[Harp-L] Gindick, Purdy, Gussow, Hash Brown, Cheryl Arena, RJ Harman, "Harmonica" Beane, TJ Klay, SA Johnson Coaching You at Mississippi Jam Camp

["jon Gindick" <jongindick@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey Harp-Ls--

I have been lurking and today I decided to make an announcement.  

We have a few more openings at our Blues Harmonica Jam Camp in Clarksdale, Mississippi at the Shack Up Inn and Hopson Commissary September 28 to October 2, 2010. What most campers do is fly into Memphis then share a ride or rent a car down to Clarksdale. http://www.bluesharmonicajamcamp.com

The camp is 5 days long, and costs $995 for the seminar. There is still room the Shack Up Inn which is right next door to the Hopson Commissary, a old wonderful juke joint, where the seminar is held. Rooms are about $70 a night. We start about 3pm on Tuesday and end Saturday about 6pm. We suggest coming in early and leaving late at the Mississippi Delta Blues Country is like no where else.

Our camps usually end up with about 25 to 30 campers. Our camper to coach ratio is usually about 5 to 1. This gives you lots of personal attention and lots of opportunity to get feedback. 

Classes start about 10 in the morning, with separate small groups for beginners, interediates, and advanced. Remember there's only about thirty people. Everybody also gets a one on one learning with a coach, and also a 30 minute phone lesson with me. (great for beginners.) Of course we take breaks for lunch and dinner, and there are plenty of places to eat.
We help you get to know this old blues town of Clarksdale, and I lead a field trip to Sonny Boy Williamson's grave, in a field near a place where a church had burned down.

Several of the coaches are guitar players and we teach by jamming with direction, feedback, examples etc.. Hash Brown of Dallas Texas is one of our coaches. He is a fantastic harp player, and also a tremendous pro guitar payer and band leader. TJ Klay, another harp virtuoso/great guitar player. I play guitar too. So there's lots of instant jamming for players of all levels. It's a safe and productive place to get experience.

Our philosophy is "keep the harmonica in their mouths" meaning to make sure you play, play, play... as you learn.

Three times in five days we bring one of the great Clarksdale blues bands, this time Daddy Rich, for training purposes. While the band plays the harp players go up, over and over again, getting used to the mic, the amp,leading the band, relaxing, trying rifs, tongueblocking, singing. It's a joy watching each other grow, and there are some astounding musicial moments.

Band play isn't for everybody, all the time, so there's a beginners accoustic jam class happening in a separate part of the property. That's one of the great things about our camp: there's no noise bleed. All classes taught in very separate areas. You can hear your music, you can hear yourself think.

We have a great team of multi-talented coaches. Along with their musicial talents, they are valued for their people talents.
We are all masters at giving you feedback in a way you can use. In 5-days, among new friends, in a new environment,
surrounded by people who are lovin' it, you can really grow and keep growing after camp is over.

While blues harmonica is the main instrument taught, we add in instruction and encouragement on total bluesmanship: singing, songwriting, stage presence, guitar lessons, even dancing. And your fellow campers: Friends for life if you so desire. The instructor/ performers offer a diversity of approaches to the instrument:

RJ Harman is 21 years old, Florida State Harmonica Champion, leads the RJ Harman band, and is a great communicator/teacher/ encourager. The kid lives harp and teach you to tune and repair, to overblow, to bend, get tone, to chug, and his performances are awesome. 

Brian Purdy pretty much started at the Atlanta Jam Camp about eight years ago.. He went on the develop the Harp Gear Amplifier which every one loves, and become a damn fine harp player. Brian is an expert on amplifiers, mics, tone, and he is also a great beginners teacher. He really gets people understanding and improving. He is very close to the learning process which gives him a great insite into developing players.

Hash Brown is a harp playing, guitar picking, vocalizing bluesman and one of the nicest men to every walk the planet. Pure tongueblocker.

Your life will not be the same after you have met and jammed with Cheryl Arena. She is my JAM CAMP right hand woman, or girl, or person, or friend, or inspiration as she co-ordinates the one on ones, and helps campers develop specific songs. She is the tremendously talented blues harp diva out of Dallas who writes, plays balls to the wall blues harp, and sings in a low sultry voice, and loves helping campers get to their next personal level.

TJ Klay is a harp and guitar man, a singer, a songwriter, overblower. >From Nashvile, he swings a tad
more country than the rest of us andf is a master of 2nd position melody. 

Our guest coaches are Terry "Harmonica" Bean, a Delta blues man, a tremendous harp and guitar juke joint
stomper, slide and harpman. The real deal.

World-renown Adam Gussow from Oxford, Miss will be joining us for some instruction and jamming on day 4,
as will Jackson, Mississippi harp wizzard and band leader, Scott Albert Johnson.

And I am there, too, of course, jamming with you, giving you feedback, helping you get the most of the camp.

So all music, all harp all of the time, for 5 days in the heart of the blues country. At night we Jam at Ground Zero and Red's Juke Joint. About 30% of our campers are repeat customers.

I  know there's is an  element of scariness in comitting yourself to a fairly expensive and long seminar, especially
involving travel. A lot of people wonder if they will fit in. To make the most of Jam Camp, all you need is the right attitude. Our committment is to get you to you next musical level.  Even if that level is just getting you to find your mouth, we are ok with that even if you aren't.  

We know you won't stay at that level forever. This process works, and it's fun and emotionally rich, and campers are accomplishing technical goals, and they are also playing in bands, making cds, starting bands--getting the music out there, and changing their lives in the process.

The camps is about two thirds filled. Do let me know if you have any questions.

Call me at 310-457-8278 or e-mail me at jon@xxxxxxxxxxx

Jon