This week, we're going to the Spirit of the Swanee
Kids Music Camp to talk to the staff there about
the history of the camp, the park, and all of
the different elements that go into creating
a camp like that. Now, the Spirit of the Swanee
Kids Music Camp takes place at the Spirit of
the Swanee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida. where
the Allman Brothers held their festival for many
years, Wani Fest. There's several festivals that
have happened over the years. A lot of things
have changed in the last few years. A lot of
fests that went on for a long time did not survive
COVID, but there's been new ones coming, and
some of them did survive. And it's a beautiful
park, and there's been a lot of new development
there. I highly encourage anyone to go check
out a fest there. If they have an opportunity
to, it's a really beautiful place. But this week
we're focusing on the kids' music camp that has
been part of the festival grounds really since
its inception. Pretty much as soon as they had
the means to start putting it on, they did. And
it was always part of the goal of the camp. and
the festivals that they put on there to have
a kids' music camp. I spoke to four different
people. I'm just going to play their interviews
for you one by one. I'm not going to interrupt
each time. I'll tell you now, I spoke to Elizabeth
Frable, who has been on the podcast before, and
spoke about the kids' music camp on her episode.
I also spoke to Rob Schoen, who is... Someone
who has taught there for almost as long as Elizabeth's
been teaching there for 16 years. Rob has been
teaching there for 13 years. Then I spoke to
Melissa Glasscock, who was a student there and
is now a teacher there, whose kids also are now
students there. And then I got to sit down with
Charles Cornett, whose family owns the park.
Very nice guy. He's also the de facto park historian.
He archived all the photos and knew a lot about
the history of the park and the camp, and we
had a great conversation about that. I'd love
to talk to him again. He's a super, super interesting
guy. Without anything else to say, I'll just
break down what the camp is really quick. The
Swanee Kids Music Camp is a camp that is basically
a mini music festival. But instead of going to
see bands play, the kids all go to classes. Adults
cook meals. Adults teach the classes. They have...
jam sessions throughout the weekend as well as
the classes and then it all culminates with a
big concert on sunday where they get to play
on one of the main stages they have at the festivals
so um that's really the breakdown of the camp
it's for it's free it's uh entirely funded by
donations i've put a link in the description
of this episode if that's something you have
the ability to contribute to. I really encourage
you to do it. They do really great work over
there. Check out the Swanee Kids Music Camp and
the staff and the people behind it. Enjoy. I'm
here with Elizabeth Fravel, who's been on the
podcast before. You may remember her. And we're
out at the Swanee Kids Music Camp. And I'm just
going to let you tell everybody more about it.
Sure. Yeah, yeah. How long has it been going
on? Gosh, a long time. I came on board in 2009.
And for years I'd been coming to the Spirit of
the Swanee Music Park for festivals. And at the
time, in 2009, my kids were young. And I saw
it advertised on the website that they had this
music camp happening four times a year. So I
brought them. They were little. And I have a
music background and an education background.
Music education. Put it together. It just came
to life here for me. I walked into the first
class with my daughter and I was hooked. I was
amazed. At that time, we were having classes
down in the Spirit Hall, and you could hear music
from the mandolin class and the fiddle class,
the banjo class, the guitar class. And if you
stood in the middle, you could hear all the different
things that were happening, and it just felt
like such a joyful environment. And the kids
were having a good time. They were learning how
to play their instruments. And sometimes it was,
like, deafening, but overall, it was just amazing.
I've been coming here for festivals for... Very
long time. So the Cornett family bought this
property a couple decades ago and with the intention
of having this music park here, which over the
years they have built it out. There was the original
stage that was here back in the 70s and the 80s.
And a lot of bluegrass legends came through and
played here. And then over the years, things
expanded. The festivals expanded. The amenities
have grown tremendously. I've noticed a lot of
new development just since the last time I've
been here coming in today. So when the Cornett
family acquired this property and started having
these festivals here, Jean Cornett, the wife,
she was really committed to music education.
So they wanted to have this entertainment venue.
But alongside that, she was really committed
to making sure that there were opportunities
for kids to learn and pass on these songs and
this traditional music. Maybe not this exact
thing, but something like this was always part
of the plan for this park from the beginning?
I'm not sure exactly when it came online, but
it was always a core part of what she wanted.
And it took some time to get the festivals going.
And then as soon as there was like... extra resources
that could be given, she started putting this
into practice. And so it started with a couple
of instruments and a couple of volunteers. And
this is such an oral tradition, this kind of
music. So it naturally lends itself, but like
to have times that were specifically focused
to kids learning is what sets this apart from
a typical jam. So she started having these kids
camp weekends and the Swanee Spirit Kids Music
Camp was born. Shortly after she began, she recruited
Charlie Dame, who's still with us. He's like
our head honcho when it comes to getting things
set up. And Mark Stewart joined him shortly after
that. They're good friends. And then I came and
discovered, I was like, oh my gosh, this is wonderful.
They've been doing it for about seven years when
I came. And then a few years later, Casey Smith
joined us and she is now, she's the organizer.
