[Harp-L] A Grand Idea?

[icemanle@xxxxxxx]

The most "bangforthebuck" experience in the harmonica world is the Augusta Heritage Center July Blues Week, in Elkins, WV. www.augustaheritage.com
 
There are many teachers and classes to choose from. The usual core group of teachers includes Joe Filisko, Phil Wiggins, myself (The Iceman) and a rotating staff of usual suspects (Grant Dermody, Carlos del Junco, Gary Primich, etc, as well as teacher's aids Dennis Gruenling and Alan Holmes).
 
For around $700 you get a full week of room/board and classes in blues harmonica, along with jam sessions that last all night, two full concerts at the auditorium, dances every night, and the chance to mix and mingle with over 300 other students who are there for guitar, bass, singing, beginning electric blues band classes, swing music, dance, arts and crafts, cooking, stone masonry, caligraphy, acoustic guitar repair, etc.
 
This means that, along with learning how to bend notes and chug like a train, you get a more varied and all encompassing experience relating with other musicians and musical situations. The harmonica is a small component of a much larger picture here.
 
The Iceman
 

Curious what the rest of you
> folks might think about the
> value of a "Jam Camp" and what more affordable
> alternatives might exist.