Fairbanks Bluegrass Camp for Kids:
July 29 - Aug. 1, 2008 (concert July 27th)
Fifth Annual Fairbanks Bluegrass Camp for Kids will be offered by Fairbanks Folk Fest, with Bearfoot Bluegrass Band and local Fairbanks volunteers as music instructors. It’s a fun-filled four days. Application Form
About the Bluegrass Camps for Kids... The camp is a 4-day camp for children and young adults that teach traditional bluegrass instruments and vocal techniques. Kids can choose to take fiddle, guitar, banjo, bass, mandolin or vocal sessions. Campers range in age from five to 17, with older returning campers acting as mentors or camp counselors. Participants learn both one-on-one and in a group setting. Instructors cater to all ability levels. The camp culminates on Friday with a student concert that gives the students an opportunity to show off their developing talents. A number of good young Fairbanks musicians have graduated from past camps, including many of the band members of Slightly Askew , who in the past have been the opening band for Bearfoot.
To register for the Bluegrass Camp for Kids... Pre-registration is required. $200 for kids age 5-17; Download and complete the Application Form . Tentatively, it will again be held at Pearl Creek School, in a beautiful wooded setting outside of Fairbanks.
For Camp updates and other Fairbanks Folk Fest activities, visit fairbanksfolkfest website or contact Camp Coordinator Pete Bowers at 907-455-6528 or pbowers@alaska.net.
Other activities during the Bluegrass Camp for Kids... Square Dance returns again by popular request! We are planning a BBQ and square dance in conjunction with the Bluegrass Camp at the Ken Kunkel Community Center, Goldstream Valley, co-hosted by Fairbanks Folk Fest and Goldstream Lions. Instruction will be given in Appalachian style square dancing, featuring a hot local old time string band and a caller TBA. Date TBA.
Bearfoot will perform a Fairbanks concert, July 27th at UAF .
For more information and updates contact Pete Bowers at pbowers@alaska.net. Co-sponsored by Fairbanks Folk Fest.
How the Bearfoot Bluegrass Band is rooted with the Bluegrass Camps for Kids...Its roots started with the 4-H club in Cordova, a small fishing village on Orca Inlet on the eastern side of Prince William Sound in Southcentral Alaska. The members of Bearfoot began as a group of kids learning to play the instruments of bluegrass music — guitar, mandolin, fiddle and upright acoustic bass. The band formed in 1999 and since has toured nationally, They have produced three great CDs including a hot new release, “Follow Me”. Bearfoot Bluegrass is Kate Hamre, acoustic bass; Mike Mickelson, guitar; Angela Oudean, fiddle; Annalisa Tornfelt, fiddle; and Jason Norris, mandolin. Among their many performances, they’ve performed at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Festival where they were showcased, Wintergrass Festival and the Rockygrass Festival. At the 2001 Telluride Bluegrass Festival, they won the band competition, joining an elite group that includes Nickel Creek (1995) and the Dixie Chicks (1991). They were featured in January 2007 on nationally broadcast Mountain Stage (hosted by National Public Radio), the same day as their most recent Fairbanks concert.
In an effort to get back to their roots and pass on their musical talent and knowledge to the next generation of aspiring young bluegrass musicians, in 2001 the band began offering Bluegrass Camps for Kids, first in Alaska and then in other places across the country. They have done the camp dozens of times and in the process developed a unique and successful teaching style. Several of the band members are also certified teachers.