She's our, we like to joke that she's our type
A and she really has done a fantastic job formalizing
our nonprofit model and really helping us to
work in partnership with a lot of the events
that happen in the park for just fundraising,
sustainability. And so it's been great. We've
grown from something that was very grassroots,
very organic to reflect what the needs are for
our students. We're a free camp. There's no cost
associated. The instructors are all volunteers.
We come here for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, three
times a year. And then there's also... an intro
at Thanksgiving weekend. So there's a fourth
weekend in there, but the kids can get instruction
on several different instruments. They can do
banjo, mandolin, violin, bass, guitar, ukulele,
harmonica, drums, and vocals. So there's nine
different classes. And from time to time, there's
also a young children's class. So if there's
one goal for the students that come for a weekend,
what would you say, what is the overall goal?
that you're trying to achieve with individual
students at this camp over the course of the
weekend? Yeah, you know, over the years, we've
had a lot of students that come over and over
again. And we're really, for all of them, because
they're all at different levels. Some of them
are just starting out and learning their first
few chords. Some of them have been taking private
lessons and are taking like the fifth class.
And so... Just instilling this joy of music and
this sense of musicality and what it means to
be a musician that listens to people around them
and elevates the quality of the music, but also
that kind of ethereal thing that we get from
playing music, which is creating community. And
so we're teaching the kids to listen to each
other, to improve their own musicianship. to
be on stage because this culminates with a concert
on Sunday. So getting used to what it feels like
to have those jitters. And Saturday night we
have a jam as well. And so everybody's on stage
in a big fun circle. So there's a really low
stakes, very loud, very informal way to get on
stage. But then on Sunday they are sitting in
a giant bluegrass orchestra and playing through
the songs that they've been working on all weekend.
And that's the same stage that gets used at a
lot of music festivals here. So they're sharing
a stage that's been used by some of the greats.
Yeah, yeah. It was really exciting. One of the
first times that we... transitioned out of our
smaller space the music hall and started using
the amphitheater stage because I was like oh
my gosh like I had just seen Susan Tedeschi and
Derek Trucks on that stage a couple months earlier
and then here we were with our students and I
was just blown away that the that all of us were
getting that opportunity to be in that space
because it is it's really special. And the students
at the school that you teach at get a similar
experience where they get to play this stage
where all these bands that come to town have
also played. Yeah, yeah. When I first moved to
Tallahassee in 2009, I came out here for this
camp probably three months later. And I'd been
coming to Suwannee for many years, but coming
out here and realizing that my passion for music
and my job teaching. could mesh was really special
personally but then as I've gone back professionally
like I inevitably talk about this camp with my
students teacher or students parents and post
online about it so I've had a ton of students
end up out here and a lot of my friends with
my daughter included yeah and you talked about
that on the last time you were on the podcast
too so I thought that was The way you highlighted
it then, I thought, was a really great way to
hear your voice again in introducing everybody
to what this camp is as I'm exploring really
behind the scenes. And if somebody wanted to
start something similar, what would they do?
Those are the kinds of questions I'm going to
be trying to get at today. Is there anything
that you've learned over the years in helping
organize it? the mistakes that you've learned
from or, and you don't have to get into the necessarily
the mistakes, but the lessons maybe you've learned
from them or just anything that learned over
the years that, that you wish you had known when
you first started. And I know that when you came
in, it was pretty established already, but you've
also been here a long time now. I feel like 10
years, probably. I've been doing this for 16
years now. And, and I just, This is one of those
places in my life that has always just been such
a wellspring of inspiration. And I really feel
recharged at the end of these weekends. Exhausted,
but so recharged. And I think that a lot of that
has to do with the mission of the camp, but also
the people that I get to work with here. They're
incredible. And I think in the beginning, I wasn't
quite sure how it all... worked because it sometimes
feels a little chaotic what are we doing how
is this going to work but everybody comes through
there because we're all volunteers the the parents
they if they see something needs to happen or
be done they come through if there's a kid that's
wandered off we someone always catches it so
there's really this this village mindset and
learning how to trust and just be at ease in
this place. There have been so many moments over
the years that have been there was one year that
that a group of foster kids came up from Sarasota
and they had never been in the cold before but
it actually snowed that weekend it was in January
and there were snow flurries and so we went outside
we took a break of course and they were out there
eating snowflakes and it was it was such a joyful
moment for all of us to be able to share that
so there's there's the music but there's also
you get to enjoy this gorgeous place and being
outside for most of the time and being in a natural
environment where the music just seems to flow
through the trees. It is just one of the most
beautiful places in the area. I think it, it
really highlights like what the beauty of this
part of the country really has to offer. Yeah.
And we're, so one of my lessons has been just
to, to trust the people that I'm working with
and the community that I'm working with. But
then also fundraising is a huge piece of this.
