About TRC Camps
Our Mission, Vision, and Values
Participatory Music and Dance
- Our non-profit organization, Traditional Roots Community Camps, Inc., was inspired by the Walker Family Band Camp created by Scott Walker, Teresja Poole, and The Walker Family Band. The WFB performs traditional Celtic and American folk/roots music and it's members are deeply invested in passing traditional music on to future generations.
- Our non-profit promotes and celebrates intergenerational music making and learning. Families attend TRCC camps, workshops, and events to learn together, and make the musical and personal connections that are so important to sustaining folk and traditional music.
- Our non-profit focuses on participatory folk music traditions that are inclusive of musicians and dancers of all levels and abilities. Our faculty works hard to design and facilitate learning experiences appropriate for beginners through advanced levels. We thrive when we share our music and dance in a community founded on gratitude for what we can create together.
- Our faculty are recognized leaders in music education and in folk and traditional music.
- Traditional Roots Community Camps, in collaboration with the Blowing Rock Conference Center, presents an annual family fiddle camp the first week of July, the Bluebird Family Fiddle Camp...the BFF Camp! Here families come together to share their family bonds and love of traditional music. Bluebird Family Fiddle Camp promotes whole family inclusion by scheduling music and non-music classes for all ages. Everyone is encouraged to participate as a camper through class participation, performance participation, participation in jam sessions, dances, and other camp activities. At Bluebird, we become a 'family of families' in the true Walker Family Band tradition!
Acceptance and Inclusion
At the moment of arrival at any Traditional Roots Community Camp there is a sense of belonging that washes over you as you enter into a musical safe haven where peace, love and joy are the cornerstones of our work created here.
Most importantly, please know that YOU are ACCEPTED and INCLUDED at this camp.
We welcome ALL people who come to participate in the TRCC unique family camp experience. There truly is something for everybody:
~traditional live music and dance
~a relaxed, friendly atmosphere where learning is always happening
~beautiful locations
~and opportunities to connect deeply with others.
TRC Camps are FAMILY music camps that welcome musicians and folks who support musicians alike. We encourage all ages and stages, levels and varied musical interests. We are proud to offer diverse classes where each individual is met with love and interest; we ALL grow through our ACCEPTANCE and INCLUSION of others.
WELCOME!
Celebration and Service
Here are just a few of the ways Traditional Roots Community Camps are a place of CELEBRATION!
We celebrate our camp home and the beautiful place we gather.
We celebrate each person.
We celebrate each family.
We celebrate our friendships.
We celebrate our accomplishments – big and small.
We celebrate our sameness and our diversity.
We celebrate collaboration and creativity.
We celebrate the laughter and the music.
We celebrate also the quiet places, between the notes, and the emphasis that space creates in our music, our relationships, and our personal journeys.
A very important celebration at Bluebird Family Fiddle Camp is our Morning of Service!
We have been incredibly fortunate to celebrate summer camps with many, many families for over two decades, all of them at the Blowing Rock Conference Center, our camp home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. This site is truly a pristine gathering place of unique beauty. The love and dedication of the stewards of this camp is visually evident throughout the facility and across the grounds. The warmth of gracious hospitality extended to each guest fulfills the mission of the staff who welcome us.
In appreciation to our hosts and in gratitude to all the hands that work to keep this mountain retreat cared for and current, TRCC families come together one morning during our camp week to celebrate the joy of ownership and stewardship. Our camp collaborates with the director of the Blowing Rock Conference Center in planning a Morning of Service. Campers from kids to adults roll up their sleeves, put on some work gloves, form up some crews, and scatter around the camp to tackle some jobs that need doing! Our campers have cleared trails, planted gardens…and then weeded them in subsequent years…painted, and more. Many families who come to camp year after year, know to pack their gloves and work clothes right along with their instruments and music. Over the years, a Morning of Service has become a favorite part of the Bluebird Family Fiddle Camp week!
Who Comes to Traditional Roots Community Camps?
Traditional Roots Community Camps:
Bluebird Family Fiddle Camp (summer camp) and Weekend Workshops (throughout the year)
FAMILIES: Bluebird Family Fiddle Camp, TRCC's week-long summer camp, is hosted by Blowing Rock Conference center. There, families attending camp together, enjoy hotel style rooms with two queen beds and private baths in the main Corriher Lodge. Additional rooms are offered for larger families at a discounted family rate! Check with the reservations manager at BRCC for details!
Families are also welcomed at weekend workshops sponsored by Traditional Roots Community Camps in various communities throughout the year. Sign up to get the TRC Camps bi-monthly newsletter to keep in touch with camp friends and get notices of weekend workshops coming to your community!
Couples and Individuals: College students and adult couples return annually to Bluebird summer camp and are welcomed at all TRCC weekend workshops.
HIGH SCHOOL GROUP: Bluebird Family Fiddle Camp (BFFC) sponsors high school students to attend camp without a parent on campus. Students must be rising 9th grade through HS senior students who graduated the same year as the current camp. The group is chaperoned by BFF Camp staff. All students attending this program pay the basic enrollment fee and must register for the full tuition option. Lodging, meals, activity fees, and chaperone fees are included in the High School Group cost.
YOUNG ADULTS: More rustic dormitory accommodations are available at Bluebird summer camp for young adults (or families) who prefer a less expensive lodging option at camp. College students and other young adults, many of whom were former High School Group cohorts, also have an option to reconnect with longtime friends and make new ones in a hostel style four bedroom bunk lodge at the Blowing Rock Conference Center location.
STUDIO GROUPS: TRC Camp faculty are all incredible music TEACHERS in addition to performers. TRC Camps encourage other music teachers to reap huge rewards by promoting summer camp or music workshop group participation for their students! There's nothing like a camp experience to motivate and bond students. Enroll your student group and see that boost of enthusiasm among students in your orchestra or music studio! TTRC Camps offer FREE lodging for each chaperone accompanying a group of at least 4 students. (We suggest one adult chaperone per every 4-6 students).
Affordable dormitory lodging promotes group bonding and collaboration at our BFF summer camp! Each pod has a screened porch and two bedrooms separated by a shower and bathroom, each with two sets of bunks. The central campus location is close to all teaching spaces, and the dining room in the main lodge is just next door!
We Are FAMILY!
Traditional Roots Community Camps are INTENTIONALLY designed FAMILY CAMPS! Our Bluebird Family Fiddle Camp is a fun vacation for the entire family filled with enriching educational and performance opportunities for kids, students, and adult musicians. “But I don’t play a musical instrument”, you say? Don’t fret! Every TRCC camp and workshop is fully inclusive with a variety of classes and group activities to engage every family member from the youngest kids to parents, aunties, and grandparents! TRC Camp and workshop classes and events bring families back to camp year after year!
A Tweet About Bluebird Family Fiddle Camp: TRCC's BFF Camp location, Blowing Rock Conference Center, is the perfect mountain retreat for families to spend their 4th of July vacation week at camp. BRCC is only a few minutes away is the town of Blowing Rock featuring a large park in its center, unique shops and restaurants, a museum, and many nearby attractions including Tweetsie Railroad. Hike, canoe, explore caves, visit nearby Grandfather Mountain or Moses Cone Estate. There is something to interest everyone just a few minutes from campus for adventurers who want to spend the day exploring.
Traditional Roots Community Camps Faculty
Scott Walker
Landon Walker
Jennie Brunner
Linda Minke
Aisha Ivey
Christen Blanton Mack
Ruth Pershing
Galen Kirkpatrick
Meghan Parrish
Angel
Teresja Poole
Yavi Ritchie