2023 Camp Jam

Jamming, camping, picking, music, friends, and good times!

Admission is FREE!

Campers will need to pay normal Camp Ben camping fees.

Bring your instruments, jamming chairs, and anything else you need to have a great time with your friends over the weekend.

All are welcome! Musicians and friends!

Organized Jams

We'll have a few organized jams with volunteer hosts. All organized jams will be held in the main pavilion.

Saturday

• 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM: Slow/Beginner Old Time Jam with Marynell & Gene Young and Janita & Lee Thomas
• 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM: Old Time Jam with Tim Wooten
• 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM: Bluegrass Jam with Tom Duplissey
• 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM: Cajun Jam with Matt Rogers, Ken Picou, and Kirk Walker

Sunday

• 11:00 AM | Bluegrass Jam (normally at Suds Monkey) with Shane Orr Canceled due to cold morning weather, but pickers are welcome to gather and jam ad-hoc

Sign-Up Stage

We’re trying something new for this year's Camp Jam – a Sign-Up Stage!

After the last organized jam has finished on Saturday afternoon, we’ll have a small PA set up on the stage in the pavilion, and musicians who sign up will have the opportunity to play a short set of music, twenty to twenty-five minutes in length. Put together a small band, work up some harmonies with a singing partner, whatever!

We’ll get going about 4:00 pm and will likely have time for six sets of music. More info about the sign-up process will be forthcoming; if you already know you’d like to perform at the Sign-Up Stage, send an email to gary@aftm.us and we’ll get back to you regarding available times.

Return of the Camp Jam

After the pandemic year of 2020, and the uncertainties about COVID rearing its ugly head once again, our regular 2021 Austin String Band Festival at Camp Ben McCulloch was "reimagined" into a different kind of event, without regular stage shows, merchandise, or
admission fees! The result was a casual, comfortable gathering of like minded pickers, and jamming and socializing were the order of the day!

We called it the AFTM Camp Jam and the response was so positive that we wanted to hold the event again in the spring of 2022. Alas, all the weekends in 2022 at Camp Ben had been reserved for other events, and there was no Camp Jam last year.

This year, the AFTM has reserved Camp Ben McCulloch for Saturday, March 18, 2023! As with the 2021 Camp Jam, there will be no admission charge, though Camp Ben will charge campers their usual fees.

So, mark your calendars and plan to join Austin area pickers for a weekend of music and good times in the beautiful setting of Camp Ben McCulloch in Driftwood, Texas, just outside of Austin.

 

RSVP to our Facebook Event to help get the word out!