Many kids return home from camp with things they made themselves. However, its pretty unusual for the thing they bring home to be a CD that features songs they helped write and perform like the kids at the Childrens Summer Music Camp at the Sea Ranch in Cannon Beach.

During the course of the two-day class the campers wrote, rehearsed, recorded and performed five original songs. The students ranged in age from eight to fifteen.

Aaron Meyer, a Portland based concert rock violinist who has recorded nine albums, taught at the course with guitarist and producer Tim Ellis, who owns the Kung Fu Bakery Recording Studios in Portland.

Were writing songs. Kids are writing their own lyrics. They get to be producers in a real recording studio. They get to make up the melody. They get to basically write their own song, record it and make a CD, he said. They really do all the work.

Meyer said that kids coming into the class dont need have a background in music. All of the kids sang in the recordings of the five songs they wrote in small groups at the camp, and three of the older kids actually played an instrument on the recordings.

This is a very creative process and kids learn I can write a song.

Meyer and Ellis have done courses similar to this one since 1999.

For Tim and I its important to educate young people about music, he said. Any one of these kids could have a hidden talent, or an ability to do great work.

Meyer said that they try to teach kids about responsible music making.

Ellis said that he is very invested in teaching music.

I hope they have fun, and they realize music as an art can be fun and can be creative, said Ellis. I think seeing that there are people who are making a living playing and teaching and recording music, that gives them more of an variety of what a musician is.

Luke Surber, a fifteen-year-old student at Seaside High, said that he is interested in being a professional musician.

Id love to have a career in music, he said. I love this program and Im definitely going to come to it in years to come.

Surber played the upright base for six years, but made a switch to the bass guitar when he moved to Seaside. Although he has past experience with music, songwriting is new for him.

Its an amazingly new experience, he said.

Surber and he and his songwriting partners struggled to come up with an idea for what to write their song about. Eventually, they decided to write a song about how they were struggling to write a song. He said that Ellis and Meyers made the process of writing a song easier.

It was amazing because they show you the guidelines for making a song work, he said.

Ellie Whitlock, who worked on the same song as Surber, was in her second year in the class. She said she liked working with Ellis and Meyer because they dont make their students feel like they are being judged.

They just make you feel like everything you do is great, she said.

Calvin Patching, who is homeschooled in Tillamook, said that the class made him want to continue to make music.

I enjoy writing songs, he said. It seems natural to me.

Patching said that he has written songs, both music and lyrics before the class.

He added that he was thankful to Ellis and Meyer for teaching the class.

Carmen Swigart, of the Sea Ranch, said that they sponsored the camp and offered a total of 24 scholarships to different schools in the area. She said she wanted to get the word out about the camp, which was held at the Sea Ranch for the second time this year, because not all of the scholarships were redeemed.

Both Ellis and Meyer praised the Sea Ranch for sponsoring the event.

For video of the kids performing one of their original songs at their concert after completing camp, look to the sidebar of this page.