We're a free camp. Of course, we provide all
these instruments that require upkeep. There's
the grounds, the stage, the staff, everything
that it takes to put on a full -scale event does
take funds. And the fundraising thing has been
really important for this camp. Personally learned
a lot about nonprofits. And I'm constantly buoyed
by the fundraising that happens at all the festivals
throughout the year. LOMAF, Live Oak Music and
Arts Foundation, and just the way that a lot
of these festivals, they really put our name
out there. Hulaween is a huge one. Roots Revival
and Spring Reunion. I know Wani did back when
it was a thing. Yeah, there have been a lot of
festivals, and they've always put our name out
there. And it's just amazing to see the way that
has helped our camp sustain and grow. And then
also, there are now multi -generations of students,
former students, who are now instructors. I think
we're going to talk to one of them today. Yep,
yep, yep. And music educators. So there's a lot
of people that have gone on to make the arts
education their careers because of the experiences
that they had here. If there's one thing you
could give as advice to somebody that might be
looking to start something like this in their
area, what would it be? I would say build your
team. Build a really good core group. maybe four
or five people that have similar goals similar
values and then within that start pooling your
resources and you'll be amazed because everybody
that I've ever worked with here is totally vested
in children's education music education specifically
it's an easy sell because people understand how
important it is for children to have experiences
positive experiences in the arts and and but
once you start building your network your community
and you put it out there we need some guitars
donated we need some strings donated then you're
building that and it just snowballs once you
get to a certain point you can say We've fundraised
this amount of money. Now we're asking for a
sponsorship. And so you can prove that your organization
is viable. It's carrying on. We've got our 503B
tax filings in order. We've got all these things
formalized. And then you can start to ask for
sponsorships. And we've been so fortunate over
the years. Different companies have sponsored
us. Gold Tone donated a ton of, and I'm going
to start forgetting if I start naming, but I'm
going to do it anyway. Gold Tone donated a bunch
of banjos. We got a bunch of Kala ukuleles donated
for a while. Elixir Strings gave us a whole bunch
of strings for a while. Ben Owens Music in Valdosta.
It's like, as the mom and pops, they have fixed
so many instruments for us over the years. Debra
Amesqua from Agua. Mandolins over in Tallahassee
has done a ton of instrument repair and teaching
us instructors how to repair instruments. Of
course, the Cornett family donating this space
for decades now. We're just really fortunate
to have the backing of so many. Oh, Krispy Kreme
has, the Tallahassee Krispy Kreme has brought.
countless donuts to the rescue for those early
morning shifts so we've had a lot of really great
partnerships that have gotten us to where we
are now and sustained us through the lean years
speaking of resources and donations there's a
link if you want to contribute to this camp in
the description of this episode and is there
anything else you'd like to share with everybody
before we Before we let you get back to teaching
the kids. Thanks for listening. Thanks for supporting
this mission by giving this podcast a listen
and a like. And thanks for supporting the children
in your lives because there's nothing more important
than the lessons and the love and the opportunities
that we can give to children. Thanks, Elizabeth.
It's always great to have you on here. Thanks.
All right, I'm here with Rob Schoen, who has
been teaching here for over a decade, and you
said 13 years? Yeah, 12 or 13. And your kids
have gone here over the years. Anyway, can you
talk, just to start with, a little bit about
what this place means to you, what the camp has
done for both your community, it seems like it's
been a big part of your family, but also... Big
part of your music life, too. So if you can maybe
just talk about that. Yeah, it is. I'm not exactly
sure where to start. It's definitely been a big
part. This place has been a big part of my family
and my children's childhood, I'd say. It will,
I'm sure, be the cornerstone of their memory
of childhood at this point. We've been coming
here, my wife and I, for 20 years or more to
go to music festivals. Yeah, yeah. And then when
our friend Elizabeth invited us to come to Kids
Music Camp and invited me to help teach, I think
the first time I taught was the guitar class,
and then drifted into mandolin, which is my main
instrument. And I've been teaching the mandolin
class for 10 or 12 years, pretty much. more or
less every camp. Yeah. And so that's been really
fun to help kids. Generally, it's geared towards
getting kids started. In fact, my children now
have become fairly accomplished on their instruments,
and they're ready to move into something more
advanced. But what we're working on is that thing
is helping the next kids who are just getting
started. to learn now do you are you a teacher
outside of this as well or i am okay uh but not
music no i don't teach music okay outside of
this other than just with friends right socially
right so what about teaching music specifically
do you think you get a spark out of that's different
from just teaching whatever it is you're teaching
in the classroom i teach math and i teach research
methods and how to study how people learn math
in my professional life. Teaching music is fun.
I mean, a lot of it's the same, but I'd say there's
a lot more frequent opportunities for joy, and
I feel like my job is to help facilitate joy.
In fact, I think that's what this camp really
does, is facilitate joy. And sure, there's the
technical aspect of teaching music, but... I
think for the children who attend and also their
parents or their grown -ups, especially when
they get to see them on the Sunday afternoon
performance. That's a pretty joyful thing. But
I really enjoy helping kids. Kids are generally
open and interested in learning. They seem to
have fewer hang -ups than adults. They're willing
to just try and make noise. There's all these
little steps in between where when you get something
to sound like you want it to sound, or you get
in sync with rhythm with everybody else, you
get this little spark of joy from that. And it's
an individual thing. Individuals can enjoy that,
but it's also, as a group, we can all enjoy that
and celebrate that when it happens. That's the
fun stuff. What have you learned over the years
that you would tell somebody that might be trying
to start a camp similar to this in their own
area or in their own community? I think the approach,
it's really important to approach it to celebrate
the positive, celebrate what someone can do or
what they did just do and don't expect things
to, don't expect the students or the learners
to do it the way you, don't have too rigid of
an idea of how you think it's supposed to be.
