Some of you know me pretty well, so you know I don’t tend to gush on demand, but bear with me on this one. We hosted Rock Camp USA this summer for the first time and it was a triple-crown win. In short, this two-week summer music camp provided huge benefits to the music business program, the department, and the college itself. Now in its 12th year, Rock Camp USA is a performance-oriented, afternoon day camp designed to coach young musicians (ages 8 to 19) on rehearsing, recording, and performing. There are camps in a number of locales: Austin (home field), Miami, and others, including a series of camps in Davenport, Iowa. Check it out on line: www.rockcampusa.com

Sponsored by the Elmhurst College Music Business Program, we offered our camp in late July. Each camper was placed in a band appropriate to his or her performance level and was assigned a teacher who guided the group as to the selection of songs and/or the writing of originals. Activities included clinics by sponsors, a recording session, and a concluding club performance. The club we used has had some notable artists grace their stage (Green Day, and a number of big hair ‘80s acts among them). To say the least, the club owner was quite pleased about absolutely packing the place on a Saturday afternoon and having cable TV show up to tape it. After the camp, each camper got a CD of their band’s studio session and a DVD of the club performance with its big time lights and sound.

Dividends: college admissions loved the fact that so many high schools students and their families visited our campus. Already this fall, the music department has seen admissions inquiries from rock camp students and their friends who saw the concert or the press. Oh, and on that subject . . . there’s something about kids and guitars that makes the media swarm – especially during the slow summer news cycle. Our camp generated five newspaper stories (one of them a HUGE profile), two different radio station interviews, and TV coverage. This, of course, is gold in terms of attracting new college students and getting more administration support for the music business program.

We couldn’t have done it without the help of the music business students and the many camp sponsors: Guitar Center, Marshall, Korg, Shure, and others. Ibanez donated fretted instruments worth over 1K, and we ended up with a high end Gretsch drum set after the camp was over. These sponsors are part of the national package that Rock Camp USA offers. Local community support included restaurants, the Chamber of Commerce, radio, and two local music stores with big teaching studios. NAMM itself should really get on board with these rock camps since it’s great on many levels, and it allows our programs and students to interact with the products industry in a viable way just not possible during the school year.

Music business students got a chance to work on a real marketing campaign, writing and recording music for radio PSAs, making valuable contacts with music product reps, recording the camp bands in the studio, shooting and editing the DVDs, plus loads of other activities. It’s also a great way for music business students to earn money for their club, be it MEISA or another organization. Our Music Education Program also benefited. Some of their students got state certification observation hours for aiding us, and one of our top camp teachers was a Music Ed senior who is now fielding a great offer at a high end high school.

At the end of the day, everyone made money, and we have even have an email list to attract more high school students to our music department events during the regular year. Sure, hosting the camp took a lot of effort. It’s also great fun and very rewarding. And next summer . . . I’ve got loads of inquiries already and I’ve already booked the club for TWO concerts, since this summer’s monster crowd was fire marshal time. Email me at timh@elmhurst.edu if you have any interest in presenting this on your campus. A full time or adjunct faculty member, or even a competent student club, could direct this camp. I suspect many of you know someone on your department who could really run with a project like this. Rock On! You have my permission.