The Sing-A-Long Campfire

photo by Laura Mandanas

Marni Kellison, A-Camp Co-Director: Last camp we had assigned a few staff members to run the singalong campfire but this time it was just by and for the people, and when I walked by and heard a crowd of 50 strong singing Wagon Wheel my heart swelled three sizes.

Carmen: I stumbled into the sing-a-long campfire by accident. It was too adorable not to stay. Like, what if that was how I woke up every morning, to your beautiful voices singing to me lightly in the wind?

Laura M: Um, did you all know that Intern Chloe is a total babe who has the voice of an angel? I did not. Until this campfire.

photo by Laura Mandanas

Gigler: It was so damn endearing and idyllic it was like stepping into another dimension. a queer eutopic acoustic alternate dimension.

Laura M: You guys, everyone at A-Camp has such a wide breadth of unexpected talents. I am never not blown away when I realize how terrifying good at everything everyone is.

Laura W: After dinner, the Sea Otters met up at the picnic tables outside Eagle to talk about our day. Everyone was starting to warm up to each other and to camp, and it was the first time I really got to talk to my campers and started to fall in love with them. Halfway through our talk, Rosemary starting singing and we all went “WOAH” and then totally had trouble regrouping because have you ever heard Rosemary sing?

photo by Laura Mandanas

Music Night: Julia Nunes, Jenny Owen Youngs & Mal Blum,  hosted by Jasika Nicole

photo by Robin Roemer

Riese: This was actually the first time in A-Camp history that we had enough amazing musical acts to create an entire Music Night — previously, we’d just fit musical acts in with a Variety Show or paired single musicians with the A-Camp Family Band. So we were pretty excited about this situation.

Whitney: Oh man, I was so excited for music night. Jenny, Mal and Julia are the perfect group of musically inclined humans.

Kristin: UGH goddammit I love Mal and Jenny and Julia so very much.

Mey: We really had such amazing talent this year. First of all, Jasika Nicole, apart from putting on what seemed like really incredible workshops and being just a stupendous person to talk to, was the perfect hostess for this opening night of music.

photo by Robin Roemer

Jenny: Jasika SLAYED leading an a cappella Disney sing-a-long (a pastime near and dear to my heart).

Mey: It was amazing seeing Jasika sing “A Whole New World.” And she wasn’t even one of the actual musical acts!

Dannielle: This was the coolest. I love Mal so much. I love Jenny so much. I am deeply involved with Julia in a love way. So it was the perfect show for me.

Mey: Mal Blum went up first, and right off the bat I started crying when they played their super terrific, slowed down version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” about which Mal made the great point that a lot of Springsteen songs are really sad if you take out the sax.

Laura M: That cover broke my heart and stitched it back together again. I love their vulnerable, ragged, hopeful, lovely voice.

photo by Robin Roemer

Stef: I had really hoped that “Dancing in the Dark” would be upbeat enough for us to yank Kip and Monique on stage and make them reenact Bruce and Courteney Cox, but the stripped-bare version was a lot more interesting.

Elicia: Also, unpopular opinion, I’m not a big fan of Bruce Springsteen and yet still, that “Dancing in the Dark” cover??? JESUS. It made my heart feel things. Seriously. Mal forever.

Jenny: I loooooved it.

Gabby: Mal Blum is a national treasure with international style and grace. Mal Blum is a heartbreaker, a rumpshaker, and an all around swell sort of guitar playing icon/mascot.

Jenny: Mal was perfect and adorable.

Stef: A couple of days before camp, Mal sent me a new song off their new record and asked Alex and me if we’d play it with them. Guys, Mal’s new record was produced by Marissa Paternoster from the Screaming Females and it sounds so fucking good. Little Alex was so happy to muppet out on the huge noise breakdown at the end of “Cool Party” and it was an honour to be a part of it.

Elicia: I got to listen to Alex practice drum parts without drums in our cabin to Mal’s song ‘Cool Party’ which I already loved from that small sampling, so I was really happy to see it performed live.

Mey: I also really loved that new song and I really loved watching Stef play bass while wearing her vampire cape.

Stef: Obviously, I needed to perform in my cape, which made me feel like a goth superhero.

Brittani: Mal is still perfect and charming.

Kristin: Every time Mal plays the Valentine’s Day song I lose my shit bc I love it and I love them so much.