This needs to be open to interpretation and everybody's
on their own path, their own journey. And it
all comes together in the end. Everybody gets
joy out of a different aspect of it and they're
at a different place. And just be open to that.
And I think that leads nicely into this question.
If you have one goal for your students over the
course of the weekend, what would you say that?
Maybe as broad of a goal as you can that kind
of applies to all of them. Because they're all
going to have individual kind of benchmarks that
they're going to try and achieve musically. But
if you had one goal for them over the course
of the weekend, what would you say that is? I
think feel good about their playing. I don't
care where they end up as far as a technical
prowess, really. Make them want to do it more.
Yeah, make sure that they feel good about it
and a little bit hungry to do something a little
better or a little different beyond that. simultaneously
the goal feel good about what you've accomplished
what you can do and then also feel a little hungry
to do a little more so what have you learned
from your students over the years teaching this
oh as a musician oh my gosh one of the things
is taking these tunes that are like well known
in my head and going back and thinking about
them like the simple core element of the tune
and where is that and then also thinking about
different ways to participate in the music that's
being played sometimes really i've teach the
mental and it takes a fair amount of strength
to press the the strings and i've learned that
some of the youngest children the five and six
-year -olds just don't have the hand strength
to do it and i used to until recently recommend
against having the youngest children in the class
because a lot sometimes it turns to crying because
they can't get the same kind of sound that some
of the older kids are getting yeah but i've come
to learn that there's this really important thing
with mandolin where of just simply muting the
strings and chopping that that real steady chop
and rhythm and you don't need to the younger
kids can do that great actually and professionals
do that too and that's actually the most The
important aspect of playing in a group of people
is having steady, consistent rhythm and also
staying in your lane and not making the sound
muddy. And that muted chop is the perfect thing
on the mandolin. So we work on that, and even
the youngest kids can get that almost right away.
It's really fun. That's awesome. They can really
contribute and participate fully. And create
a sound that you weren't necessarily getting
before. Yeah, when you're trying to strum the
chords, there's a lot to coordinate and the quality
of the tone can get compromised. But if you just
focus on that rhythm, all the notes are negotiable
when you're playing music, but really the rhythm
needs to be solid. And that's where now in recent
camps, that's where we really focus. Is there
anything else that you really want to share with
people about? this camp and what it's meant to
you over the years one thing i think that i heard
a man named seth who's the executive director
at augusta heritage center in west virginia that
i'll kind of say that i think he's really right
is To have the highest level of music, whether
it's chamber music or big band or rock and roll
or commercial music or jazz or whatever it is,
you really need to have a really solid base of
folk music or everybody playing music. Music
is not supposed to be a spectator sport. It's
one of the most human things there is that exists
in every human culture. And really it should
be a participatory thing. And you can't have
the geniuses rise without a really solid base
of people who play the folk music or the things
like that. You don't get Mozart without a solid
base of Austrian folk music you don't get Bach
without a really large pool of German folk music
being played and then some of that genius can
bubble up to the top and be lasting but that
even goes for commercial music as well and the
business side of things when you have a really
large pool of people who just play as a part
of their everyday life and participation and
interaction with each other. That on itself is
extremely satisfying and really human connection.
But then sometimes what bubbles up from that
are these really amazing geniuses that push things
forward in music or the business of music or
whatever it may be. Rob, thank you for your time.
I really appreciate you sitting down. I know
you've got a class to teach here in a few. Thanks
a lot for sitting down with us. Appreciate you.
Happy to talk about it. I'm here with Melissa
Glasscock, who is someone who started here as
a student. Yes. I was probably seven when I started
coming to music camp. And now your kid's coming.
And you teach here? Yes. So I teach the ukulele
class. And my kids have been coming since they
were infants, helping alongside me. And now they
take classes. So they're the first second generation
kids to come to music camp. Wow. Let's start
with your experiences as a kid. What did you
really remember? What do you really remember
as a kid about this? And how do you think it
helped shape who you are now? So I grew up coming
to the festivals here first, and then my dad
was invited to help out with the mandolin class.
So he brought me along with him because I was
this little shadow growing up. So I came and
I took the guitar class because I wanted to be
just like my daddy because my dad plays guitar.
So I came and I didn't know a single thing what
I was doing. There's this picture of me with
my like. face at the concert my first year because
i didn't know what i was doing at all which is
really hysterical because i still make that face
whenever i mess up but yeah i mean it's when
i was seven years old that was my first year
and and it was pretty small back then it really
was we had it in the grand hall which is down
there by the river And it was very small. And
then it got bigger and bigger every year. And
now about how many kids sign up each time? Between
90 and 150 kids. And what's the cap? Do you know?
I don't know. Yeah, I think it's around 160 or
150. It changes depending on what teachers we
have in each class. Right, right. And sometimes
the cap for my class changes depending on the
necessities of what we have going on. Gotcha.
