The Fender® Center Inaugural Annual Blues Camp For Kids

The Fender Center and Blues Kids of America proudly present Fernando Jones
inaugural Blues Camp. This fun-filled experience will give student musicians
ages 10 - 18 an opportunity to learn and play America¹s root music in Southern
California. This week-long camp is free, but transportation and lodging are 
not provided. Students will receive professional instruction in the hands-on,
user-friendly environment at the Fender Center¹s Kids Rock Free® school and
venue. Ensemble placement is competitive and students (intermediate-to-advanced
skill levels) must audition for positions. Camp information and audition forms 
can be received via www.BluesKids.com. Openings for beginner-level students may
also be available. Participants are expected to register for an audition online
by May 13 to audition in person on May 21 as the Fender Center. Out-of-town and
international students may audition by submitting online video links to
BluesNewz@aol.com by May 21, 2011. Out-of-town blues campers must be accompanied
by a legal parent or guardian, and are responsible for their own lodging and 
accommodations.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER:
American bluesman, educator, songwriter and scholar Fernando Jones was born
to loving Mississippi parents on the South Side of Chicago. Inspired by his
older brothers, Foree and Gregory, Jones taught himself how to play guitar
when he was four years old. Currently, he¹s a bandleader; Blues Ensemble
director at Columbia College Chicago (the nation¹s premier performing arts
and media school); and a highly sought-after lecturer focusing on music
pedagogy and literacy improvement whose clientele includes the Smithsonian
Institute and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. On July 9, 2010 Jones received a
Proclamation from Gov. Pat Quinn of Illinois, for founding Blues Camp.

Buddy Guy said that Fernando Jones is one in a million trying to get to the
bottom of the barrel of the blues. Jones was the last Chicago Bluesman that
Willie Dixon mentored; Dixon asked him to keep the blues going. The
incomparable Fernando Jones is a 21st Century Renaissance man and the 2008
Keeping the Blues Alive Award recipient (education). Jones is one of the
most complete Bluesmen and scholars of his generation.

Auditions: Placement in ensembles is competitive, and students must audition
for positions. Auditions are open to student musicians ranging from ages 10
- 18 of intermediate-to-advanced skill levels. Out-of-town and international
students may audition by submitting online videos before May 21, 2011 to
BluesNewz@aol.com. Song titles to audition with are provided at
www.BluesKids.com. To make an audition appointment contact
Bluesnewz@aol.com.