Hi Ben!
Thank you for the welcome video I received yesterday and the “Don’t Worry About It” video emailed from Alicia today. I certainly hope that my few queries about strum patterns, closed chord pattern 2 (aka how the heck can I make an E chord any harder?), etc., haven’t conveyed an overly nervous approach to Cabin Camp. Quite the opposite! Okay, maybe at first, after I signed up and paid and got the song list I was a tad worried. But, as I am working my way through these songs I know what they sound like, I can play the backup, I can pick most of the solos (basic and intermediate), yeah, I’m quite happy and am wishing the opening date was here already! What do they call “messups?” Improvisation! LoL. The more I watch videos of previous cabin camps and learn more about what we are doing every day (I cannot WAIT to play in the instructor-led jam sessions every night) I am STOKED! (I’m 62 years old, am I allowed to say “stoked”?) I also totally like the idea of helping us “get away from the tab” aka “learning to play by ear”. My late Dad’s uncles (oddly enough from southern Massachusetts) were all gifted bluegrass players and I grew up listening to them jam at holiday family gatherings. Not ONE of them read any music. Zip. Notes, tab, nothing. Man if I had just picked up something to play with them back then I could have gotten a much earlier jump start on this learning to play bluegrass! Anyway, my anxiety is gone and I am SO looking forward to coming to Cabin Camp in late April. My wife is too except her excitement sounds like this: “How many times are you gonna play Cripple Creek?! Don’t you know something else?” LoL. Yeah Yeah Yeah she knows I’m playing other songs. Anyway, what’s my point? Well, for you, Ben, don’t worry. I think all of us will arrive with just the right amount of nervous energy, talent (of all levels), willingness to learn and a good dose of “don’t worry about it” and we are ALL gonna have a great time. Thanks for hosting us and I greatly look forward to meeting you and your staff and learning as much as I can at Cabin Camp! See you soon!
