The Southern Girls Rock Camp will celebrate its “Sweet 16” at MTSU this summer, and the music and educational agendas are spicier than a habañero.

The 16th annual summer day camp for girls ages 10 to 17 is slated for Monday-Saturday, July 23-28, in the university’s Wright Music Hall and the Saunders Fine Arts Building. Registration details are available at http://southerngirlsrockcamp.com.

A group of young rockers rehearse a song as one of their camp counselors listens proudly at the 2017 Southern Girls Rock Camp at MTSU. This year’s camp, the 16th annual gathering, is set July 23-28 at the Wright Music and Saunders Fine Arts buildings. (File photo courtesy of Southern Girls Rock Camp)

Campers will enjoy instruction in vocals, electric bass, electric guitar, drums, songwriting and do-it-yourself arts. The girls can attend workshops on how to take care of gear and how to achieve a stage presence, as well as participate in a new workshop on music video production. You can watch a recap video of last year’s camp below.

Jess Hawthorne

“We’re just so excited about providing this service for the community for 16 years, and we’re grateful to MTSU and Rutherford County for their support,” said Jess Hawthorne, outreach director of the camp’s parent nonprofit organization, Youth Empowerment through Arts and Humanities, or YEAH!

YEAH! is a nonprofit organization founded in 2006 to “foster the creativity of young individuals while building a community of like-minded volunteers and supporters who love the arts and want to share the arts with kids.” Hawthorne is a 2003 MTSU alumna who majored in music business with an entrepreneurship minor.

For the “Sweet 16” commemoration, five remarkable bands, all but one Nashville-based, will entertain and interact with the campers. They are:

•  Lemondrop Motel, a five-person combo with a self-professed feminist bent.
• Friendship Commanders, a self-described “melodic punk/hard core/sludge duo … committed to making work that promotes conversation around tolerance, equality, communication and human rights.”
• Group Nap, a “indie-funk-jam band” that performs “sweet-sounding singy songs.”
• Nuclear Bubble Wrap, a “psychedelic/alternative rock band” known for “3dcededede2lush, multi-layered psychedelic arrangements.”
• Lemuria, an indie rock band created in 2004 in Buffalo, New York, which professes to “avoid being pigeon-holed at all costs” but is influenced by punk, emo and power pop genres.

Lemuria is slated to perform from noon to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 24, in Hinton Hall in MTSU’S Wright Music Building. $10 public tickets are available but limited; to reserve a will-call ticket, email Hawthorne at office@yeahrocks.org.

After a week of collaborative practice, the campers’ bands will rock the house in a showcase concert at 4 p.m. Saturday, July 28, in Hinton Hall. Doors will open at 3 p.m. Entrance fees are $12 per person, and kids 10 and under will be admitted free. Proceeds will go to the YEAH! Scholarship Fund.

A young rocker works on vocals during rehearsals at the 2017 Southern Girls Rock Camp at MTSU with help from fellow campers and camp instructors. This year’s camp, the 16th annual gathering, is set July 23-28 at the Wright Music and Saunders Fine Arts buildings. (File photo courtesy of Southern Girls Rock Camp)

Tuition is $320 per camper. Scholarships are limited, but available, and participants can applying here.

A printable campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap. Off-campus visitors attending daytime events should obtain a special one-day permit from MTSU’s Office of Parking and Transportation at www.mtsu.edu/parking/visit.php.

For more information, or to volunteer for band managing or other guidance positions, contact Hawthorne at 407-280-6729 or office@yeahrocks.org or go to www.yeahrocks.org.  To register for camp or for more information, visit http://southerngirlsrockcamp.com.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)