So what was it like the first time you brought
your kids here as someone who had been coming
here as your whole life, essentially? This is
like their second home. They don't like to me,
this is like a sacred place because I've come
here. I've come to this park since I was four
years old. Wow. And so one of the first concerts
I ever saw was here. Yeah. Yeah. So I can't even
think of the first time I brought my son, who's
now eight. The first time I brought him, he was
five months old, maybe. And which instrument
did he play that weekend? Yeah. So that was,
he just came and was with me. And then my daughter
was like two weeks old the first time I brought
her here. I've been pregnant with both of the
kids. teaching classes. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like
it's definitely formed them into loving music
and loving all forms of music. What, what do
you think of this place impacted your music taste
growing up? I, so growing up, my music taste
was all over the place because I would come to
Springfest and Magfest here and That's mostly
bluegrass music. And nobody in my elementary
school knew bluegrass music, so I was looked
at as the weird kid. I'm still looked at as the
weird kid, but that's fine. Oh, it definitely
shaped it in some very strange ways because people
did not know what the heck I was talking about
with some of the music I listened to. Was there
ever a time where you rebelled against some of
the bluegrass? Oh, yeah. What did that look like?
What were you listening to then? Oh. Okay. So
2000s emo music, which is still, I still love
it. Yes. And like metal music. Yeah. Still do
that. But my heart is still with the bluegrass
always will be. And I think that goes back to
something that Rob was just talking about, where
it's, if you have this foundation of just loving
like music that is for everybody. Yeah. You can
go beyond that and other genres, but having that
foundation is really important. Yeah, and you
can find the heart in every genre. And it doesn't
matter what the genre is. As long as it's true
music, as long as the heart and soul is there,
it doesn't really matter what the genre is, what
type of music it is. I like to say there's two
kinds of music, good music and bad music. Yeah.
And usually the bad music is just music that
doesn't make me feel anything. Even music I hate,
at least it made me feel something. At least
there's something, exactly. It might just not
be my jam, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Now,
music that just doesn't have any heart and soul
to it, I would say that's bad music. Yeah, yeah.
So, over the years... You've had a lot of different
kind of perspectives on this camp as a student,
as a parent, as a teacher. For somebody that
might be looking to try and start a camp like
this of their own in their area or in their community,
what are some of the things that you've learned
or that you've seen the camp learn or seen change
over the years that you maybe wish you had learned
earlier or would have helped things go smoother
sooner or something like that? Honestly, looking
at everything as a family. Now, for the longest
time, it was like there was a process to everything.
And we got so caught up in what came next. But
now we view everything as family. When you come
into this camp and you're a new person, we immediately,
we're like, welcome to the family. Because you
probably won't leave now. But that's how it is.
And I wish that I had at least looked at it like
that when I started teaching. Because I was worried
about my kids leaving my class and going to a
different class. But that's the point. And now
I see that and I'm like, no, I want you to go
to the guitar class or to the bass class. Because
you're just going to get better and you're going
to learn more stuff. You're going to find out
what your niche is. What is, if you have one
goal for your students, because they're all going
to have like different benchmark goals that they're
trying to reach. But if you have one goal for
your students over the course of the weekend,
what is that? So in my class, I have one rule
to have fun. And a lot of little kids usually
take my class because it's little. And so they
view it as an easy instrument. And don't get
me wrong, it is. But for a five -year -old, it's
going to be hard. So what I always tell my little
ones that come in and they're so afraid about
not getting the chords right or their fingers
hurting and they get frustrated, have fun. I
don't want you to be stressed out about getting
those fingers right because next year when you
come back, they usually come to me and they're
like, guess what, Miss Melissa? I can do these
chords now. I can change chords. And usually
they're doing better than me because they've
gone home and they've practiced. But because
I didn't force them to over the weekend, I gave
them encouragement. Sometimes I'll stay with
them after class if they want me to. But I always
tell them, hey, you can chuck. If you are uncomfortable,
especially if you're on that stage, mute those
strings if you're uncomfortable. Smile. Because
I don't want you to have a bad time. Yeah. That's
my main goal is for them to have a good time
and enjoy music. If there's one other thing.
or three other things, whatever that you want
to share about this camp with people, what are
they? That music in children's lives is so important.
Whether they've never picked up an instrument
before in their life or if they are around musical
instruments all the time, it's so important to
just get them introduced to music because I've
seen both ends of the spectrum. I had this little
boy that came in and he loves listening to music,
but he'd never touched a musical instrument.
His mom didn't know anything about music, but
she brought him. He is one of my favorite students
and he has blossomed into a wonderful student.
So just that introduction into music is the most
important part for me. So one question that I
ask every musician that I've had on here, except
I did not ask Rob, but I wasn't really, the conversation
didn't really go there. What's the first song
that you remember loving as a kid? When I was,
I, my name, Melissa was my favorite song growing
up because it was the song my daddy would play
me when I was a baby to put me to sleep. So that's
the first song that pops in my head, but truly.
It's so funny because we're doing it this weekend.
It's in the songbook. The first song I remember
my daddy putting a CD in his truck when I was
a kid and I would ask him to play it over and
over again was Bury Me Beneath the Willow. Old
bluegrass tune. Classic bluegrass tune. That
was the first song I could remember asking him
to put on over and over again. Well, Melissa,
thanks for sitting down with us for a few minutes.
