The Camp Kids to perform at Canton library

The Camp Kids, a local band consisting of 15 musicians from Thacher Montessori, including five Canton residents, will be performing a free concert at the Canton Public Library on Sunday, July 28, from 3-5 p.m. The concert is sponsored by the library and is open to the public.

The Camp Kids (Facebook photo)

The group got its start last summer at a music camp hosted by Thacher. Initially they were just a group of camp kids — lowercase “c” and lowercase “k” — learning a few tunes and performing each week before a small audience made up of mostly parents.

Then one day word came that the group could perform before the community television cameras at QATV in Quincy. And that’s when the camp kids became The Camp Kids. The transformation occurred almost overnight. Under the tutelage of music camp director Victor McSurely, the group assembled a suite of about a dozen tunes during Christmas break and performed them flawlessly.

Their performance aired on community television in a half a dozen towns on the south shore. Soon a benefit concert for Doctors without Borders was held. Shortly thereafter they were performing at a benefit concert for the first responders of Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut.

People began to notice. R.E.M., the famed American rock band, featured them on their YouTube channel. TV star Alyssa Milano tweeted her sizeable fan club about The Camp Kids. Comments started pouring in.

“Ahh bless them they are good,” one wrote on R.E.M.’s site. “Whoah, surreal,” wrote another. “Wow! This actually brought a tear to my eye,” commented yet another site visitor after hearing them perform online.

Among the many impressions the group has made is their youth — they range in age from nine to 16. A constant during most of their practices is an energy-releasing game of dodge ball. Their repertoire has grown to fill a two-hour slot. Needless-to-say, they have to be driven by their parents to practice.

What is perhaps a somewhat well-kept secret about The Camp Kids is that McSurely, their music camp director and tutor, is an internationally schooled musician who has for nearly two decades played for the Blue Man Group in Boston.

For more on The Camp Kids, check out their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thecampkidsmusic.com.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=21675

Posted by Canton Citizen on Jul 25 2013. Filed under Uncategorized. Both comments and pings are currently closed.