When most people picture a classic American summer camp, it looks like college students equipped with a plastic whistle, a water-stained CPR card and the ability to organize a canoe race without losing anyone to the murky depths of the lake.
But at summer “camp” at the Planet Bluegrass ranch in Lyons, camp counselors look more like virtuosic roots musicians whose records already line their campers’ shelves. They spend the mornings teaching 12-person vocal workshops, afternoons breaking down a solid flatpicking technique, and, in many cases, the weekend performing on the festival stage that their students will be watching from a sold-out crowd.
Planet Bluegrass runs two versions of this unusually well-credentialed music camp each summer. RockyGrass Academy, which began on Sunday, leads into the sold-out, 54th annual RockyGrass festival that runs Friday through Sunday. Song School follows from Aug. 2-6, and sets the stage for the 36th annual Rocky Mountain Folks Festival that runs Aug. 7-9…