Amp Camp - 2019 | By Parker Brown

In its fifth year, Amp Camp hit the stage in July at Yellowstone Valley Brewing for its final concert to a packed house of friends, family, and new listeners. The campers worked all week in large and small groups honing their sets as well as challenging their knowledge of their instruments, ears, and minds.

Each day is packed, from morning warm-ups and master classes to music theory and small combos to the "main jam" — the full camp performing all at once. Small groups are led by a faculty member and treated like a real band rehearsal where two or three songs are learned for the final performance. Kids also attend shows from local bands performing original material.

Amp Camp is geared toward preparing students to be real, live-gigging musicians. Having only five days to prepare for a show is a lot of pressure, and year after year the students rise to the occasion and put on a wonderful show.

As a founding faculty member, the best part for me is after that final performance, seeing the radiant glow of the students as they exchange compliments and phone numbers so they can get together and play over the summer. That’s when you know they’re hooked.