[005] Southern Girls Rock Camp plans all-out blast for 16thmusic gathering at MTSU

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —The Southern Girls Rock Campwill celebrate its “Sweet 16” at MTSU this year.

The 16^thannual summer day camp for girls ages 10 to 17 is slated for Monday, July 23, through Saturday, July 28, in the Wright Music Hall and Saunders Fine Arts Building. 

Campers will enjoy instruction in vocals, electric bass, electric guitar, drums, songwriting and do-it-yourself arts. In addition, the girls can attend workshops on how to take care of pedals and other gear and how to achieve a stage presence, as well as a new workshop on music video production.

“We’re just so excited about providing this service for the community for 16 years, and we’re grateful to MTSU and Rutherford County for their support,” said Jess Hawthorne, outreach director of the camp’s parent nonprofit organization, Youth Empowerment through Arts and Humanities, or YEAH!

YEAH! seeks “to provide a safe learning environment for teens that will empower them not only in the arts, but in life skills, volunteerism and community service,” according to www.yeahrocks.org.

For the “Sweet 16” commemoration, five remarkable bands, all but one Nashville-based, will entertain and interact with the campers. They are:

• Lemondrop Motel, a five-person combo with a self-professed feminist bent; 
• Friendship Commanders, a self-described “melodic punk/hard core/sludge duo … committed to making work that promotes conversation around tolerance, equality, communication and human rights”;
• Group Nap, a “indie-funk-jam band” that performs “sweet-sounding singy songs”;
• Nuclear Bubble Wrap, a “psychedelic/alternative rock band” known for “lush, multi-layered psychedelic arrangements”;
• Lemuria, an indie rock band created in 2004 in Buffalo, New York, which professes to “avoid being pigeon-holed at all costs,” but is influenced by punk, emo and power pop genres.

Lemuria is slated to perform from noon to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 24, in Hinton Hall in the Wright Music Building on campus. Tickets for the public for a $10 donation are limited. To reserve a will-call ticket, send an email to Hawthorne at office@yeahrocks.org.

After a week of collaborative practice, the campers’ bands will rock the house in a showcase concert at 4 p.m. Saturday, July 28, in Wright Music Building’s Hinton Hall. Doors will open at 3 p.m. Entrance fees are $12 per person with kids 10 and under admitted free. Proceeds will go to the YEAH! Scholarship Fund.

Tuition is $320 per camper. Scholarships are limited, but available, by applying athttps://tinyurl.com/y9wc7jsc.

A printable campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap. Off-campus visitors attending daytime events should obtain a special one-day permit from MTSU’s Office of Parking and Transportation at http://www.mtsu.edu/parking/visit.php.

For more information, or to volunteer for band managing or other guidance positions, contact Hawthorne at 407-280-6729 or office@yeahrocks.orgor go to www.yeahrocks.org.