Mey: I’ve listened to Jenny Owens Young before, and I thought I liked her music, but jeez, hearing it live was a totally new experience. Like, when she and Mal performed “Fuck Was I” together it was like hearing the song for the first time. It was a life-changing experience.

Stef: I feel like every time I break up with someone, some jerk always recommends that I listen to “Fuck Was I” and I always ignore them because I categorically reject feelings-y acoustic lesbian ballads (Yes, Autostraddle, it is I, your music editor). Then Jenny played it on the mountain and I almost wept. Alright, you guys win, but just this once.

photo by Robin Roemer

Whitney: “Fuck Was I” was so, so good and super nostalgic, since I used to listen to it non-stop when I was younger (and play the song on my guitar in my dorm room in college, reminiscing about queer things). Mal is the perfect harmonizer.

Chelsey: One of my favorite moments of camp was sitting next to Rachel as Jenny sang “Clean Break.” Before she started, Jenny mentioned the song was based of an X-Files song and Rachel lost it in the cutest way possible and her face was so delighted the entire time. It was truly magic.

Jenny: I heard that I made Rachel cry a single tear when I announced that one song was influenced by an episode of The X-Files, which makes me insanely happy.

Brittani: When Jenny started to talk about X-Files, my head immediately turned to Rachel just in time to see her wipe away one perfect tear. Clearly she was #deeplymoved.

Whitney: Jenny’s performance of “Not On Your Own,” (which is on The Gayest Compilation Ever, Volume 2) brought me to so many tears during the night. The message is so, so important: “You might be amazed / to find you’re surrounded / by people whose hearts are standing wide open … You’re not on your own.” Everyone should listen to the song on Bandcamp and cry along with me. I’ll bring the tissues. It’ll be a feels party.

Brittani: Jenny dedicated her set to me and I texted several people about it… after the performance of course, I’m at least SORT OF cool.

Stef: Can we talk about how cute Jasika was operating the smoke machine? At the most ridiculous times, the stage would fill up with badass smoke and there was Jasika, hovering over the smoke machine backstage and grinning ear-to-ear. I want her around to create ambiance for all moments in my day-to-day life.

Alex Vega, Design Director: Jasika operated the fog machine like a BOSS.

Brittani: Jasika should never be left near a smoke machine.

photo by Robin Roemer

Jenny: Y’ALL I HAD THE MOST FUN AT THIS SHOW! I played a bunch of songs which was A DELIGHT. Mal sang a song with me about making bad decisions…

…Julia sang a song with me about not being alone…

… and Dannielle and Kristin joined me on vocals and iPhone piano (it’s fine) for an adaptation of “Talk Dirty.”

photo by Robin Roemer

Elicia: That “Talk Dirty” cover and the hilarious pre-empt description by Danielle? These things were all magic, basically. Beautiful, beautiful magic.

Alex: The highlight for me was Kristin attempting to use this iPhone instrument app during the acoustic-with-feelings cover of “Talk Dirty.” Ugh the best.

Laneia: Y’all! This night was BEAUTIFUL. I wasn’t ready for anyone on that stage, nothing, not a lick of it. Mal and Jenny were fucking transcendent and I tried to be so chill about their performances, but eventually realized that was impossible. And by the time Julia got up there, I was exhausted from holding in all my feelings, so then I cried.

Whitney: Julia’s performance of “That’s Pretty Gay” was absolutely lovely.

Heather: I’d never seen Julia perform live before. Holy cats! Her knee was completely broken and it was quite a hike from her cabin to that stage, and there was so much going on that day. I don’t know, I expected her to be spent already, just from participating at camp, but no, y’all. She got on that stage and opened herself up and gave and gave and gave all the love and wisdom and hard-won hope of her music to everyone in the crowd.

Brittani: Julia has the best performance face either side of the mountain.

Heather: I’ve always felt like Julia was inviting everyone else to heal in the warmth and empathy and experiences, and that soul-balm feeling was magnified even more on the mountain. It was a spiritual experience, to be honest. I sure did cry.

Yvonne: I wasn’t familiar with Julia’s music before she performed in the opening ceremony. I loved her rendition of Blank Space and genuinely felt like crying when she and Jenny sang With a Little Help From My Friends. But on music night, when she took the stage to perform her own stuff, she was phenomenal!

photo by Robin Roemer

Riese: If I may time travel a bit for a minute… I loved seeing in the months after camp as Julia’s amazing new album debuted how many new Julia Nunes fans got born that night!

