Music Masters Collective is a 501(C)(3) non-profit that curates and presents unique events where participants and artists meet and collaborate in an inspired and creative atmosphere, specifically designed to facilitate elevated musical experiences. Its mission is to bridge the gap between artist and audience by offering unparalleled opportunities to interact with world-class musicians and take a truly magical step, Beyond Backstage!- from their website
(Left to right: Luther Dickinson, who coveted my Ibanez guitar, Henry Stout, founder of the Collective and Vaylor Trucks).
Those who have been reading my blog for a while know that another hobby I have is playing guitar. (I refer to myself as a guitar hacker, saving the term “musician” for those who earn it on the road. But that’s just me.)
Back in 2020, I went to my first camp in LA which you can read about here if you’re so inclined. (It’s a series so you can use the site’s search for the next ones. Use rock camp). A couple of years ago I went to one I had discovered in the Catskills, some 28 miles west of Woodstock. This was called Roots Rock Revival (“High in the Catskills” which you can take as you wish.) I had a pretty good time there so I figured I’d go back and see what was going on.
Musically, the camp’s focus is the Allman Brothers, The Band and the Grateful Dead and, generally, for those who like to jam or listen to others do so. I imagine that fans of Phish or Umphrey’s McGee would feel right at home. I don’t recall anyone mentioning this particular factoid but this year’s camp started on July 29, 2024, 51 years + one day after the those three bands drew 600,000 to Watkins Glen. Read all about it here. I love all the bands but the ABB are one of my big Four, the other being The Beatles, the Stones and the E Street Band.
I have a long history with the Allmans having seen the original band in July of 1971 in Central Park a few months prior to Duane’s passing and then on their return without him to Carnegie Hall. I made several pilgrimages to the Beacon, the last one occurring in October of 2014, just a few days before their final show. Jack Bruce died the same day and without saying a word, the band played Cream’s “Politician.”
I made one early decision which I later came to regret, namely renting a glamp. I figured I’d save a few bucks but really, for me, not worth it. There was nothing wrong with it at all. It had an A/C that mostly worked, the bed was pretty comfy, etc. But it turns out that I’m more attached to indoor plumbing than I might have thought. C’est la vie.
(Glamp camp above – Ground control to Major Tom).
Strangely, even though I’d been there before, knew the terrain, and knew more or less what to expect, I initially felt somewhat disoriented. It took me a day or so to get into the groove. Maybe that’s the way it works. It did for me, anyway.
So what happens at one of these things you might be asking yourself? Well I know enough from camps I’ve gone to and from what I’ve heard from others that these experiences vary. A bass player friend of mine went to Victor Wooten’s bass camp and there wasn’t really much structure. The one in LA was very structured, but still with late night jams.
I’d say this camp is somewhat between those two experiences. Unlike the LA one, you don’t ultimately play out at a famous club like the Whisky a Go Go. But you do get opportunities to participate in choir singing (did that last time) or playing in an orchestra. (More on that later).
A typical day (we arrived on Monday at 3, left on Friday by 11) involves numerous workshops on guitar, drums, keys, etc. Some of them are the musicians playing a tune then discussing it with audience Q&A. Some of them are more hands-on interactive.
So, for example, Vaylor and Melody Trucks (Butch’s kids, Derek’s cousins) held an Allmans session consisiting of showing us how to play “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” correctly. (Vaylor is a stickler for this). So I volunteered with another guitarist to play and learn the first part, two other people came up for the next section, then for solos, etc. A good learning experience but strangely, I never got an opportunity to play that song the rest of the week.
At night after dinner (three squares a day, all excellent), the pros would come on and blow us away. One night we watched a band called Trouble No More who burned the stage down. Camp regular Brandon “Taz” Niederauer teamed up with Boston-based whiz Quinn Sullivan. At the ripe old age of 21, Taz already has his own D’Angelico signature guitar.
I am from the Boston area and this is probably the third or fourth time I’ve seen Quinn. He is somewhat of a protege of Buddy Guy who would bring him out when we’d see him. And he was a guest at the Santana show I saw last year. I won’t describe how thse guys sound together, rather listen (with suitable awe) to them play. (“We’re not worthy.”)
This whole band cooks like mad. Here’s “You Don’t Love Me,”
There were two big opportunities to get involved in structured group activities. One was the lovely and gracious Amy Helm’s (Levon’s daughter) choir which I did last time and then Vaylor and Melody created an orchestra of sorts that you could sign up for. Hmm, sez I. This could be very cool or totally go sideways but I figured, well, WTF, right?
