CAM JAM comments from Chris Daniels
Tying in with the Upper Colfax Root 40 MusicFest is CAM JAM, an all-day outdoor music festival featuring five bands near the Tivoli Theatre (900 Auraria Parkway, Denver). The show starts at 11AM and runs till 5PM on Thursday, 4/26/12. It’s free and parking is located on the SE corner of the Tivoli.
CAM JAM is part of a course on the concert industry taught by Chris Daniels, assistant professor at the College of Arts & Media, CU Denver. He recently anwered a few questions about CAM JAM…
Q: Chris, when did CAM JAM start?
Chris: It started in 2009 and has been running for three of the last 4 years…they took a break in 2011 due to scheduling issues.
Q: Can you describe the music being featured on the stage? Any favorites?
Chris: I think Green River Vibe is a school favorite because it contains a lot of CU students but all the music is up and coming Colorado talent. You can check out their web sites and Youtube videos to get a good idea of each band’s sound.
[The concert includes: Churchill, Places, Princess Music, Green River Vibe and Broken Tongues].
Q: Are the students being graded on their performance? What other
behind-the-scenes skills are they learning?
Chris: Students in the bands are not being graded on their performance … but the students putting on the event are being graded on how successful their part of the festival is … and that includes how they did with marketing, finding sponsors and vendors, booking the artists and coordinating the festival.
Q: How do you encourage your students to pursue a life-long career
in music? Any specific advice you make sure they know?
Chris: That is a big question but it breaks down into two parts: (1) the live music or concert industry is very strong and thriving in Colorado whether it is electronic music or traditional bluegrass or jazz … I stress the “possibilities” that are opening up in the live performance side of the equation in Colorado; new venues like AEG’s 1st Bank Center and others … and what that means is that the concert industry has jobs, compared to some other sides of the music business that are out there for CU graduates.
(2) I stress the importance of being multi-talented … on looking at a ton of different revenue streams to put together a music career. Most of the students in my classes are musicians, and audio engineers and songwriters and music business people … and these days to earn a living you need to have multiple skills in order to maintain the flexibility it takes to have a long career in music.
Chris has also been involved with planning for the educational seminars during the Root 40 MusicFest. Watch for these special sessions:
Monday, 4/23/12 “Live Performance in the Digital Age”
A panel of industry experts that have survived and thrived in the local music industry. 7-8:30PM at L2 Arts & Cultural Center 1477 Columbine (Colfax & Columbine).
Tuesday, 4/24/12 “Surviving Music in the Digital Age”
More straight talk about the current music industry with special guest panelists: Henry Root (L.A. Publicist), Dina LaPolt (Attorney for Tupac Shakur Estate), Ed Pierson (Music Publisher, Warner-Chapell Music), and Andy Guerrero (guitarist from Flobots & Bop Skizzum). This seminar is 2-3PM at the Starz 12 behind the Tiovoli Theatre (900 Auraria Parkway, Denver).