Is there anything else that you want to share
before we? All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate
you sitting down. Thank you. Thanks. I'm here
with Charles Cornett. I'm the youngest son of
Bob and Jean Cornett, six sons. And Bob and Jean,
my parents started this place in the 80s. And
it was a spinoff from. They're a very successful
bluegrass festival in Kentucky called the Festival
of Bluegrass, and they were a full -time home
for music festivals. So they moved down here,
put everything into this. I ultimately got my
day job with the government over in the Jacksonville
area. So I've been involved from the beginning
on things going on here, but as my parents aged,
my brother James Cornett came down from Kentucky.
I took over operation of the park, and since
their passing, he's been the owner and CEO of
the place. I'm a professional volunteer. When
they need me to do something over here, we'll
do it. But I've become a park historian because
I have the job of archiving all the photos and
videos of the history here in our family history.
In this camp, Was your mom Jean's kind of her
passion project? It was. I tried to find it on
the way in. A long time ago friend of mom and
dad's made mom one of these giant goopy hats.
Actually, dad wore it. It said, Jean Cornett,
mother of bluegrass festivals. And that was my
dad's slogan because he learned, dad was an idea
person. He was an inspirer. Mom was the one that
had to get the rubber on the road. And learning
to do bluegrass festivals effectively was, in
his opinion, like giving birth. So this is why
this hat needed to be around. And that's true
of the music festival that started in Kentucky
in the 70s and then coming down here in the 80s.
And it was a long slog to make this place successful.
The kids' music camps evolved from that because
as they looked around at their aging audience,
the original people that jumped on their ship,
they could see that the family connection, the
connection between the children and the adults,
was not as strong as it used to be. And Dad had
a concept called the Wise Village. He got inspired
by some educational action in eastern Kentucky.
Having adults teach the children about their
various skills, music being one of them, and
music became one of the really popular choices.
And from that came the Wise Village Pickers,
who would perform at our festivals, and then
they would have a mini -camp ahead of it to get
rehearsed up to play at the festivals. That led
into... the children that weren't part of the
Wise Village Pickers becoming part of the event
as well. So we did a little digging, and it's
not a whole lot of historic data on this, but
we think about 1988 was their first semblance
of a music camp. And from that point on... Pretty
much every festival that mom and dad produced,
there was a kids camp component. And then our
camps here evolved from that was quite limited
to festivals. And we've had multiple iterations
of leadership over the years, but it's been a
staple. And one of the reasons by not having
it tied to a festival is we have a lot more facilities.
to offer to the camps and larger groups. Those
early ones, Miss Becky told me her first one,
she had 80 kids, got overwhelmed. 40 is more
typical in that style at festivals. Here we're
doing typically 120, I believe, is the number.
But it all goes back to that yearning to keep
the kids and adults connecting on. on artistic
measures, on learning inspiration, not necessarily
in a classroom, but that connection we all feel
around the campfire at a festival and the kids
come up and join in and that sort of thing. It
means a lot to them and sticks with them forever.
What are some of the lessons that you think you've
learned over the years seeing them? seeing this
camp happen especially things that you maybe
wish you had known earlier or if you were talking
to somebody that was maybe trying to start their
own type of camp in their area or their community
that's a call we actually get fairly frequently
yeah this how those things work and i literally
talked to a lady on my way over here that was
part of those very early ones. And even though
our festival in Kentucky doesn't happen anymore,
they are still doing the camps because they are
the most important part of the festivals. I think
lessons I've learned is, A, volunteerism is absolutely
critical. I would love to produce music camps,
but I'm a total hack musician. Same. That's why
I'm talking to the musicians. And you need people
that have that, not necessarily like a certificated
teacher skill set, but the skill set to help.
We're getting kids over the first hump. We're
wanting them to walk away feeling a success of
having learned a song or two. Something they
can take home and show their grandparents or
their big brother. That connection doesn't work
without the right people helping. And I don't
know how many volunteers there are this weekend,
but probably 30 plus when you count everything.
And it doesn't function without them. And there's
things that people wouldn't even think about,
whether it's the registration or the food. Yeah.
In a lot of ways, it's a festival. So we have
some skill sets in that regard. We know that
you can't just throw up a stage. People need
a place to use the restroom. They need meals.
They need to know when things are going to stop
and when they're going to start. You've got to
at least think about security, all those things.
And the team currently running this camp, it's
effectively turnkey with regard to the park.
They don't ask much. the park other than to use
the facilities. And I think that's an important
component. You're making yourselves part of the
value of the place. It's more of a contribution
instead of what you can take. What can we give
back? And it's a multi -way street and only functions
with that. But I, aside from bringing my grandkids
from time to time, I don't worry about that.
camp it's right yeah these folks work hard to
to make it easy for us and as someone who's been
here for a lot of music festivals and for a lot
of kids music camps it's a lot it's easy to fall
in love with this place oh yeah it's a lot easier
to fall in love with this place when it's not
packed oh yeah rim to the brim with people yeah
when you get to really enjoy the scenery uh when
you get to see the full grounds too because there's
a lot of the places here like you mentioned when
during a festival aren't even accessible to the
public or their VIP or something like that. It
seems so daunting. And Swanee Hulene, for example,
there are people that are camping, maybe not
over a mile, but about a mile from the stages,
which is everywhere. And you come out on a peaceful
night. And I went and watched the bats fly the
other night by myself. There was nobody else
there. And that's the kind of things you encounter,
the wildlife you encounter when it's quieter.
