Pre-Pickin’ Boot Camp Jam Fest!
Workshops, Jams, Singing, Camping in the Great Outdoors featuring The Sonoran Dogs & Special Guest Instructors (TBA)
LOCATION & DATES:
- O’Leary Group Campground, Sunset Crater
- Thursday-Sunday, August 6-9, 2026
- 2:00 check-in, Noon check out.
PRICE (EARLY BIRD PRICING EXTENDED TO MAY 15, 2026!):
- $235 (includes PayPal fees) full weekend includes Taco Bar Dinner on Saturday.
- $220 ($15 discount) if you register before MAY 15, 2026. (Must be paid by check, cash or Venmo.
EARLY BIRD FOR DAY PRICING IS OVER, but we do have spots open for either Friday or Saturday.
- $85 for Friday or $95 for Saturday day only tickets! Limited to 30 people! Saturday fee includes taco bar. Please contact us first by email. You must pay by check, cash or Venmo for day tickets. No discounts on day prices and they will be the same for day of pricing if we still have room. If you want to camp on either of those nights there is an additional $25 per night camping fee.
PLEASE FILL OUT THE REGISTRATION FORM FIRST before any payments are made!
Get yourself jam-ready to do some pickin’ at Pickin’ in the Pines Bluegrass Festival by joining us in a weekend of jam-mania! This is mostly a fun-filled way to get your groove on in time to bust out for the best Festival in the Southwest (hosted by Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music). Bluegrass not totally your jam? That’s OK because this is not exclusively a Bluegrass camp and we will also feature other forms of acoustic music welcoming musicians to come and share their favorite John Prine, Neil Young, Grateful Dead, Americana or other acoustic music forms. We will feature fun mini- workshops in fiddle tunes, bluegrass standards, harmony singing, jamming 101, intermediate and advanced jam groups, songwriting plus a Saturday afternoon Band Scramble. This will be a great experience for time to hang out in the cool forest and play a bunch of music with old and new friends.
Bring your own camping rigs, gear, food and drink. We host a happy hour with chips & salsa supplied on Friday night, and a Saturday night dinner taco bar with all fillings provided of shredded chicken, tortillas, beans, salsa, veggies, plus a Vegan option. Bring some easy appetizers to share on Friday and a potluck Mexican themed side dish to share for Saturday. BYOB. All dry camping–no hookups.
Payment
PLEASE NOTE: Registration WAS to begin February 15, 2026, but due to some schedule conflicts we need to move that up to March 1, 2026.
Refunds will be given only if cancelled 30 days before the event. Please pay by PayPal with your Credit card. The Early Bird grace period for $10 discounts will be until April 30, 2026.
Online Payment
By PayPal $235
Registration Form:
Sample Workshops:
- 2 and 3 part Harmony Singing
- Bluegrass Jamming 101 all instruments
- Bluegrass Intermediate & Advanced (Jamming Circles guided by members of the Sonoran Dogs)
- Individual daily instrument workshops in Banjo, Guitar, Mandolin, Fiddle, Upright Bass led by various instructors for novice and intermediate players
- Classic Fiddle Tune Jam lead by various instructors
- Grateful Dead Classics Jam led by Craig Yarbrough
- John Prine night jam (and other folk legends) lead by Peter McLaughlin & Friends
- Songwriting Circle Sharing
- Band Scramble
- And More!
Roots & Boots Music Camp presents as part of our Musical Meanderings Series:
San Juan River Trip with Tsé Kooh Outfitters
with Musical Hosts Peter McLaughlin, Chris Brashear & Tyler Grant
SAVE THE DATES:
September 30-October 4, 2026
PRICE:
$1575
Fee includes your passage on oar-powered crafts, all lovingly prepared delicious meals, guide-led hikes in magnificent side canyons* with natural and archeological interpretation, evening jamming and entertainment. Adults only trip (18+). Bring your instruments or just your listening/grinnin’ selves! All levels welcome, but you do not need to play an instrument to attend. Plenty of campfire fun and entertainment for all! We will have a special baggage boat for folks who’d like to bring instruments. Supply your own instrument bag or we can help you attain one if needed for a small extra fee. Please note: This is primarily a Bluegrass focused music event but we will also surely play some Old Time Fiddle Music, and Folk music.
*Tsé Kooh Outfitters owned and operated by Cody Little is the ONLY commercial outfitter on the San Juan River permitted to explore the protected and magnificent archaeological sites along the river sacred to the Native Peoples of this ancient, diverse landscape. The San Juan has abundant pictograph panels, incredible side canyons with pottery sherds scattered like jewels along the way, deep swirly windswept pools, fern-fringed grottos and other natural wonders to explore on daily hikes. In addition we will have plenty of time to enjoy boating, camping, and nightly live music and jamming.
Check out our incredibly talented Musical Guides:
https://www.petermclaughlin.info/
https://chrisbrashear.info/
https://www.tylergrant.com/
Please note: This is a wilderness experience! You will be camping in your own tents (or we can supply for an additional fee) or under the stars. Cots are supplied which is quite luxurious! Although the San Juan can be a somewhat mellow river with a couple of fun rapids, there is always inherent danger on the water and on land. You must have a level of fitness to comfortably attend this event. If you have a health condition like heart, lung, or other more serious concerns this might not be a good choice for you.
Pre-registration starts February 15, 2025:
Please review this link for more information about logistics and equipment and to sign up for the trip. FOR EARLY BIRD PRICING and information regarding holding your spot you must contact Julie Sullivan Brace: julie@shinecreativeindustries.com or 928.266.6082. Please note, if you use PayPal there is a $55 fee associated! Please don’t use PayPal unless you must.
