GRAMMY ® Campers Make A Connection At Mini-Concert By Alexandrea Kern

The first official performance of GRAMMY Camp ® came last night with the Mini-Concert, a two and a half hour showcase dubbed "Through The Genres." The diverse range of music, from country and pop to rock and jazz, made Sunday night's show inspiring.

The vocalists and instrumentalists were given a song to learn in only two days. And the songwriters were assigned to write their interpretation of the song, or as described by Songwriting instructor Chris Sampson, "Filling an old wine bottle with new wine." After each song, our exceptional instructors shared advice with the campers.

A big trend from the instructors' wisdom was making a "connection." The connection between members in a band is crucial to the music. Whether it's keeping tempo or staying tight musically, having a good connection with your fellow members is what keeps the music going. "I think it helps people get into it more," says the Songwriting track's Lena Stein of that musical bond.

Though this was a difficult task being that they've only known each other for two days, many groups that performed had that chemistry. Two of the vocalists, Brandon Martinez and Alexandra Stern, sang Gretchen Wilson's melancholy "When I Think About Cheating." When asked how they kept such a good rapport throughout the entire performance hardly knowing each other, Brandon said it was from, "Constantly thinking about emotions and thinking about past heartbreaks." Just as it's important to connect with the other members of the band, its important to reach the audience. The Goldman Combo did just that.

Austin Zudeck, front man of the Goldman Combo, amazed the entire audience with his unique and edgy voice during his performance of "The Pretender," by the Foo Fighters. Singing to the front row and inviting everyone to sing along made his performance even more fun. Evan Rees, keyboardist for the Goldman Combo, ran through the audience, giving us high fives.