And on the really special side, you're out scooting
around on your golf cart or taking a hike, and
you run across the two kids with their instruments
practicing under a tree somewhere. And you feel
like you just hit a grand slam. That's the money
ball, is watching them succeed. You mentioned
passing inside, but you asked about Broadview.
Seeing kids that literally started here in kids
camp, beginning a musical career, some of them
successfully. Now, there's been the thing, Lexington,
Kentucky's been going on longer. There are long
-term professionals that... Came to our camp
was one of the first organized things they did
with regard to their music. And that makes you
feel great. And then you see the kids that were
in camp with them getting inspired because they
have found some success. And I don't mean financial
success. The adulation of getting up on stage
and getting there. And one of ours, one of our
own young man from Thomasville, I think he's
22 now. He's off in Colorado starting a profession.
He's been there about a year and starting a professional
music career and doing very well. I've got video
of he and I jamming around the fire singing Johnny
Cash when he was 12. Now, the Spirit of the Suwannee
Music Park is open year round. It's not just
open for festivals. Y 'all have live music. If
you want to tell people about some of that that
you have going on. Sure. Of course, we've been
here 40 years now, 40 years this year. And we
have multiple festivals, typically nine or ten
major festivals a year, ranging in attendance
from, say, 4 ,000 up to 30 ,000. And the nice
thing about that, you can pick and choose what
you're... crowd size is within that a lot of
roots music a lot of it is absolutely steeped
in in what the kids learn here and then every
weekend generally friday and saturday night we'll
have a live band in the in the music hall and
also on thursdays is a karaoke in some form one
of the most popular is our elvis impersonator
oh yeah that is really good and he's got a bunch
of i'd call them semi -pro karaoke singers come
in as well cool and there's smaller festivals
um gatherings we have all sorts of family reunions
and car shows and that sort of thing it's a big
place we're roughly a thousand acres and there's
thousands of campsites so much of the year there's
lots and lots of room and even A typical weekend,
you can still go find that solitude spot along
the river. We've got a mile of Swanee River out
there. And you can canoe and kayak and all that.
So you can always find the peace and quiet except
the really big ones. Yeah, for sure. For sure.
Yeah. Not every weekend is Wani Fest. Right.
What's your favorite show? Over the years? Yeah.
I think 2007 Wani Fest may have been it for me.
There was a widespread panic set that it started
raining during. That was just absolutely magical.
George Clinton was there, but he wasn't playing.
But I was wearing a Funkadelic t -shirt. And
I'm actually going to be having Danny Bedrosian
from Parliament Funkadelic on in a few weeks
here. He's got a new book coming out. But I'm
wearing my Funkadelic shirt, and George walks
up to me and he goes, Nice shirt, kid. Is it
licensed? But yeah, no. Derek Truck's band played
that weekend. It certainly wasn't the last year,
but it was one of the last years that WaniFest
happened. I came with my aunt. From top to bottom,
whether it was music, the weather was nice, or
the company with my family and my aunt. All of
it was wonderful. I don't know how old you are,
but you had to have been fairly young then, I
would guess. My 20s. Yeah, I was old enough to
have fun. And now that I'm thinking about it,
it may have been a little bit later than 2007.
2007, I was definitely here. I'm thinking maybe
it was 2010. 18 years ago. Yeah. All the time.
It's mind -blowing to me we've been here 40 years.
My first concert was here. Yeah. Yeah. A lot
of people. I saw Merle Haggard here when I was
like seven years old. That's a great one. Yeah.
Leanne Rimes too. Leanne was like her. It was
her first year. Yeah. It's like her second really
big festival. Yeah. That was my teenage crush
was Leanne Rimes. Bill Monroe was on that same
show. Yeah. Did you see Bill Monroe? Yeah. I
sure did. Sure did. I have a poster for that
one. Yeah, the Suwannee River Jam, I think it
was. Suwannee River Jam was our country music
festival that we held for, wow, I can't remember,
close to 30 years. And it was a victim to COVID.
Yeah. Didn't survive it. It was pretty easy to
feel bleak about the music business right then,
but we found quickly that the number one thing
is that everybody wanted to play. everybody wanted
to go and ultimately we started figuring out
the science a little better but the the talent
the people we had calling saying please put something
together yeah we did we did a golf cart country
festival where you had to arrive in your golf
cart and all the spacing and all that and some
of that kind of seems silly looking back but
That's what the moment called for. I went to
Shoals Fest in 2021, and they still had a lot
of precautions. That's Jason Isbell's Fest up
in Muscle Shoals. It was in that in -between
time where some of it was starting to feel maybe
a little silly, but we were also like, this is
what we've got to do to get it done and to make
it happen and to make everybody feel safe. There
were some bands that wouldn't tour unless they
wouldn't play a place that didn't require vaccinations.
Sure. It complicated things across the board.
Oh, it was enormously. And then on the artist
side, which you described that they had the vaccine
requirements, some of them, and that was totally
fluid as well. But their biggest problem was
they're putting this team of people, and depending
on how big the act was, the bigger the team.
loading them into buses together and bringing
them to a show. And all it takes is for one of
them to test positive, not to get sick, but to
test positive, to bring everything to a screeching
halt. Now everybody's got to go back home and
there's bills flying all over the place, shows
getting canceled and so on. It's extremely complex.
