty oppressed, told by my voice coaches that I shouldn’t sing most of what I wanted to sing, like rock and pop, because it might damage my budding vocal chords. In rock camp, now, I was being told that not only could I sing it, but that I had a knack for it! The only word I could come up with to describe that performance was “liberating.” Yeah, maybe it’s corny, but I felt so musically liberated.
Again Josh, thanks so much for making this musical journey possible for me! It was one of the highlights of my summer. I’d love to just perform all over again with my band. Please do it again sometime soon! And maybe give us a couple extra days—I think five days would be great.
~Elisa Renee Libraty
Angus Algrant on the GMC 3-Day Camp: thanks josh, the camp was so so awesome
and everyone was really nice, when are u guys doing it next ?
i think u should do it longer in the summer - Angus Algrant
Reed Caratzas on his 3-Day Camp experience:
I had an absolute blast last night! It was great playing onstage and watching the other bands play. I was just wondering if you had any pics or videos, because I'd love to see them. Anyway I had a awesome time at camp, it was a great experience and I would love to do it again. If you cooking anything up like this again I'd love to be in it.
From,
Reed of Konvexed
Post a Comment