We had a great first week at camp this year. I am always surprised by how quickly songs come together, and it seemed like these groups had the tunes together by Wednesday. After that, it was just finishing touches and cleaning up some trouble spots. We had several multi-instrumentalists this week, and campers were very flexible depending on what the band and/or the song needed. Zach and Sean are both veteran Camp Woodshed Counselors, and they were able to maintain a safe, fun environment throughout the week. Special shout-out to our CIT Kaj for helping out as well.

As usual, we started Monday with a one-minute meditation on the patio and gradually increased to five minutes by Friday. These were good meditators! I didn’t have to keep anyone from goofing off or making noises. It takes a lot of patience to be comfortable with silence, an important skill for musicians. On day 2, we tried something new with a guess-the-riff challenge. We had so much fun doing this on Tuesday that I kept it going the next couple of days and created a playlist here of all the riffs for the campers. The kids did pretty well, but they must listen to Tom Petty and Eric Clapton more!

By the time the performance rolled around on Friday, these kids were fast friends. Goofing off, taking band photos, going on a shopping spree at Poppacorn’s, and getting ready for soundcheck. The performances went off without a hitch, and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves on stage in Studio A. We’ve got 3 weeks left of camp this summer, and I can’t wait to see what is in store. Looking forward to more tunes, more laughs, and more meditation 🤫

-Parker