Jenny: Julia played many beautiful songs, finishing with a cover of “Genie in a Bottle” for which I donned a bear suit.

Lizz R.: I thought that when Jenny was saying “I’m a genie in a bear suit baby” she was saying “I’m a Jenny in a bear suit baby” which would have also been amazing. Jenny told me she’d like us all to pretend that’s what actually happened.

Jenny: I’M A JENNY IN A BEAR SUIT BABY.

photo by Robin Roemer

Whitney: Just imagine Jenny Owen Youngs in a bear suit singing “I’m a genie in a bear suit baby / Gotta rub me the right way honey.”

Robin Roemer, Photographer & A-Camp Co-Director: Music Night was so incredible. I really can’t say enough things about how incredible all of our talent was this year. HOW INCREDIBLE WERE THEY? Am I saying incredible too much? Not only are they killer musicians (and comedians and actresses and writers), but they are also all such good people. Just sweet and cute and fun and wonderful.

photo by Robin Roemer

Whitney: Each of their acts were so heartfelt and well done and at times pretty hilarious.

Alex Vega, Design Director: I just couldn’t believe how lucky we were to have such talented fools on this mountain with us. Mal, Jenny, and Julia all killed it.

Opening Night of Klub Deer

Carmen: Opening night of Klub Deer, as usual, was the best.

Kai: Klub Deer got real in #slutshuck as soon as Carmen started assembling some sort of paper deer head. Rory supplied #slutshack with the best tatts ever, which maybe we should consider getting FOR REAL, and we stepped out into the night.

Carmen: I arrived super early with the dance crew, and we were all tatted and ready to go.

Stef: I didn’t feel like I was really truly home until Klub Deer opened and I was dancing inappropriately with all my friends.

Cee: Klub Deer was really professional on the opening night – complete with custom projected visuals courtesy of Rory, an excellent DJ set from the world famous Carlyton, and our top notch dance crew.

Brittani: The production value of Klub Deer this year went up several notches due in large part to Rory’s animations.

Gigler: They were out of this world.

KaeLyn: I spent 10 minutes just watching them in the corner by myself.

Carly: They were NEXT LEVEL.

Carmen: I don’t think I stepped off my “platform” (the mantle of the fireplace) the entire night, and I super dug DJ Carlytron’s tunes.

Carly: I played a set I like to call old stuff.

KaeLyn: I was mostly sober and having the time of my life. What if every club was like Klub Deer? What if there were no cis men and no straight people? What if everyone was beautiful inside and out? WHAT THEN?!

Marni: Robin and I showed up in animal onesies and flanked Carly at the DJ booth for a minute. I was a shark.

Carly: Robin came and danced in a dinosaur costume and it made me so happy because 1) we don’t really see each other much at camp and 2) she doesn’t get to party very much at camp, so seeing my beautiful, hard-working wife dancing in a dinosaur onesie really made my night.

Kai: All I know is at some point I was outside, then Ginuwine’s “Pony” came on, and I was inside. Great night.

Gabby: Because my lady love, Laura Wooley, was off with Morgan being amazing and helping take care of a sick camper, I had a weird Klub Deer night. I thought she was mad at me and got all L Word on some shit. I ended up at the smoker’s circle talking to Elicia all like “Dude what did I do? Why did my girlfriend disappear? Is it cuz I worked my booty on someone? Or do I smell?” And Elicia offered me a smoke and was like “Dude, it’s fucking ok. She’s probably meditating in the woods or something. She’s not mad at you” and I was still sad and then Morgan found me. Morgan brought good tidings of sick campers and a girlfriend who was just doing her job and who missed me. So then I went back to Klub Deer and booty whomped with everyone.

Jenny: HOLY HELL Klub Deer rules! Kristin and I danced largely with Mal and Brittani, who grew increasingly disgusted each time I didn’t know a Danity Kane or Pussycat Dolls song.

Lizz R.: The most important thing that happened at Klub deer was that I taught Jenny my secret “I don’t know this song” dance move. I also didn’t know any Pussycat Dolls. Basically the move goes that you just bend your elbows down 90 degrees and pump your fists to the sky over and over again.

Carly: How is it possible to not know any Pussycat Dolls songs??

KaeLyn: I danced and tried not to look awkward, but also just generally didn’t care what I looked like.

