George Ward, who lives in upstate New York, here performs at a morning concert.
I've been going to contra dances off and on since a tender age over two decades ago. Somewhere along the line I must have heard about the Pinewoods Camp music and dance weeks run by the Country Dance and Song Society in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Over the last few years I checked their program when considering what summer programs to attend, and noted that concertina players and singers are often included. My choice in 2003 was Folk Music week, and it turned out to be a good one. I had wondered if this particular program should be in the summer school list I post, and now I know to include it in the future.
Staff and Classes
Among the staff at camp were Vic Gammon, Dave Webber and Anni Fentiman (all of the U.K.), George Ward (New York State), Danny Spooner (Australia), Bob Walser and Julie Young (Minnesota), Jennifer Armstrong (Maine) and others. Together they had an expertise in the traditional and recent songs and folklore of Britain, Australia, and regions of the U.S. This focus, and the staff, varies from year to year. In 2003, classes included practice in song writing and song accompaniment, listening to traditional songs, storytelling, and historical context. There were also classes on songs and games for children, which were popular with the school teachers in attendance. Dance is the heart of some weeks at Pinewoods, but at Folk Music week, it was more limited, with a class each afternoon and a dance each night - primarily contra, swing, and waltz. That's still plenty for most of us.
George Ward, who lives in upstate New York, here performs at a morning concert.
A group meeting each forenoon and a concert each evening highlighted the various staff, their repertoires, stories, and humor. Many songs included enthusiastic choruses, which even I learned how to pick up on, though I am not a quick study with song lyrics.
Vic Gammon (on right) shows some playing ideas to two students of anglo concertina at Pinewoods.
Although there were a lot of concertina players there among staff and campers, there were no explicit concertina classes, save for one session Vic Gammon held for two beginning anglo players (I sat in and watched). The concertinists seemed a more solitary lot (mostly singers who play English) than I've known elsewhere. Almost none of them were users of Concertina.net.
The Experience
Folk Music week at Pinewoods differed from other week-long intensive music schools I've been to. In other places it can be easy to learn your first tune as a beginner, but sitting in on the jams or dancing with the experts can be hard to do or intimidating. Places like Augusta or Noel Hill School have been good for me to progress on one instrument or be immersed in a musical style or culture I want to know better. Pinewoods, on the other hand, gave me a chance to progress on several activities, yet I could observe others without any pressure to learn them myself. I could improve my dancing without having to do it all day like at Augusta, talk over song accompaniment with George Ward each morning as we traded ideas, and listen to lots of songs and stories I'd never heard all day long.
Pinewoods lies between Long Pond (foreground) and Round Pond (background). The camp boat dock is at the center of the photo. Taken from 1300 feet (400 m) altitude.
The camp is fairly rustic. You stay in little cabins (lights and windows with screens, but no plumbing), and showers and toilets are in separate buildings. The whole place looks like a little Hobbit village or Munchkin land! The area is heavily wooded and near two lakes (canoes, swimming) a few km from the ocean. It is absolutely idyllic when sunny, but totally sodden when rainy (everything mildews, paper gets too soft to write on). The food at the dining hall was great if you ask me. I ate more than I usually do but seem to have burned it all off dancing. The open dance pavillions serve their purpose well. It is steamy, and I wished I could clean up and change clothes every few hours. There was so much to do that I did so only once or twice a day.
For me the highlights were twofold. First was dancing, something I have gotten away from in recent years but enjoy as much as ever. Second was the very strong community they manage to build in one week. No one is left out of the group at most any time, and we were a pretty diverse bunch. (The only exception I noted was that a few times a political and religious majority made itself evident -- gospel or lampoon sing-alongs). The number of immensely talented people present was astonishing. I suspect the powerful impact this week had on me comes from some recent setbacks in my life -- it was nice for a change to be part of a welcoming group. And if you have been on your own for a while like I have, you can't pass up a chance to dance with all those nice, attractive partners (the ladies in my case). We dancers all helped each other learn, something musicians can relate to. At the end of the week, you feel a little blue about it all ending. Jay Ungar called this the "Brigadoon effect" at Ashokan (which I hear is similar to Pinewoods) and wrote his now-famous lament, "Ashokan Farewell," at such a time.
I certainly hope to return to Pinewoods, or one of the other camps run by C.D.S.S., Ogontz and Buffalo Gap. You might enjoy Pinewoods if their program overlaps with a style of music or dance you practice or want to learn. Some weeks are oversubscribed, so acceptance is not assured.
Concertinas at Pinewoods
Dick Swain (left) plays his double action bass English, "Humphrey," while Bob Walser plays my Morse C/G anglo. They were great!
As I noted, most years do not see explicit concertina classes, though Brian Peters was on the staff in 2001 and John Roberts in 1998. I did meet many players of concertina, particularly for song accompaniment. A few people were accomplished at Morris and other styles, and I hear other weeks at Pinewoods are even stronger in this regard - ask David Barnert. The group photos (note: 250 KB page) will give you an idea of the free-reed population, though a few folks are missing. My informal census came up with 16 players of English, 7 players of anglo (21 players total; two persons are counted as players of both), with 10 anglos and 18 Englishes actually at camp, and I probably missed a couple. Looking at the group might make you think this was a concertina-fest. But most folks were attending for other obsessions. There was not the trading of ideas and trying of instruments you might see at, say, the Northeast Squeeze-In. In fact, when I organized this photo and took the census, I got the feeling no one had previously expressed interest in networking all the concertinists, at least in recent years. Still, I saw some unique instruments, and got to talk to Danny Spooner about how we Northerners can get to know Australian makers like Richard Evans better.
If you come, do not expect a class in concertina. This program might be best if you can already play or sing fairly well and want to share ideas on how to accompany yourself with the concertina, something that people ask about here on Concertina.net. So go sing a song or dance a dance, already!
Special thanks to all my new friends (almost 100 of them) from Pinewoods. Suzanne Mrozak took the group photos, and at the end of the week Robbin Melchiorre kindly gave me an awesome plane ride over Pinewoods and the Plymouth area.