CAMP JAM 2001 THREATENED BY WILDFIRE

CAMP JAM 2001 BREAKS ALL PREVIOUS ATTENDANCE RECORDS

Monday June 18, 2001 7:00PM

CAMP JAM 2001is a huge success with the best turn out to date. In addition to all of the "usual suspects", there were a number of first and second timers at camp this year. People flew into Phoenix and made the drive up I-17 to the camp site north of Flagstaff on FR794. The "Leroux" wildfire was not a factor and the weather was perfect in the 70's during the day and 30's to 40's at night.

Power was not a problem thanks once again to the efforts of Alf Green who provided generated power for the arsenal of amplifiers for Saturdays jam sessions. There were a number of musical contributors this year with Ted "Blind Lemon" Hansen sitting in on keyboards and vocals for the first time. Ted belted out old standards like "Come On Baby" and "She's Gone". Of course Pat Dixon provided most of the vocalizations on 50 Ft. Woman Band favorites like "Early In The Morning" and "Gumdrops & Lollipops". As usual the band paid tribute to the Neil Young with jams on "Powder Finger", "Like a Hurricane", "Ohio", and "Down By The River". In a fit of funky frenzy, Brett Brewer took off on a funked-up version of Ted Hansen's smash hit "Pus Log In the Chipper". Mark "Bootzy" Armstrong, Larry "I won dammit" Scheneman, and Blind Lemon provided the rythmatic backdrop for the wah-wah infused jam. This one was so good that it had to be repeated. One of the best moments of the electric jam sessions was Liz Esser's return to the stage in a duet with Pat on a funky version of Bob Marley's "Waiting In Vain". The crowd went wild as Liz and Pat served up smooth vocals accompanied by moments of "rip your face off" guitar jams. Other crowd pleasers like "Sunshine of you Love" and "Mustang Sally" were rendered as the sun set on a full day of electric jam in the woods.

The last jam session was concluded with the presentation of a "CAMP JAM 2001- FOREST INTERRUPTIS" t-shirt to Larry Scheneman.

Other electric jam contributors included: Rob Adams, Lisa Jensen, John Koepfer, Laurie Corles, and Richard Corles on drums & percussion; Todd Harvey on Bass; Robert "Herr Doktor" Vanden Heuvel on the electric tube fish; and David Williams on guitar.

The Forest failed to Interrupt us as camp jam progressed on Saturday night. There was quite the camp fire setting with a few acoustic numbers as the group was serenaded by Pat Dixon. Although Pat committed a foul by playing too many country influenced songs, the crowd got their money's worth. One of the bright spots of the acoustic jam was an extended version of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" during which Blind Lemon provided "an Harmonica" solo. The real crowd pleaser of the night though, was the special duet with Blind Lemon and Pete Zornio working over the traditional blues love song "Smokehouse Blues". It was an emotional time as the gripping tale of forlorn lovers unfolded in the lyrics of this number. There was not a dry eye in the camp fire crowd at the end of this one.

"Though it's been said many times and many ways.... You're An Idiot" was all Pat could sing staring in disbelief as Robert Vanden Heuvel and Joe Murray roasted miniature powdered donuts in the camp fire. In what appeared to be an alcohol induced lapse of reason, Robert and Joe were stacking donuts on a 12 foot pine branch or "jousting rod" as Robert called it, allowing the powdered sugar to caramelize. The caramelized donuts were then placed atop bottles of beer and slammed in a single gulps while choking and wheezing. Robert and Joe were competing to see who could slam the most sizzling donuts at one time. It appeared that Robert won the contest with five donuts stacked on his Blue Moon Pale Ale. This was a fine moment of comedic escapades that will live forever in the memory of all present. Although there have not been any confirmed reports it is speculated that Robert and Joe may have experienced some difficulty during the donut removal process on Sunday. As if the roasted donuts were not enough to create a "backup and power blow" effect, the camp dirt coating applied to a few of the donuts prior to slamming certainly should have done the trick.

Chalk another one up for Camp Jam with the score now at Nature 2, Camp Jam 2, next years event will decide the series and set the tone for future camp jams.

This brief account of Camp Jam 2001 is from the memory of this reporter only. Missing or misrepresented names and facts are not the fault of this reporter and are to be blamed entirely on brain cells that may have been alive at the time of the event but are now deceased... May they rest in peace.