The vibrant sounds of guitars, drums and laughter once again filled the air at the Pendleton Center for the Arts.
Now in its 19th year, the center’s Rock & Roll Camp is humming along with about 70 young musicians, well above last year’s number of campers.
“Bigger numbers mean more bands,” Rock & Roll Camp Director Addison Schulberg said, smiling. “So it means longer shows.”
The camp opened Monday, Aug. 16, and concludes Friday, Aug. 16. Teenagers 13 to 18 break out into groups to take lessons from counselors on guitar chord progressions, drum beats, bass rhythm, songwriting and more.
Other students spread out to learn other skills related to music, from creating promotional posters and T-shirts to interviewing musicians and building a zine.
One class gave a crash course on band etiquette — don’t be late, communicate well, especially if someone is off rhythm, and be kind to one another. The comprehensive lesson on what it means to be a band mate goes a long way when performing on stage or jamming out in the garage.
“We were trying to do some kind of role-playing to make it fun, which was really fun for me as well as hopefully for the kids,” camp counselor Bart Budwig said.
Budwig, of Enterprise, is a new addition to the camp counselor team along with Sam Mendoza, of Portland. Mendoza expressed his love and gratitude to be a part of the camp and reflected on how he spent his middle school years going to rock camps himself.
Although the rock camp welcomes teenagers of different backgrounds and cultures with open arms, some new campers felt nervous about being the new kids on the block but were relieved after meeting like-minded musicians.
It was a lot different than I thought it would be,” Lydia Friend, 13, said. “I thought there would be people that I wouldn’t like to be connected with but there are a lot of people that are into the same stuff as I am and it’s really fun here.”
Roberta Lavadour, the art center’s executive director, said the camp fosters a culture that creates a sense of belonging and self expression.
“The counselors are good at bringing everybody into the fold,” she said. “Making everybody feel like they have a place there. There are no outsiders in this space.”
Community, inspiration and encouragement are part of what make Rock & Roll Camp special.
“It’s just so magical and fun,” Schulberg said. “The inspiration is always there. It just kind of has this energy around it that makes people want to come back.”
Rock & Roll Camp culminates with a showcase concert, free to the public, at 7 p.m. Aug. 16 on the 400 block of South Main Street in Pendleton.
