yes

Fair enough.

Most writing camps usually fall into 2 categories:

1) Industry hunger games
2) Grifters preying on hope

We don’t do that.

Everything we do is designed to help regulate the nervous system and build genuine trust. From the environment, to the food, to the activities, to who we accept, it’s all about putting artists in a position to make art they love.

We want writers to experience the joy of Summer Camp through the eyes of a child and learn what songwriting can look like when we remove ourselves from the music industry pressure cooker.

We’re focused on serving the art by serving the artists.

The rest will take care of itself.

We aim for 9 writers per week to guarantee that each writer gets a chance to write with all of the other writers.

We refer to our staff as crew, and we usually have 7 or 8 crew members in addition to the writers.

Although we try to give priority to alumni and their nominees, it’s an open application because we’re open to anyone who fits what we’re looking for (see below) and blows our minds

- Fun to Be Around

- Undeniable Talent

- Diversity of Skill Sets

- Diversity of Perspectives

- Servant Hearts

Yes, but not JUST meals. Our co-founder Caroline designed the menu. She’s created an incredible food plan based on a mix of local southern cuisine, family recipes, and farm-to-table ingredients that we adapt to any and all food allergies & sensitivities.

We work with a professional chef to prepare family-style meals that are both nutritious and optimized for the camp activities following each meal.

In addition, we do go out to dinner to local restaurants twice throughout the week, and provide beverages and various snacks throughout the day and during the co-writing sessions.

You’re welcome to drive, but most campers fly in and out of the Atlanta airport. We don’t cover transportation for writers, but we do provide an affordable airport shuttle ride to the camp 2 hours north.

Sorry. We’re looking for commitment. So unless you can attend every writing session in full, you cannot attend as a writer.

The camp is 2 hours north of the Atlanta airport, so please plan on disconnecting from the outside world — to some extent — in order to connect with the other writers!

This is a songwriting camp. So, while we do ensure that enough of our writers have production experience to produce demos, we do not designate any of our writers as THE producers in the writing rooms. A stripped down demo of a good song is just as powerful.

A bad song cannot be saved by good production. But a good song can be produced many different ways.

And many writers fully produce these demos after camp.

But your best bet during a 3 hour session is to focus on the songwriting.

Ok, tbh only a few people actually say, “Y’ALL” to us. But YES, at our demo debuts listening party after the last day of songwriting, we vote on our fav 9 songs written during camp, and shoot little performance videos on the final day of camp.

At the beginning of camp? Yes.
We wrap up team-building day with “Show & Tell”

But in the performance videos? Not necessarily.
Although everyone will be in all of them.

Every camp so far, each writer has had at least one of their 6 co-writes end up in the favorite 9 songs voted on by the other writers, which get performed. So odds are good.

But even if you’re not one of the featured writers performing a song you co-wrote, we insist that all of the writers are in the background of all the performance videos in solidarity with their fellow campers.

It truly takes all of us to create the kind of atmosphere that makes channeling these songs possible.

We do our best to keep the wolves away from the sheep.

Which is a cheeky way to say that our camp is not sponsored by any music industry partners salivating over our intellectual property, hoping to get their fangs into a piece of the art... or the artists.

This way, there’s less pressure on artists to compromise their art, even subconsciously.

Look, it’s cool when something blows up. And that financial windfall is great. But money is not the point of art, it’s the point of products and services.

Art doesn’t require commercialization — monetizing your art is an optional second step.

Thankfully, there are lots of sponsors and music industry partners who like what we’re doing and want to be involved, without putting commercial pressure on our writers.

It’s true.

Turns out — and I know this is confusing to the music execs who like to yell — focusing on watering the wildflowers instead of yelling at them actually helps them bloom.

Crazy, I know.

Financially, that’s a good problem to have.

Every writer agrees to terms when they register, which you can read in depth in the footer of the website.

But as far as the intellectual property goes, Summer Camp takes 10% of the publishing, and the writers split the rest evenly between whoever was in the co-writing session.

We’re discussing how to provide a one-stop for future sync opportunities for the demos, provided that all the writers have veto power. Lots to consider.

Our main focus for now is curating a magical environment, helping artists make art outside of the industry pressure cooker, and nourishing them physically and spiritually.

The output is a bonus but it’s not the point.

We raise the price every year as we raise the bar on what we provide to campers.

A first year camper in 2025 paid $2400 to attend

Returning alumni are eligible for an alumni price freeze, so they never pay more than the amount they paid the first year they attended, as long as they submit their application by the deadline.

Absolutely not.

We provide a need-based, full scholarship for each week that we host camp. It does not include travel. But it covers everything from the moment you arrive at camp to the moment you leave, including any meals we eat at local restaurants. If you’re in that boat, we see you. Just indicate that you’re interested in the scholarship on your application.

So there’s literally no reason, not to apply.

In addition, we have a long history of writers working on our camp crew doing staff work for a discount. The number of crew positions varies from camp to camp, so make sure to indicate that you’re interested in a staff discount on your application if you’re willing to roll your sleeves up. Then, if you’re accepted, we’ll let you know if you’re one of the writers selected to get the crew discount and provide a discount code for you.

Sit tight. And keep checking your email.

Getting the right mix of writers is a really difficult process both logistically and emotionally. Sometimes people get left out through no fault of their own, simply because of the chemistry of the group.

Eventually we roll out acceptance emails with an invitation to register. There is a registration fee that is deducted from the total cost of camp.

It’s important to register quickly, to reserve your spot. We will not hold it forever. And eventually we’ll offer it to someone else if you haven’t registered.

Once you’ve registered, you can choose to pay-in-full or enroll in a payment plan to pay off your remaining balance. And you’ll gain access to an account on the website with further instructions and a breakdown. of what to expect and what to bring to camp, etc.

This is where it gets fun. We don’t.

If you want to know who else is coming the same week as you, you’ll have to ask around!

Most other camps make a big deal out of leveraging their writers’ clout to attract other writers. That’s fine. It’s just not how we see things. If we accepted you, we see you as a world-class songwriter, even if the world doesn’t see it. Full stop.