Kids Jam Onstage at School of Rock

Kids Jam Onstage at School of Rock

Children from across the Valley and across the nation are gathered in Scottsdale for a chance to be rockstars.

At Camp Jam, held at Scottsdale Congregational Church, youths learn how to play instruments, write songs, and join a band.

"You're a musician and you have a gig on Friday," said camp director Carole Pellatt. At the start of the week, each camper was put into a band. Each group selects a song, practices and - by the end of the week - will play in a show on stage...

Kids jam onstage at school of rock

The Arizona Republic

by Alex Bloom

June 26, 2008

Children from across the Valley and across the nation are gathering in Scottsdale this week for a chance to be rock stars.

At Camp Jam, held at Scottsdale Congregational Church, youths learn how to play instruments, write songs, and join a band. "You're a musician and you have a gig on Friday," said camp director Carole Pellatt. At the start of the week, each camper was put into a band. Each group selects a song, practices and - by the end of the week - will play in a show on stage.

Tanner Siegfort, 14, said he has been playing drums since he was 3 years old. "Ever since I was really young, I wanted to be in the music business," said Siegfort, of Mesa. The camp is a good chance to play with others in a band, he said. Siegfort's band has a singer, three guitarists, a bass player and a keyboard player, in addition to Siegfort. The group is playing "Times Like These" by the Foo Fighters. "It's going really good," Siegfort said. "The first day was a little shaky because not everyone knew their parts really well. But today, we got it really good."

Singer traveled from El Paso

Rachel Hurtado, the singer in Siegfort's band, drove to Scottsdale from El Paso, Texas to attend Camp Jam. She took part in Camp Jam last year in Atlanta, Ga. "It's a good experience," Hurtado said. "You learn a lot and it really sets you up for a career in the music business." Hurtado, 16, plays guitar, violin and piano in addition to singing. She is a rising senior in high school and wants to major in music at Brigham Young University. Hurtado likes getting the opportunity to play in a band with others. "To play in a group live is something very different than playing by yourself or just jamming out at home," Hurtado said. Camp Jam also gave her an opportunity to practice singing. "Camp Jam was really a chance to go show that I could sing," Hurtado said. "I didn't want to do guitar because everyone does guitar."

Chad Dennis, 17, of Scottsdale, is a Camp Jam camp counselor. He said that kids practice music all day from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a break for lunch. Dennis said he likes the enthusiasm he sees in the kids. "They're here for a good cause," Dennis said. "They're here to learn music."

Started by .38 Special guitarist

The camp was started in 2004 by Jeff Carlisi, the former guitarist for .38 Special. It has programs in 15 U.S. cities and is divided between 11- to 17-year-olds (Camp Jam) and 7- to 10-year-olds (Camp Jam Kidz). Pellatt said that students are taught how to record songs, given personal instruction with their instruments, and learn about songwriting and song structure. "It's really complete in terms of the courses," Pellatt said. "If they're guitarists they get to take guitar class. Drummers take drums."

Guitarist of Survivor visits

Each camp has a different rock legend come to talk and play for the camp. Jim Peterik, a guitarist with Survivor, famous for "Eye of the Tiger," visited the camp on Wednesday and performed for the campers. "I wish I had a camp like this when I was 13," Peterik said. Peterik advises kids that if they want to pursue music, it takes dedication. "It's a process. You got to stick with it, you got to practice everyday and you got to play in front of people every chance you get to hone your skills," Peterik said. He said that Camp Jam provides a great service by getting kids excited about music. "I'm not saying that every kid has to make it their career," said Peterik, who said as a kid, he started doing better in school when he found music. "It's just a really important link to their personality," he said. "It's a great way to express themselves."

Pellatt said the camp came to Phoenix last year, and tripled in size this year. "We had such incredible response this year that next year we'll be offering two sessions," Pellatt said. "I can't even begin to think what's going to happen next year."