Page 79 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2016

there, I was going to blues open mics. I created my own band Blues Programs: Inspire Your Budding artist
and within a year I started gigging and represented The By John Porter
Connecticut Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge Camp and workshop programs dedicated to teaching the blues
(IBC).” are a great way for blues’ young guns to connect with peers
August Domanchuk took a slightly different route, finding who share their passion, and the experience is bound to be
his way through another music performance. “I saw a flyer enlightening and form friendships to last a lifetime.
for Fernando Jones’ Blues Camp while performing at a Battle
of the Bands with my band Trance. I went to the try-out and “One of the things I really like about these camps is that most of
joined the camp that summer in 2010.” Since then, the today’s young players can’t get experience in the clubs like we
17-year-old high school junior has returned to camp several did,” says master bluesman Bob Margolin of The Pinetop Perkins
times, and has even received two scholarships to attend the Foundation’s Master Class Workshops. “Muddy Waters used to
Corona Camp in California. have to make it possible for Freddie King to play with us when
Joe Tellmann – guitarist in several bands, namely The Joe he was a teenager. We give them the opportunity to play in a
Tellmann Band – discovered his passion through exposure safe environment.”
to his parents’ music collection, which had more than a few Aside from these camps, workshops and classes, there are many
blues albums. Once he was bitten by the bug, it was only a other youth blues programs throughout the year such as various
matter of time before he found his way to the Dayton Blues library musical programs, opportunities with local blues societies,
Society open jams. workshops at blues festivals, and the Blues in the Schools (BITS)
programs, which expand awareness of the blues to new listeners
The blues has found a way and help develop the skills of those who participate.

While some of these opportunities come at no cost to the
into their systems and participants, many incur fees in order to cover costs such as
running the program and bringing in top musicians as instructors.
Several programs, such as Generation Blues which is run by the
refuses to let go Blues Foundation, offer scholarships to a number of deserving
young musicians each year.
For more information, peruse the websites below, but please
Jamiah Rogers was also introduced to the blues through note – this list is not comprehensive! Do your homework and ask
family ties – receiving hands-on experience starting at three questions to make sure it’s the right fit for you. These programs
years old from his musician father, Tony Rogers. He recorded are essential to continuing the blues into the next generation!
his first CD by the age of seven, and has been on the rise in The Alabama Blues Project Summer Blues Camp: www.alabamablues.org
the blues community ever since. He is currently the front man Augusta Heritage Center: augustaheritagecenter.org
of youth band trio, Jamiah “On Fire” & The Red Machine. B.B. King Museum’s Art of Living Smart Summer Program:
Many of these young performers hone their skills at one or www.bbkingmuseum.org/art-of-living-smart-summer-program
more of the various blues camps throughout the country. Here, Berklee College of Music Summer Programs: www.berklee.edu
they can meet, receive instruction from top blues teachers Blues in the Schools: www.blues.org/blues-in-the-schools
Blues Lovers United of San Diego’s “Blues Music Summer Camp”: blusd.org
and performers, network and just feel like kids in love with Delta Blues Museum Blues Classes:
the blues – instead of outsiders, as they might among their www.deltabluesmuseum.org/programs.asp
everyday peers. Fernando Jones’ Blues Camp: www.blueskids.com/#!chicago-il/cdhk
Rogers found Fernando Jones’ Blues Camp at Columbia Fur Peace Ranch: furpeaceranch.com/workshops.html
College to be “a very exciting learning experience, and an Grand River Blues Camp: www.grandriverblues.org/blues-camp
opportunity to play blues with other young blues musicians, Harmonica Collective: www.harmonicacollective.com
as well as to make friends. It inspires me to have friends who The Jazz Community Music School, Berkeley, CA:
enjoy playing blues.” cjc.edu/community-music-school-youth/summer-youth-programs/girls-jazz-
Sandy Layman can’t say enough about the camps her blues-camp
children have attended. “Our favorites are the Pinetop Paisley River Blues Festival Blues Camp, Paisley, Ontario, Canada:
Perkins Master Class Workshops, with no disrespect to the www.paisleyrocks.com
Pinetop Perkins Foundation: www.pinetopperkinsfoundation.org
others we have attended. At the workshops, we see all our Pop Ferguson Blues and Heritage Festival: cjblues.com
closest blues family from around the states, and they are our Port Townsend Acoustic Blues:
very best friends. Bob Margolin, who runs the program, has centrum.org/port-townsend-acoustic-blues-festival-workshop
been so much more to us than a workshop leader. He is a Roots Rock Revival: www.rootsrockrevival.com
mentor, friend and family. He really cares about us and we Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival: www.waterfrontbluesfest.com
talk to him all the time to get advice.” Sean Carney Camp Blues: www.artsinohio.com/event/camp-blues-4
Uptown Music Collective: uptowncollective.com/category/uptown-music
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