Hannah Montana had better watch out.
This month, the Southern Girls Rock 'N' Roll Camp at Middle Tennessee State University will welcome 90 girls age 10-17 from across the country to spend five days forming bands, learning instruments and writing songs. The week will culminate with a massive concert featuring about 20 bands, each performing one song for a packed house at MTSU's Tucker Theater.
"It's kind of festival-style," said Anna Fitzgerald, the camp's director, of the final concert. "We fill that place up."
And it's a big deal for the girls. From the moment they arrive at the day camp the girls' activities are geared toward the final concert. The campers, whose musical background can range from novice to experienced, choose instruments they want to learn to play and form bands.
If they don't have an instrument, the camp provides one. Then they spend two hours each day in classes tailored to their skill level and chosen instrument. They also attend workshops on topics that range from recording and songwriting to screen-printing, and panel discussions featuring music industry professionals and local and national artists.
"The panels are to provide the campers with career options that are valid for musicians or people interested in careers pertaining to music," Fitzgerald said. "Panelists have to be women, and they have to work in the music business."
Past panels have included presentations on eating disorders and women who own their own record labels. This year campers will learn about image, hear from a group of female engineers, and be treated to performances and question-and-answer sessions from artists including Michelle Malone, Anne McCue, Kelly Shay Hicks and Caitlin Rose.
Panels provide incentive"I definitely think the performers and panelists were inspiring," said Heather Moulder, a former attendee who now volunteers at the camp. "When you see women that are successful in the business it definitely pushes you."
But most importantly, Moulder said the camp helped her connect with other girls her age who shared an interest in music.
"It really gave me an opportunity I wouldn't have had on my own as a teenage girl, finding other girls and playing in a band," she said. "It seems like a boys' sport, and it was good to see other girls doing the same thing. It really pushed me forward. As soon as I got out of camp I joined a band, and it was really my first steps into the water."
Fitzgerald said Moulder's experience isn't unusual and that the camp is geared toward encouraging girls to follow their musical pursuits.
"Most of them are semi-serious to interested in being a musician," Fitzgerald said. "They take back the mentality that to make music you don't have to be an expert, and you can do things to prepare yourself to be in a band. It teaches them how to work with others and how to have fun. But camp mainly builds their self-esteem, that they can put their mind to something and do it and stay on a positive track."
And word is getting out. For the first time in the camp's five-year history, admission is sold out and a waiting list has been formed. It's a phenomenon Moulder attributes in part to the success of television shows like Hannah Montana, especially when it comes to the camp's youngest students.
"(Hannah star Miley Cyrus) is a role model for them," Moulder said. "I don't see how it couldn't inspire them to come."
As for Fitzgerald, she's just happy to see the Southern Girls Rock 'N' Roll Camp flourish.
"It's been an interesting journey," said the director. "I now have people from all over the country e-mailing asking how to start a girls rock camp."
Rock ‘n’ roll camp helps girls band together