CANCELLATION POLICY: A full refund will be issued if you cancel by August 1, 2025. Otherwise we regret we cannot issue refunds unless you can find another passenger to take your spot, or if we have a waiting list and we can fill your spot.
Schedule:
Wednesday: Arrive on your own and stay at Recapture Lodge (not included and you must make your own reservations at the Lodge): recapturelodge.com
Or camp at: Sand Island Group Camp own
4:00 Arrive at Sand Island Campground: Catered Dinner party and Evening Jamming
Thursday: Breakfast then launch for all day on the river, lunch stop, hiking and exploring. After dinner join in for the evening jamming, with by Peter, Chris and Tyler.
Friday: All day on the river, all meals, hiking and exploring. After dinner join in for the evening jamming with Peter, Chris & Tyler.
Saturday: All day on the river, all meals, hiking and exploring. After dinner join in for the evening jamming with Peter, Chris and Tyler.
Sunday: Breakfast then 1/2 day on the river to Mexican Hat take-out.
More specific info to come, contact me ASAP if you’d like to participate. Spots will sell out fast!
Thank you Dawn Kish for the top-notch photos!
dawnkish.com
Roots & Boots Music Camp presents as part of our Musical Meanderings Series:
A Women’s 3-Day Singing & Writing Retreat
Give Birth to your Mirth! Find & Explore Your Gorgeous Inner & Outer Voices
LOCATION & DATES to be announced March 1, 2026:
$355 per person for signup by August 6, 2024
$375 after August 6, 2025
Workshop fee is for 3 days/3 nights and includes:
• Welcome party with hors d’oeuvres provided (cash bar)
• All singing and writing sessions featuring Songbird, Songwriter and Vocal Mentor Christine Sanders of New Mexico’s own Hard Road Trio: hardroadtrio.com/home
This 3-day event will help you discover the joy of singing with others while expressing your individual vocal power. Additionally, we will have time to explore creative writing, drawing and journaling to help you unlock and discover the beauty and magnificent creative gifts of your inner and outer voice.
If you’d like you are welcome to bring an instrument for night jamming and sharing if you play one, but workshop sessions are primarily focused on singing, with a daily breakout session for creative journaling (not songwriting, but you may be inspired to write songs on your own during rest time). This is an intimate event with a limit of 16 participants, plus our team for a total of 20 people. Please book early!
Meals
With exception of the Happy Hour event, all meals are “on your own”.
Please let us know if you would like to be paired with a roommate to share costs.
Christine Sanders
Creating music for has been a passion of Chris’s since she crawled up on a piano bench and began picking out tunes as a toddler. Her tunes can be heard on six Hard Road Band and Trio albums, and her solo project Rare Bird. A New Mexico Music Award winner, she co-wrote a fully staged musical, We Are Enron, with Bradford Hodgson and Justin Raines that was produced by Mark Medoff. From her first big gig at Carnegie Hall with the Concordia Choir to delivering Eastern Onion Singing Telegrams, and for the past 16 years touring as an acoustic musician, Chris brings her life-long dedication to music to every performance and to her pet project, Desert Night Acoustic Music Camps.
hardroadtrio.com/about
dnamusiccamp.com/home
Trish Jahnke
Music and singing has always been the doorway into Trish’s deeper places of joy and soulful connection. Beginning as a child singing along to every record in her parents’ home, to picking up a guitar at 12 and exploring the folk singing world, she came to feel that music touches the heart as nothing else can. Her love of nature led to a 30 year career as an environmental educator, and following that, a second career as a Certified Counselor and Expressive Arts Therapist. Throughout each of those paths, she has always had the heart of a seeker, wanting to understand and witness the more hidden aspects of self, desires that have led her to Expressive Writing, Journaling and Personal Memoir. It is through exploring self with simple prompts and ideas that so much personal insight can be revealed.
During this Women’s retreat, we will let the music and singing spark our own revelations as we write to uncover and befriend our own unique story. It is magic.
Contact Julie for more information and to register:
julie@shinecreativeindustries.com, 928.266.6082
2025 Women’s Retreat – Sign Up & Payment
Sample Schedule:
Thursday, November 6, 2025
3:00 Check in
4:00 – 5:00 pm Happy Hour (appetizers included in your registration fee.)
Dinner Thursday is on your own.
*Dinner cost is not included.
Please reserve through us for Friday & Saturday Night Dinners if you’d like to dine with the group
7:00-8:30 pm Singing session around the incredible grand piano with Chris to warm up and get comfy
Friday, November 7
9:00-10:45 Singing Session
11:00-12:00 Journaling and writing workshop
12:30-2:30 Field trip to Dwan Light Santcuary
2:45-4:00 Singing Session 3
4:00 – 5:00 pm Happy Hour (appetizers included in your registration f
5:30-7:00 dinner
7:30-9:00 Gathering/Sharing/Singing & Playing back at Hotel
Saturday, November 8
9:00-10:45 Singing Session 5
11:00-12:00 Journaling and writing workshop
12:30-2:00 Resting, lunch
2:30-4:00 Singing Session 6
4:00-5:00 resting/writing
5:30-7:00 dinner somewhere together (TBD)
*Dinner cost is not included. Please reserve through us or dine on your own
7:30-9:00: Gathering/Sharing/Singing & Playing
Sunday, November 9
9:30-10:30 Final gathering/singing closing session Optional for those who need to get on the road earlier
12:00 checkout