Summer Camp Music Festival’s Camp Counselor Program
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(Chillicothe, IL) This video by my friend Nick Stock was a trip down memory lane. It was the year I sunk my brother-in-law’s RV up to its axles in mud. I also ripped off the entire awning in a 100 MPH windstorm but met one of the most authentic people in the music scene who continues to climb and soar.
It was the year I dressed up in an Umphaloo costume for kickball with Ryan Stasik, shot one of my favorite videos of Umphrey’s McGee of all time (Plunger – > Glory – Haji) and fell in love with this place called Summer Camp Music Festival in Chillicothe, Illinois.
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I witnessed and recorded almost an entire set of The Everyone Orchestra, stayed up way too late jamming to Wyllys and the New York Hustler Ensemble and took more than a few days to recover once i got back home.
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I first met Nick at the chapel when he walked inside in his rain slicker, cowboy hat and camera strapped around his neck. I’d been following their “Camp Counselor” program since they launched it, and don’t think they could have picked a more deserving guy. Nick and I had a chance to bond over the course of the weekend, discussing live music photography, our favorite bands (he leans more towards moe., I’m more of an Umphrey’s guy, but our passions collided here at this festival.
I witnessed the spectacular campside performance of the never-before-seen “CornMoe”, and did everything I could to help them push their initiative forward.
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If you’re as passionate about live music as we are, you owe it to yourself to apply to be a counselor – actually an ambassador – for this experience. More information on the program can be found here.
My heartfelt thanks to Nick Stock, Holly Brinkman, and the entire SCMF team for this trip down memory lane.
Benjamin Slayter (@benjamanai on twitter) is a photographer, event producer, and festivarian. He hasn’t found a better place to see a show than in front of the rail or on stage, which led him to create the collaborative Festival Documentation project Docufest: Music | Ambiance | Production, found online at http://www.docufest.org.
