I am probably in the minority but I thought the band competion was a real waste of time. I would have rather have had one on one time with instructors than putting on a performance.
Just my 2 cents worth and worth every penny.
Cabin Camp 2023
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I thought the competitions were a lot fun. It forced me outside of my comfort zone and I was pushed to do something I wouldn’t normally have done. I’m learning banjo and during camp Katy and Ben were always available for personal help when I asked. I loved the Saturday night performance and the “best” players didn’t win. My husband who doesn’t play music thought the performance was great.
If you’re a member here you can get personalized instruction by uploading a recording of the song you’ve learned and Ben or others will help you with any issues.
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I dunno - I’ve been to 4 camps (including the one you are speaking of) & I’ve always been of the opinion the “competition” is a chance to measure yourself and have a lot of fun while doing so. Just as that camp featured 4 different instruments, we all have different goals as musicians. I always sound a lot better playing alone outside by myself 
but playing with others is kind of a reality check. My “limited” ability as a banjo player has increased exponentially since CC#1 where I struggled to simply vamp backup to “Will the Circle.” Contrasted to CC#4 where I pulled off a solo to “Blackberry Blossom” I came away encouraged. Anyway, you now have my 2c.
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@josephrlipman, 2 more coins to toss into the fountain…
Although I didn’t attend the same Cabin Camp as you, I did attend the very first one. We (the unsuspecting campers) didn’t have any idea this was going to take place until well after we arrived (we didn’t have the potential warning like all of the following campers), and I was actually a little angry about it at the time, and felt the same way you do…but I did decide to return for more camps.
Here’s why:
First of all, you need to know I’m musically introverted and intimidated about having anyone hear me making attempts at playing a banjo. However, after a couple of days of reflection and a cooling off period after camp, I decided to look for the silver lining around my rain cloud. In looking at the big picture, I made lots of new friends, learned a lot about a lot of musical things, and learned there’s a lot more out there to learn than I had even realized…and learned that I wasn’t the only one at the cabin camp who felt that way.
And while I didn’t appreciate it enough at the time (and Ben even told us so), eventually came back around to the realization that (my words, not his) music is really a team sport, both with the audience and with other musicians. Using a poorly constructed football analogy, the other bluegrass musicians at camp turned out to be on the same team as me (not always so in other genres), and I already know I’m not quarterback material. I need not only a good coach, but ultimately good teammates too in order to run successful plays. (My apologies for pushing this example so hard.) 
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Yeah, sometimes you just gotta drop back & punt. 
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I can’t speak for Ben, but I think he genuinely enjoys feedback and is always looking for ways to improve from year to year with the camps. It’s hard to argue that more instruction from him and the other instructors wouldn’t be awesome. I know for me though and probably some others in the beginner to intermediate level it’s really easy to become saturated with the amount of things they could teach. One of my favorite parts of the student performances is watching the families and guests who come to watch. It gives them a chance to see what everyone has been up to all week and they all seem to love it. Hope you were still able to have a good time.
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I’ve been to one cabin camp (the first Montana one,) and I loved it. It was so much fun to be immersed in bluegrass for a weekend, and I learned so much. At that time, I had only jammed with other people a handful of times. Somehow I could play a particular break by myself but when you throw in all the other instruments and distractions that come with trying to play in a jam situation, it was way harder. I was also suuuper nervous about getting on any kind of stage. During the competition, when it came time for me to take my break, my mind went blank, I got tunnel vision, and I’m not sure what came out of my banjo, but it was not the break I had tried to memorize! For me, the band competition was sort of terrifying but it was also probably the most important learning experience of the camp. It showed me that if my goal was to jam or perform with others, there was nothing stopping me from seeking out some jams and getting more practice in that kind of situation. I think prior to camp I had a mentality that i needed to “get better first” and then I would feel ready to go jam. I also needed to spend my practice time differently. I needed to practice more without the tab in front of me and spend more time playing along with jam tracks.
The band competition experience was humbling, but it challenged me, and I came home hungry for more. I found some jams to go to and after going to 20 jams or so, I’ve gotten a lot better at playing in a jam circle. A couple of the local jams are at a bar with an audience and stepping up to the microphone to do a break still scares me to death. Working on that.
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This is a great thread, thanks y’all!
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@josephrlipman, I understand what you mean to some degree. I think at my first camp I had an unrealistic idea of how much time we would spend doing instruction stuff. After figuring out that we were spending at least as much time learning to play with others I loosened up a bit and started having fun. There have been other things throughout the 4 years that I have been going that we’re not related to instruction at all, like a tour of Gruins, touring downtown, and spending time at Nashville Banjo company, but I had so much fun doing those things it was worth loosing some instruction time. I really have enjoyed the band performances and have made lots of friends by having a more personal connection.
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Haha! Don’t remember a giant one, but I do remember there being some cats there. I’m allergic to cats and they kept trying to rub up against my leg while the presentation was happening, and I kept kicking them back 
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