About us

Roots and Boots Music Camps & Retreats offer learning experiences for adults with a focus on bluegrass, acoustic folk, and blues, in beautiful indoor and outdoor environments.

John Reischman showing his students a few chops.

Students enjoying jamming electives.

About

Roots and Boots Music Camp was started by Julie Sullivan Brace, co-founder of Pickin’ in the Pines Bluegrass and Acoustic Music Festival, with major support from Roger Brace. Julie served as artistic director for Pickin’ in the Pines co-guiding the festival toward its current success and public enjoyment. She currently serves as Festival Advisor. She also creates and supports many music events, serves as a board member for Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music, and is board emeritus of the Berkeley Society for the Preservation of Traditional Music (oversight board of The Freight & Salvage Coffee House in Berkeley, CA). These camp concepts are her most exciting ventures to date.

Levels

Please note: Levels vary depending on the camp you choose, but for the 4 day immersion camp, you must have command of your instrument and be either Novice-Intermediate or Intermediate. If you are unsure of your level, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Most of our camps and retreats are for ADULTS 18 and up, with exception of the Jam Camp. Please see our policy on bringing children. Our Jam Camp “Lite” is for all levels including folks just starting out.

(N-I) Novice-Intermediate

You must at least be able to strum, pick or bow, as well as change basic chords in time and understand simple melodies (you do not have to know how to play leads). An ability to play in several keys (minimum G, C, D), and to know respective relative minor chords is also desired. These courses will strengthen your knowledge, help you understand song and tune structures, help you to play with more precision, speed, and confidence. Additionally, we will work with the Nashville Number System for understanding music structure when changing keys. This is widely used in bluegrass and blues jams. Please contact us to discuss your level if you are uncertain.

(I-A & I-B) Intermediate

Must be proficient in strumming styles, picking, bowing, ability to easily change chords in many keys, can play at speed, and can play some runs and leads. These courses will help you build on this understanding, and improve your skills in speed, chord development, lead playing in various styles. Please note: We will access Intermediate level students at the camp to determine what immersion class you should be in. Classes will be organized based on your skill and broken into 2 groups if we have too many students in one instrument. This will most likely be the case for guitar, as is it our most popular course, but not necessarily for the other instrument courses offered.

Dates

Please check out our various events for 2025 for specific dates and please follow us on FaceBook for more information.

Vision

The concept behind the first immersion camp was to create a supportive “envelope” for learning and playing acoustic music in the beauty of nature where some of the best kind of music is made and from which we can draw inspiration. This model allows participants to fully focus, have easy access to our instructors for a deeper experience, and to share knowledge with your fellow participants. Our desire was that participants would come away from these camps and retreats with a new set of musical skills, and a deeper sense of love, joy, and appreciation for making music.

The main purpose of the immersion camp is to learn to play, sing and jam with more skill, soul, and gusto. The focus is on learning to play and perform on stringed instruments, and to improve your singing abilities in styles focused primarily on bluegrass, although other forms or acoustic music are supported and encouraged. Electives include discussion and instruction in finer points and deeper exploration of playing and performing, and of the historic significance of the music. Through time, we have grown to add more experiential events including a Women’s Singing Retreat, a San Juan river trip as part of our Musical Meandering Series, and a more informal, and more affordable Jam Camp for all levels. We look forward to inviting renowned instructors from around the world, in addition to including our own talented pool of local and regional instructors who will share their love and knowledge of acoustic music for the growth and enjoyment of our participants.

We are looking to find a permanent location for the immersion camp and it will not be held in 2025. Please stay tuned, but in the meantime check out our Roots and Boots Muisic Camp “lite” model which is the Jam Camp & Festival in August, our River Trip in October or the Women’s Singing Retreat in November.