I’m not sure exactly how many people wound up being in the orchestra (50?) but it was definitely an exercise in herding cats for poor Vaylor. He reminded us that there was only one guitar in “The Weight” and so we needed to keep our guitar army down to a low roar which, of course, is akin to telling a nine-year-old not to run around the grocery store. We quieted down then of course, went right back to noodling and fiddling with our amps because, well, that’s what we do!
I believe we had about 4 1/2 hours of rehearsal and learned five songs – Althea and Bertha (Dead), Blue Sky (ABB) and The Weight (The Band). We dropped Hot ‘Lanta because there wasn’t enough time. Sadly, since I had practiced a solo I was hoping to get to play. But it made sense anyway as there would be nothing for the singers to do. And now I have a solo looking for a song.
Here’s the orchestra doing Blue Sky and The Weight. I admit my no-kumbaya cynicism was overwhelmed and I found myself singing along and quite moved by the whole thing. It reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where he says, “What is this salty discharge coming from my eyes?” You can’t see the crowd here but they were totally into it, singing along, filming us and even a standing O after Blue Sky.
One thing I like about the camp is the random jams that crop up spontaneously. This clip is very brief but will give you some idea:
As to the evening jams, there are four places you can play. You just need to show up and, as we were reminded, assert yourself to get up there. Last time I came I sat there for an hour before I could work up my nerve. This time i didn’t much give a shit as I’m now in a classic rock band (The Beantown Rockers!) and I’ve pretty much gotten used to being on stage again.
However, there are a lot of people who want to play and so you can’t just get up there for hours at a time. I didn’t jam Monday night as I was beat. Tuesday night I jammed at the barn and frankly, I sucked. I did some other jams that went better, doing tunes like Bertha and Turn On Your Love Light.
The last night was best as I cajoled Vaylor into playing Mountain Jam with me. I had to woodshed on that thing the better part of the day as I didn’t quite know the licks. It was like, 90 degrees there but I kept finding (more or less cool, more or less quiet) spots to learn it. But we did it and no, it wasn’t 33 minutes like on the Peach album but it was pretty, pretty, pretty good.
No video of me as who would do that? But going back to that whole “getting up on stage” thing well, there was a (I believe) 9-year-old kid there named Sawyer. On stage. I mean he was everywhere. Playing guitar. Singing. Drumming. I would not have had the stones when I was his age. He does it like it’s nothing. Check this out. Just a snippet
Interestingly the main reason (I think) this event exists is to get a chance to jam. But what really occurs is that a community of all ages grows. Some people have come to this thing for years including one guy who comes from Finland (!) every year. I’m an old cynic but yeah, I dug it. I met a number of good people. I was heartened to see there were more women playing guitar, two of whom totally crushed it.
That community led to the one of the best things I heard all week, a version of Rufus and Chaka Khan’s classic “Tell Me Something Good.” Melody told me that while Des and a few others are pros the rest are folks “just like you” who got to know each other over the years and did some tunes. So they generously gave them a showcase. Tell me this doesn’t kick ass. That’s Melody getting her groove on just in front of the stage.
What else can I tell you about this? Well, I think you get the idea. One other cool thing I haven’t mentioned is the support that new players get. There’s a kid named Jaden who’s a hot shot player that Oteil Burbridge is helping to get to the next level. (If you don’t know the name, Oteil was the Allmans bass player for the last 17 years of their existence and is currently working with Dead and Co. In fact, he had to zip out on Wednesday to go play at the Sphere. How cool is that? Everybody loves Oteil.)
Melody often takes new players out on the road with her band (I’m waiting for the senior division) and they even offer scholarships. I had a long talk with a Northern California guitarist who had to work his way back from falling off a ladder a while back. Scholarship for him.
My wife wonders if I’ll go back. Probably at some point, yeah. I think the ones who get the full benefit of the late-night jams are the dudes that can do all that Dead-style seguing. You’d hear them playing in the yurt till all hours of the morning and the precision would have you swear they were a functioning band. I’m a three-minute tune guy so, more woodshedding.
I leave you with the astonishing (“Next level,” one guy said) Florida-based Steeln’ Peaches band who have at least one member who spent some time at this camp some years back. I sat on the couch (I sat there so much I called it my office) and spoke to the band’s drummer about his band for a while. And that’s the other cool thing is a complete lack of star attitude. You’re just hangin’ with other players. And how cool is that?
