Vinland Music Camp 2024
Vinland Music Camp’24 will take place at Lion Max Simms Memorial Camp in Bishops Falls, August 18-23, 2024.
Vinland Music Camp is a wonderful opportunity for people of all ages to improve their musical skills, write a song or two, learn some new tunes, tell some stories and do some folk dancing. It’s lots of fun and sure to be a great memory for years to come.
The principal instruments of instruction at VMC’24 will be button accordion, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, tenor banjo, tin whistle, ukulele and wooden flute – although you are welcome to bring other acoustic instruments. There will also be workshops in singing, songwriting, folk dancing, recitation and storytelling. There are different levels of instruction for some workshops, from beginners to advanced. Besides developing your performance skills, you will learn the history of the music and various approaches to interpreting it. And this year we will again be offering the popular Vinland Camp Choir and Vinland Folk Orchestra.
Special Guests
Well-known Newfoundland musician Jim Payne will be joining us as a performer and instructor this year. Jim is one of the province's most prolific songwriters, as well as a singer of traditional songs, a storyteller, writer, actor, and instructor and caller of traditional Newfoundland set and square dances. Jim will be teaching button accordion and step dancing as well performing in our evening concert series.
Jim Payne
The Dandelion Few
The St. John’s based duo The Dandelion Few – Tiffanie George (NL) and Seán Bradley (IRL) – will also be performing at Camp as well as attending some of our workshops. The pair have carved out a niche for themselves in the Newfoundland and Labrador contemporary folk music scene since 2018. Their music is as varied as it is pure, from stripped down ghost ballads depicting dark stories of island life, harmony rich introspective lullabies drawn from seasoned poetic depth, and full band arrangements that steer more towards the experimentations of late 60s golden era of folk rock. Often working in collaboration with other musicians and artists of various mediums, their performances have been described as poetic, pensive and intimate.
Instructors
Instructors at the Vinland Music Camp, collectively known as Lomond Sound, are among the most experienced and skilled in the province. This year’s instructors are: Jim Payne (accordion/stepdancing), Christina Smith (fiddle/Folk Orchestra/Nfld Tunes), Hugh Scott (songwriting), Gerry Strong (tin whistle/flute), Dave Panting (mandolin/tenor banjo), Gary Green (storytelling/recitations/harmonica), Jane Dennison (set dance), Jean Hewson (Songs of NL, Camp Choir & Folk Orchestra), Madison Mouland (guitar/Camp Choir) and Eric West (guitar/ukulele).
Program
The program includes daily workshops and evening activities. Workshops consist of instrumental and vocal techniques, songwriting, storytelling, folk dancing and group performing. There are also evening concerts, camp dances, special guest workshops, campfires and Kill the Devil Night – a fun evening of skits, songs and magical performances on Wednesday night. The final concert, featuring Camp participants and staff instructors, takes place on Thursday evening. See the Schedule below for times of all the concerts and other events.
Sheet music, lyrics, and instrument-tabs will be available for download ahead of Camp. You’re encouraged to print and bring the materials for your classes, but you don’t have to learn everything ahead of time!
Accommodations
Lion Max Simms Memorial Camp is located in Bishops Falls, about 10km from the TCH via the Bay d’Espoir Highway (Route 360). The camp offers 38 rooms and can accommodate 96 people at capacity. The fully licensed commercial kitchen and dining room are staffed with experienced cooks and kitchen staff. Designed as a camp for special needs, the location is housed under one roof and is completely accessible. See our FAQ page for more information.
Recreation
Besides folk arts instruction the Camp offers recreational activities such as yoga, lead by Rhoda Reardon. The yoga class focuses on functional movement for everyday life with an emphasis on stretching, strengthening and balance. It is designed to be fun and accessible for all levels – even if you’ve never tried yoga before, you are most welcome. Bring your own mat if you can. Lion Max Simms Camp also has a basketball court and access to a hiking trail. And, for anglers, the Camp is close to the Exploits River, a licensed salmon fishing river.
2024 Schedule
Please read the Workshop Descriptions for this year’s Camp to choose your workshops before registering. The 2024 Schedule is listed here and shown in a grid layout below. The camp will follow the usual arrangement of Sunday arrival and classes/activities from Monday to Thursday, with campers’ departure on Friday. Note that this year’s camp, as was in 2023, is five days in total, with four days of instruction.
If you have questions, please contact the Camp Director, Eric West.
sunday (August 18)
2:00-5:00pm -- Registration/check-in
5:00-6:00pm -- Supper
8:00pm -- Orientation Concert
Monday-ThursDay (August 19-22) Daily Schedule:
8:00am -- Breakfast
9:00-11:45am -- Workshops
12:00pm -- Lunch
1:00-2:45pm -- Recreation and Practice Time
3:00-4:45pm -- Workshops
5:00pm -- Supper
6:00pm -- Camp Choir
7:00pm -- Evening concerts
8:00pm -- Dancing
9:00pm -- Campfires
Special Events:
Monday (August 19)
7:00pm -- Jim Payne in concert
Tuesday (August 20)
7:00pm -- Dandelion Few in concert
Wednesday (August 21)
12:15-2:45pm -- Field trip to Singalong Dance Session
7:00pm -- “Kill the Devil” Night
Thursday (August 22)
6:00-9:00pm -- Final Concert
friday (August 23)
10:00am -- Camp ends
Click on the upper-right corner of the image below to open and download it as a PDF, or open/download it directly.
A brief history of the Camp
Vinland Music Camp was started in 2001 by Eric West after working as a musician in residence in Gros Morne National Park the previous year. With the assistance of Daniel Payne and guest instructors Shirley Montague and Gayle Tapper, the first Camp started modestly with an enrollment of eleven students. Over the years the camp has grown in size and scope to include instruction in over a dozen instruments, as well as singing, songwriting, storytelling, and folk dancing. Presently about 50 people attend each year from across Canada, the US, and other countries. The Camp now employs ten full-time instructors – some of the top professional artists in the province. Each year we also invite special guest artists to give workshops and concerts. Since 2009 Vinland Music Camp has been run by the Soundbone Traditional Arts Foundation – a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching and preserving the folk arts of Newfoundland and Labrador. More information about our organization can be found here.
