Otis Music Camp wraps up with finale performance

For the past two weeks, the Otis Music Camp has hosted more than 60 young musicians at Mercer University’s Townsend School of Music. There, they have been learning the ins and outs of the music business, honing their skills, discovering new talents, and building friendships and partnerships reaching across boundaries of all kinds. On Friday, the fruits of their labors will be showcased at the Cox Capitol Theatre for a finale performance open to the public.

While the performances have always been open to the public, this is the first time the camp has made use of a downtown venue that is known to have housed many a favorite concert experience among Maconites. To think they will be sharing the same stage where St. Paul and the Broken Bones blew us away with a sold-out gig is sweet poetry to my ears.

The sounds these kids will make will surely live up to the memory of Otis Redding, just as the grooves of Paul Janeway and his band did in the same venue.

Janeway and Jesse Phillips (singer and bassist of St. Paul and the Broken Bones, respectively) were just two of the guests who stopped by — albeit via Skype, while they were on tour — to speak to the campers about their experiences in the music industry.

Other presenters included Lyndsay Richardson (Miss Warner Robins 2017, whose platform is mentoring through music), David Claussen (director of writer/publisher relations for BMI Atlanta), Thomas Young (once a camper himself, now working at Nashville music management company Thirty Tigers), Sophia Bastian (a singer/songwriter, whose camp experience had her changing her flight and staying on as a coach), Arron Saxe (artist manager at Jampol Artist Management), and, as a special surprise, a Skype chat from Grammy-nominated singer Andra Day, who some campers got the chance to sing with at “An Evening of Respect” last year.

The campers also visited downtown Macon’s own 100.9 The Creek radio station, where they learned about the ins and outs of the radio business. As a competition for this year’s campers, the songs they create in their groups will be judged by local and national industry professionals, and the winning songs will be put into regular rotation on The Creek itself.

All of these amazing experiences and opportunities would never be possible if it were not for the generous giving nature of the people and partners we work with. In an industry that is all too often seen as selfish and egotistical, having so many examples of artists and professionals who are just thrilled to have the opportunity to talk to and work with these young minds, I can honestly say that is not the case.

The Otis Music Camp finale performance takes place Friday at the Cox Capitol Theatre at 7 p.m. A suggested donation of $10 is welcome at the door.

This story was originally published June 14, 2017 at 8:39 AM with the headline "Otis Music Camp wraps up with finale performance."