I am just back from my second year attending the American Banjo Camp up at Fort Flagler State Park in Puget Sound, Washington. What a beautiful spot and a wonderful group of musicians!

Fort Flagler is an old army fort sitting atop a knoll on the northern end of Marrowstone Island, just across the canal from Port Townsend. It’s a wide-open space, surrounded by water – the perfect setting for a music camp.

ABC is a 3-day camp taught by professional musicians from around the country. On Friday and Saturday nights, the instructors perform on stage for the rest of the camp – sometimes they play solo pieces, as seen here by Joe Newberry (an awesome teacher, by the way).

Sometimes as a group, as seen here from left to right: Peter Langston (one of the camp’s organizers), Joe Newberry, Adam Hurt, and Riley Baugus. (all amazing teachers with very different styles)

For the grand finale, they all play a song together. It’s a special treat.

During the day, we got to pick from a variety of classes at varying levels. Classes are held in the Fort’s funky old buildings and cabins.

There’s not enough time in the day to play as much of these tunes as I’d like. What a great problem to have!