Christian made it up

From the Ct Post:2008



Camp Jam a new spin on band practice
TONY SPINELLI



From left; Jessi Sacco, 12 of West Haven, Kevin Wandelear, 12 of Milford, Harrison Watters, 13 of Easton, and Chris Gladitsch, 13 of Westport, rock out during their Camp Jam band rehearsal at Fairfield University's Quick Center on Thursday. (Brian A. Pounds/Staff photographer )


FAIRFIELD � Liberty DeVitto bent over to sign the white plastic pickguard of a Fender Stratocaster guitar that a 12-year-old boy held out.

The signature was big and fanciful; DeVitto, after all, had a lot of practice signing autographs as pop superstar Billy Joel's drummer for 30 years.

"I started playing drums when I was 13, the same age as the kids at these camps," said DeVitto, 58, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who gave a master class in rock drumming Thursday at Camp Jam, a summer camp for aspiring young rockers, at Fairfield University.

DeVitto described himself as having been a boy with thick glasses who wanted to meet girls, and � after having seen the Beatles on "Ed Sullivan" in 1964 � knew that rock n' roll would be the answer.

"It's fun to see the reaction of these kids when they see you play and realize it's not brain surgery. Just play music: Just make music," DeVitto said.

And don't forget to connect emotionally. It is like being an actor, he told 120 youngsters gathered in the Quick Center at the university.

"You have to become emotionally involved in the song; what the song is about," DeVitto said.

The youngsters' parents' paid $599 to enroll them in the rock n' roll camp for a week. Many of them had never played with anyone else, said camp director Grant Ossendryver of Danbury.

"The kids are playing with other kids for the very first time and it is such a beautiful theater. So they are really performing with lights and arena sound
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and audio, the best-case scenario you could have. It's a great learning experience," he said.

Will Scharnberg, of Norfolk, and Aaron Burleson, of Glastonbury, both 11, said they had been playing guitars since they were each 7. But they had never played with other kids in a band until Camp Jam. Their band: "Schwarzenegger and the Terminators."

"It's great to play with a band. There's nobody in my town to play with," said Scharnberg. "I finally get to play in a band and we get along."

"It's great," Burleson said.

Camp Jam began in Atlanta in 2004 and has expanded to 15 cities across North America. For more information, visit campjam.com.

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