Shasta Camp
I just back home from a week in Mt. Shasta, CA at the Mt. Shasta Fiddle Camp. It was put on by Tristan and Tashina Clarridge, who brought together an amazing collection of teachers and students.
On Monday-Friday we had 3 classes a day, each a hour-and-a-half long with some amazing teachers, including Jeremy Kittel, Billy Contreras, Aoife O’Donovan, Rob Diggins, and Tristan and Tashina Clarridge. Our class was small, with 10 students, all of whom were very into music. The instructors at this camp taught a wide range of styles, including Irish, Texas Style, Jazz, and Blues.
After classes, we usually went swimming in Lake Siskiyou, or hiking around Mount Shasta. On Tuesday we hiked up to snowline, and the small lake at that elevation was warm enough to actually swim in–amazing!
Some bands you may want to check out are Old School Freight Train, Nickel Creek, and Crooked Still. They all are totally awesome. You can listen to snippets of their CDs on Amazon–but if you do end up buying them, I would suggest buying them from the bands website, as that way Amazon doesn’t end up taking a big, juicy cut and the people who actually play the music get some money.
The camp was held at Mount Shasta City Park, which was a very nice park with the head-waters of the Sacramento River coming out of the ground. The best part of it, however, was a flower-bed with a chain around the perimiter, and a sign reading simply “Flowers”–telling you that the things inside the chain were, in fact, real, live, breathing, flowers. 
The whole camp was a blast, with tons of great people at it–thanks to everyone who was there to teach, learn, and jam with (even through you probably won’t read this :)–if you do, however, please leave a comment below and say hi!).
EDIT :: In the future, photos will be here.
August 26th, 2005 at 7:39 pm
Hi Taj,
Believe it or, not while mindlessly surfing the net, I found this page! Although, I guess that is pretty self-evident…
I also had a great time at fiddle camp. Keep up the great fiddling!
Ben
September 8th, 2005 at 6:47 am
Hi Taj,
Oddly enough, I met Ben Krakauer and the Old School Freight Trainers on a plane to Denver, CO, this past weekend. Ben and I traded Ipods on the plane and he had me listening to recordings from the Shasta camp, so I ventured and googled away to learn more about Tashina and Tristan until I found this page, too, and here is Ben with his posting, ha! The world of old-time and fiddling is so beautifully small! Anyway, if you or any other fiddlers/old-time musicians come to NYC, shoot me an email and you’ll have to come to some of our sessions!
All the best,
Michelle
January 10th, 2006 at 10:51 pm
Hey,
I remember you!
I was mindlessly googling people and typed in “Mt Shasta Fiddle Camp Tristan & Tashina Clarridge” you were the first thing to pop up!
take care
Mira
January 12th, 2006 at 9:10 am
Hi Mira,
Good to hear from you–I remember you too, by the way!
Oh, how many times must I suffer the “mindless” joke?
Although no-one has commented about my lack of mind yet…I guess I should feel lucky. 
Hope to see you at Shasta Camp this year!
Cheers, and take care,
Taj
January 18th, 2006 at 9:24 pm
Hello,
I was just browsing because my son Matthew is interested in attending Shasta Fiddle Camp again. I got here because this is the first thing that comes up when you type Shasta Fiddle camp. Please send me information as soon as it becomes available or let whoever is in charge know that Matthew Witler from La Crescenta California is very much looking forward to going to Shasta Fiddle camp this year.
Take care,
Esther
January 1st, 2009 at 7:10 pm
hello…
Not enought information…