Becoming a Rockstar at Girls Rock Camp

Here at the Center for Community Stewardship we are particularly proud of the grassroots organizations that grow into non-profits. Girls Rock Camp is a shining example of one such story. The Center for Community Stewardship provided fiscal sponsorship to Girls Rock Camp when it first began and now the Camp provides real live rockstar experiences for amazing kids like my neighbor Eve. Check out her story below.

Becoming a Rockstar
by Eve Kleiber, age 12

On July 18th, 2011, I was clueless. I jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed into the coolest, most rock star clothes. Eight-year-old me was ready to start Girls Rock Camp (GRC). My mom drove me and my friends–Carson, Marit, Ella–to camp. We walked in the building together holding hands and looked around the room. There were guitars, keyboards, microphones, basses, drum sets and, most importantly, people who wanted to teach music to girls. I saw real musicians, people who cared about music. We all sat in a circle as the leaders of the group explained how the week would play out. They said that we would learn to play an instrument, write a song, play the new instrument in the song, record the song at a real recording studio, and perform our song at a concert. All of that in five days!

We were assigned bands, and I was put in a band with my friends. We called ourselves The Stargazers. Most of us had no experience whatsoever in the instrument we would learn that week. That’s my favorite part of camp. I had never touched a guitar in my eight years of life. At camp, I learned how to play basic chords on the very first day. Every day after I learned more and more about guitar and about songwriting. GRC gives girls confidence to try something new.

One of the best parts of camp is the experience of taking one idea to a professionally recorded studio song. What eight year old kid gets to record a song in a real studio? It’s an experience of a lifetime. Girls Rock Camp not only teaches you so much, but it gives you many memories. I remember the first time I walked into the recording studio. Everyone in my band looked at a wall with photos of the artists who had recorded at the same studio. We felt like real rockstars. At the end of the week, the day of the final concert, all of the performers had become real musicians.

Girls in the camp can also switch instruments year-to-year. In my most recent two years at Girls Rock Camp, I played electric violin. I play fiddle music on the violin during the school year, and it has also been really fun to rock out on the violin at GRC in the summer. I’m not sure I would have the opportunity to explore electric violin and rock music if not for GRC. Everyone at Camp is supportive of each others’ talents and interests. Girls Rock Camp turns little girls into strong musicians.

Live Performance at Girls Rock Camp

Who Rocks? Girls Rock!

This photo will be worth a lot of money one day when these ladies become famous.

Making friends at GRC!