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Rocking out with Steven Tyler and "the chick who plays the harmonica"

By Jack Ashland
Special to MSN Music

Los Angeles is hot and dirty. At first, that meant I didn't like it (I'm a singer/songwriter from Seattle, people). But by the time this brief foray into the world of rock 'n' roll fantasy ended, I was a convert; it's a perfect setting for a camp that connects amateurs with professionals and celebrities and puts them all behind a warm, soft curtain.

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I'll admit to some preconceptions. The camp costs a lot to attend (thousands) and the "pitch" is that you get to hang out with celebrities. This event (it happens twice a year in locations around the world like New Orleans, New York and London) had Steven Tyler and Todd Rundgren on the bill. I imagined rich people clapping their hands together and giggling.

And, to be honest, there was a bit of that. An unapologetic woman told me, "I thought I was going to come down to L.A. and do some shopping, and meet Steven Tyler. This is intense." She wasn't kidding. In fact, she was totally stressed out. She was in the middle of recording the lead vocal part for her band at Capitol Records Studios, obviously a new experience for her and one that was making her extremely nervous (for you rock 'n' roll history buffs, the engineer in the studio was Eddie Kramer, and he adeptly calmed her and got the take). Here she was, her whole band was counting on her, and she thought she was going to do some shopping!

A little background here: The campers are put into bands with a counselor at the beginning of the five-day event. For example, the Nine Flamingos (pictured, from left to right) were led by Slim Jim Phantom from Stray Cats (drums), with Tom Rettner (drums), Ed Oates (guitar), Lisa Margarolis (vocals), Susan Newton (aka, "the chick who plays the harmonica"), Dominic Boutté (bass) and Glenn Moses (guitar). Other counselors included Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver), Rami Jaffee (Foo Fighters, The Wallflowers), Danny Seraphine (a founding member of Chicago), Bruce Kulick (Kiss), Mark Hudson (Grammy-winning producer and songwriter), and Alan White (Yes).

The bands practice morning and evening for five days, and they are very serious about it. At one point Slim Jim told the Flamingos, "Sometimes you have to take a break. It's possible to over-practice a song."

The range of people attending camp was extraordinary. It was one of the first things I noticed. Young and old, man and woman. Skilled and unskilled. Some of these people have been playing music live for 40 years -- Ed Oates, I'm talking about you -- others (the chick who plays the harmonica, for instance) picked up their instrument three weeks before.

As Dominic told me, "Some of these people can't shake a tambourine. But everyone's on the same page. We're all trying to learn as much as we can from this. Everyone gets a chance to play. And, really, when it's one on one like that, I'm blown away by it. Teddy Andreadis (Guns N' Roses) and I really clicked last night on 'Parchman Farm' [Wikipedia]. We were in rare form." (The musicians gather in rehearsal rooms for late night jam sessions each night.)

Dominic was typical of the "veteran player" category. He plays in a band in California (the Thunder Blooze Express), he's done the camp several times, and he enjoys playing with both the master musicians and the "newbies."

Listen to "Cracker Jack Box" by the Thunder Blooze Express | More on the band

Between practices are Q and A sessions with Tyler and Rundgren, or storytelling by Frank Knight (noted rock photographer). Hudson conducted the session with Tyler, and at one point said, "You don't know this, but when Steven goes and gives Joe Perry [guitarist for Aerosmith] a hug, he's reaching out and tuning Joe Perry's A-string."

Workshops are scheduled in the evenings. (I attended Hudson's class on songwriting -- "First, the song. The song is everything. Without a good song, you have nothing. Second, the singer. The singer has to bring the voice, the attitude. Third, the band. Every musician is replaceable.")

It's not just the campers who are getting something out of the camp. Share Ross (Vixen), who was the counselor for the youth group (ages 10-14) -- I love that the bass player for the "female Bon Jovi" was in charge of all the kids, and that that made perfect sense -- said, "The main thing is their pure joy. They are exploring music with unbridled passion."

That was what Rundgren took from the camp, too. "It's so easy to become jaded in the music business because it's a business. And the record industry is depressed and the only kind of music you ever see or hear performed is on 'American Idol.' And that doesn't have the same organic nature that rock music is supposed to have. You often forget, if you're in the music business and if you play music for a living, that other kind of enthusiasm that people have for it -- the mystique of music, the magical aspect of it, that they are new to and that you are used to. And every once in a while it's good to be reminded that for some people it's not about how well you play but that you play at all."

The campers reminded Todd of the magic of music on Saturday afternoon, when he traveled around to all the rehearsal studios to listen to each of the bands play a song, and then sign autographs and hang out for a few minutes. (One of my favorite moments was when an obvious Rundgren fan was inspired to play a ripping guitar lead. Afterward, Todd asked, "What do you do for a living?" The guy said, "Legal transcription." And Todd said, "Normally I tell people not to quit their day job, but you should consider it." Talk about living your dreams!)

Watch an interview with Todd Rundgren
Watch him jamming with the 9 Flamingos

It was the same on Friday with Tyler, except it was a little different for him, in my opinion, in that he was never able to shake his celebrity. There were camera crews following him the whole time he was there and I found that vicariously off-putting. Still, he was in small rooms with fans and they were having the time of their lives. And he was clearly having fun with them. He sang and flirted with Natalie Boudreax (a doctor in the real world) who said it was, "truly a dream come true."

And he did show up on Sunday night for the big finish: three-song sets by each band on the stage of the legendary Whiskey a Go Go. The opportunity to play that stage was enough to make me wish I could return next year as a camper myself.

Maybe the weekend was just a dream, a fantasy. But Jaffee was inspired to spontaneously invite the whole camp to his studio in Van Nuys for a party on Saturday night, so clearly he felt it, too. By the end of a long weekend, these people aren't just fans and customers, they are friends.

In fact, that gets to what I found most surprising about the camp: It was warm. It was familial. It was the rock 'n' roll family get-together, the elders of the tribe telling stories and dispensing wisdom, everyone working toward common goals. Truthfully, for this singer/songwriter, it was inspiring.

Jack Ashland is the pen name for an editor and online producer who has also been writing and performing original music since 2004. E-mail him at heymsn@microsoft.com.

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