Ever dream of hanging out with a couple handfuls of guitar legends while breathing fresh mountain air and (mostly) unplugging from the world? If so, Jim Weider has something you’ll dig – a summer camp for guitar-music fanatics to gather and bond.
Dubbed Masters of the Telecaster Guitar Camp and set for September 30 through October 4 at Full Moon Resort in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, it’s an educational seminar dressed in vacation clothes. The idea came to Weider as he watched his two related events grow in popularity – the Masters of the Telecaster concerts he and G.E. Smith have been hosting for a decade, and his Camp Cripple Creek, featuring players in The Band’s orbit and attended by fans of roots rock.
Realizing that when it comes to music, there are plenty of diehard fans of any musical niche one could conceive – and they enjoy gathering with the like-minded – he teamed up again with the Music Masters Collective, a group of producers and artists who in the mid ’90s began planning a home base for such interactive, immersive music events. In 2019, the group established a foundation that was granted non-profit status and adopted a more-formal mission of producing the events for people of all backgrounds, skill levels, and financial status.
While Camp Cripple Creek draws fans of The Band and similar roots rock, Weider says Masters of the Telecaster leans to players – though he emphasizes one does not need to be player to have a great time.
So, what can attendees expect at Masters of the Telecaster?
Along with hosts Weider and Joel Harrison, seminars will be taught by Albert Lee, Bill Frisell, Brent Mason, Larry Campbell, G.E. Smith, Jon Herington, Guthrie Trapp, Redd Volkaert, Adam Levy, Joe Louis Walker, Carolyn Wonderland, and Cindy Cashdollar. Classes and concerts will touch on the styles of iconic players such as Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan, Steve Cropper, Robbie Robertson, Roy Nichols, Ted Greene, and Eldon Shamblin, and also include potential topics such as studio tricks, hybrid picking, slide, chords, rhythm chops, tone, ensemble playing, and mixing jazz elements with blues, rock and roll, and country styles. Instructors may also delve into elements of their personal styles.
“Albert will be teaching Albert Lee tricks and techniques, and I know I’ll be at his class, mostly to watch his right hand,” Weider chuckled. “His picking is so perfect with that light touch, so it’ll be fascinating to see how he plays.
“I’ll teach a class on the roots of rock and roll, another on assorted Tele techniques,” he added. “G.E. Smith’s session is called ‘Navigating The Fretboard: Make It Your Friend,’ and Larry Campbell will teach his three-finger style.”
After each day’s workshops and classes, campers will have the option to gather in two rooms – one electric and one acoustic – where instructors and backing musicians will jam with them.
“Then, there will be a concert every night, each different,” said Weider. “We’ll get to play and hear some great music and crank up some tweed amps.”
Beyond the fact this is the first such Tele camp and he has rounded up so many great players, Weider’s inner gearhead is also excited.
“I’ll have all of my vintage instruments,” he said. “G.E. will bring some, too, and I’m sure others will.
“A Telecaster camp is something I’ve always wanted to do, and Full Moon Resort is such a beautiful place,” Weider said. “To me, it’s historic.”
This article originally appeared in VG’s October 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
