Anything you’d be willing to share which will help me make the most of my Song School experience would be greatly appreciated.
Have you been to the Folks Festival or Rockygrass? Assuming you haven’t, it’s hot during the day and cold at night, so bring warm clothes for the night. Also it will probably rain one or two days so bring a parka or something. And make sure your tent is rain-proof. Arrive Sunday afternoon if possible so you can setup camp, hangout, meet people, and be ready to go Monday morning. There’s a grocery store and liquor store in town, so you don’t need to bring food and drink to last the whole week. There’s also restaurants in town. It’s just a short walk from Planet Bluegrass. You’ll need to walk into town daily to buy ice anyway. Bring an ice chest. Or two. I use one for food and one for drinks.
Paul Reisler’s Directed Writing class meets every morning. Most of the other classes are one-shot deals. With Paul’s class, you can check it out the first day, but after that you have to commit to it for the week. You’ll be paired up with someone, and share stories, and write a song about the other person’s story. You play the song you wrote on Thursday. It’s great for beginner songwriters, it’s what got me going. Actually it’s great for songwriters at any level.
For the other classes, just read the descriptions in the book and pick the ones that interest you the most. Some are offered multiple times. Ask other students what classes they liked.
Relax, soak in the vibe, learn stuff, make friends. You’ll love it.
-Rob
Thanks Rob. Good logistical and song school advice. I was at the festival for an afternoon several years ago but have never camped or attended the song school but I’m really looking forward to (as you suggest) relaxing, soaking in the vibe, learning something and making some friends.