Elicia: I had the most fun dancing with Rachel and Mey and KaeLyn and more. I think I may have even taken my jacket off at some point? It was arms out kind of jams. I also think this was the night I depleted my personal stash of cigarettes. How young and naive I was then.

Kaelyn: Elicia is the cutest. This is when my friend crush on Elicia really came on strong. Just such a babe dancing in her jean jacket, sipping her drink, shimmying her shoulders.

Alex: I did it! I made it to Klub Deer before falling asleep! I danced my ass off for approximately 45 minutes cause Carly was DJing the hell out of that unit, then promptly put myself to bed. Go hard or go home, y’all.

Carly: Shoutout to Brittani for empowering me to play Limp Bizkit at A-Camp and a big fuck you to everyone who stopped dancing during Neutron Dance. How dare you shade the Pointer Sisters like that?!

Carolyn W: I partied, I screamed, I lost my dance partner. Next thing I knew I was waking up *blank stare* And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Stef: DJ Carlytron slayed all night, and when it was finally time to pack up and head back to my cabin, I wrapped my cape around me like bat wings and absconded into the night.

Gigler: I’d like to thank everyone I danced with at camp for all your spirit, booty, skill, and mutual respect.

Carmen: Also, to everyone who unknowingly received a shot glass full of Coors which I said was hard liquor and took it as if it really was: I saw you.

Meanwhile in the VIP Cabin…

Dannielle: We fell asleep, only to be awakened by terror screams bc there was a black widow on Kristin’s bed.

Kristin: NO. NO. NO ONE HAS ANY IDEA. Actually, Kip and Taylor might have an idea bc rumor has it they had a Black Widow in their room but the thing is this was NOT a black widow it was like four times the SIZE of a black widow and it was on the wall next to my bed (Jenny & I slept in bunk beds, it was the best, I hate sharing a bed) and I found it during my nightly iPhone-light bug-search. USUALLY I am the bug-capturer of the family but YOU GUYS YOU HAVE NO IDEA IT WAS SO BIG. So, I turned to Jenny and scream-whispered, YOU NEED TO GO GET HELP, and she turned on all the lights even though Julia and Dannielle were sleeping and then she went outside and thank christ Abby was there and Abby came in and was like, “I’ll catch it no worries,” and then she SAW IT and was like FUCK THIS THAT THING IS HUGE IT NEEDS A SHOE. I want to remind everyone that Abby is, like, a farmer and she isn’t afraid of bugs and she made me tell her over and over again it was just a cricket bc she was AFRAID BC THIS FUCKING SPIDER YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA.

Riese: I just want to state for the record that I am 100% of the time the bug-capturer of our family, so I think Abby’s apparent bug-killing chivalry on this night really is a testament to how the A-Camp spirit really pushes people to be their absolute best selves.

Kristin: She had to kill it with her shoe (#rip) and then kill it more with Julia’s crutch (*gag noises*) and then I made Jenny sleep with me in the twin bottom bunk bc fuck that I am not sleeping alone when spiders can be that big. Ugh.

Jenny: THANKS ABBY

Meanwhile In The Staff Cabins…

KaeLyn: I need to talk about the phantom door in staff cabin 19. It needs to be talked about. Somewhere around 3am-ish, Maddie peeked down from the top bunk and was like, “Is there a door?” Because the loud side of cabin 19 was being loud and we loved them and wanted them to scream cackle all night long if they wanted to but also sleep was a thing. And there was a door, but it didn’t…open…and it was off the hinges. I went back to sleep but I guess Maddie went over there and nicely asked them all to hush.

Cecelia: Seriously where did the door come from?

KaeLyn: Well, in the a.m. circa 6am, I awoke to see that someone had put the door on. Sometime in the dead of the night, the door was mysteriously put up without waking anyone up and because everyone on that side of the cabin was tipsy, no one remembered doing it. Thus it was like magic. We couldn’t stop talking about it all day—the magic door incident of May 31st, 2015. For the record, we all love the loud side of cabin 19; all members of #sleepcrew love you dearly.

Laura M.: Seconded. Carmen, I love you to the ends of the earth, but your voice also carries approximately that far, even when you’re trying to be quiet. I deeply appreciated that you all drunkenly put up the door that night… and that it kept happening every night after.

Kaylah: One night in the #slutshack Rory and Gigler put up the missing door that separated the two sides of our cabin. I thought they were being loud as fuck, but no one from the other side woke up. The morning after I hear Nurse Viv flipping out about the door magically appearing.

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