A lot of moving parts that just didn't exist
before. Yeah, it was a very crazy time. It was
interesting. The bigger the act, the bigger the
problems. So it opened a door for more Roots
acts. People that live together all the time,
family band, were suddenly doing very well. One
of my favorites is a group out of Branson called
the Petersons. And they're just a simple family
that took up playing bluegrass together. But
they've got a huge following on YouTube now.
Much of that was built around the COVID era.
People, we were so yearning music, the family
connections. Here we can watch it on TV. And
I think a lot of people stayed connected to artists
through COVID and actually ended up feeling like
they had this kind of a closer connection to
them by the end of it because they were watching
these live streams instead of seeing them on
these giant stages. Anyway. I feel like we could
talk all day, Charles. We can. Well, and I think
it's important to recognize with regard to the
kids' music camps here, we've talked about how
important the team is. But the leadership, I
go back to my father. Dad was not a detail guy
at all. He was an inspirer. And he would inspire
my mom to take on these projects. They raised
six sons, so they're pretty good at juggling
the mob, or at least mom was. And right now we've
got the amazing Casey Smith as our camp director.
And I'm not sure where the titles land. I think
Charlie Dame still holds the title as well. Perfect
example. Charlie's kind of the inspiration. Casey's
the rubber meeting the road and getting all the
pieces in place. And I know Charlie plays, but
I don't think Casey plays note. But she invests
a significant chunk of her life into making these
work. And it just tells you, you don't have to
be a player to be a part of this. There's people
to be fed. instruments to be cleaned and adjusted
and put away after every festival. There's trash
cleanup, folding chairs. There's always something
you can do. There's registration. There's all
kinds of things. And a lot of people want to
know financially how they can help because it's
important to note these are free. The families
are not charged to have their kids in these camps.
For the most part, everybody involved is unpaid.
So the financial help is a big part of it. And
we do have a link to that. I hope so. Put it
on the screen now. I believe it's semc .org,
I think is correct. Swanee Spirit Kids Music
Camps. Anyway, you'll have the link up there.
For sure. And some of the, we've got long -term
donors that just make it. a regular thing. And
then I, for those that want to dip their toe
in the water Sunday, I assume it's at two o 'clock
is the typical time for the performance. And
anybody's welcome to come in and watch the kids
play that show off what they've learned takes
about an hour. And there's a raffle there that
always has some very cool items for you to buy
a raffle ticket on and contribute to the camp
that way. So it's. And there's always instruments
that are needed. It's one of my favorites. I
can't stop shopping for instruments on Facebook
Marketplace. But I see people that have things
on there that have been sitting there a while.
And I'll send them a note and say, no, you can
donate that to a worthy cause. And I know that
at least sometimes they can't when they recognize
the kid that's got a particular promise. doesn't
have the means to afford an instrument they'll
find a way to have one of the because all the
instruments we have are donated and maybe find
a way for one of those to end up in the kids
and that's the other thing that should be noted
i don't think that we've mentioned yet is kids
don't even need to bring their own instrument
they the instruments are typically provided yeah
at least as much as there's supply for those
that have instruments are welcome and encouraged
to bring them though though if mom and dad would
would make sure they've got strings on them if
they don't if you don't know how to tune it don't
worry about it but a fresh set of strings is
good and but but they have plenty of functional
instruments here yeah yeah and it's hard to especially
when a kid is trying to pick an instrument you're
not going and buying every instrument that they
want to try right so this is a great opportunity
for Yeah. For that as well. Yeah, and the kids,
of course, they pick an instrument going in,
not something that needs to happen all the time,
but if it just isn't working on day one, most
of the time they can find a way of swapping you
into a different class. Sure. And help you get
a leg up. And then somewhat all ages, I think
5 to 15 is the guideline. And then a lot of the
kids that get to 15, their time to graduate and
come to camp, they come back as instructors.
We talked to Melissa earlier. Melissa's a perfect
example. Is there anything else that you think
people should know about this camp before we
call it a day? Of course, help them spread the
word and recognize that getting in the age of
video games and social media and TikTok and all
that, human connections are getting harder and
harder to find. And this is a beautiful example
of a way to keep that going. So do what you can,
whether it's our camps or others, do what you
can to foster those engagements because it's
a very critical part of who we are. As someone
who brought my daughter here, it's some of my
best memories of being a dad. Yeah, that's mine
too. And my grandchildren, we've got nine grandkids.
Oh man. I'll let you up. I'll let you get back
to it. Thank you for your time, Charles. I appreciate
it, man. Glad to be part of it. That's the spirit
of the Swanee Kids Music Camp. There's a place
to donate in the description of this episode.
I highly encourage you to do that. This camp,
I think, is pretty unique in the sense that the
park built it. into the business plan to be part
of what they were going to do from the beginning.
And as soon as they had the resources available,
they started doing it. And it's been going for
almost 40 years now. Really great conversations
there. I really enjoyed talking to everybody.
Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week.
I noticed I've got a lot more listeners than
subscribers too. So hit that subscribe button.
So then you'll find out every time I release
a new episode. Have a good week, y 'all.