Have you ever wondered what it would be like to quit your day job, (if only for a day) and be a rock star? Well, that’s exactly what Rock n’ Roll Fantasy Camp is all about, and for those about to rock… we salute you!

Monday, our FOX News crew headed over to Ultra Sound Rehearsal Studios in New York City, where the Fantasy Camp landed for the day. In years past, the camp was several days long and only in one city.

Because it has become so successful, and wildly popular, camp organizers have turned it into a real rock style tour, in which the rock star counselors go from city to city to meet up with campers and make a band in just one day, then play a real venue that same night. In New York City, it was a big one too, a sold out show at The Fillmore at Irving Plaza, opening up for Kings X and Extreme. Talk about a crash course in Jamming 101.

The counselors include bassist Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple (pictured in top photo being interviewed about teaching his song “Smoke on the Water” to campers), drummer Chris Slade of AC/DC, Aerosmith and Ozzy Osbourne Hit song writer Mark Hudson, Mark Slaughter of Slaughter, Earl Slick of David Bowie and John Lennon fame, Kip Winger of Winger, Elliot Easton guitarist from The Cars, former Megadeth bass guitarist David Ellefson, and Gilby Clarke formerly of Guns N’ Roses. Not bad!

We took our cameras and went room to room at the studios to see how this monster task of teaching campers how to play in a band would come together. Eye to eye contact, intent listening skills, and a general sense of how to put chords together were key. I was really impressed with how quickly everyone began to gel and get their groove on. If you are not a musician (like myself) the idea of strapping on a guitar, or sitting behind a drum kit and being able to weave together beats and thumps and make music is something I believe is a true gift.

Rock n’ Roll Fantasy Camp starts early, call time 8am, which for rock n’ rollers is pretty early. Kip Winger’s room was our first jam session. He didn’t want to take off his glasses, because he hadn’t had his coffee yet.

What a lot of people don’t know about Kip Winger, is that he also composes classical music. This varied musician had a pretty interesting way to teach his campers the songs they were about to learn… by bouncing a soccer ball in front of the drummer to help keep the beat.

Then it was off to see what David Ellefson was up to with his group. When we walked in, his group was in the middle of learning to jam out Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.” I loved meeting all the campers and finding out what everyone did for their day jobs. In this group taught by Megadeth’s former bassist, there was a bond strategist, a court clerk, and a 17-year-old student learning the riffs.

The next room we hit up, was that of Gilby Clarke’s (pictured at right with the white t-shirt wearing guitar). That room had EIGHT musicians jamming, and two drummers going for it (one broke a stick), learning Cheap Tricks’ song “Surrender”. That was admittedly a lot of fun, our crew wanted to bust out a bic lighter to demand an encore after hearing that one.

Earl Slick was one cool cat, as he kept pointing our cameras to the band members when we came in. He wanted to make sure they were getting all the limelight, a very sweet gesture. Here’s a fun piece of trivia: Slick (pictured in the black and white stripped shirt) worked with John Lennon on what ended up being Lennon’s last all-new studio record, “Double Fantasy.” After Lennon was killed that same year, he went into the studio with Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono and was featured on what would be her biggest solo release “Season of Glass.”

Now, I must admit, one of the best parts of the day for me, was when we went to shoot our “stand-up” portion of the report. I had something all mapped out in my mind to do in Mark Hudson’s room, but as we came in, and the guys were playing “Born to be Wild”, something else entirely different happened. Hudson is EXTREMELY colorful and energetic, and was so funny. He immediately took charge, and gave a new idea (hey, he’s helped produce Aerosmith, Celine Dion, and Bon Jovi… who was I to argue), and had me do my stand-up during a part of the song with a tambourine… hysterical!

To the left is Glenn Hughes in the shades, taking a break with his band after teaching them his Deep Purple hit “Smoke on the Water.” I got (almost) the entire thing on tape on my point and shoot camera, see below (true music fans only, will appreciate this one, it’s nearly a 5-minute jam, but history making none the less).

Mark Slaughter of Slaughter, was so kind and patient with his group, we jumped in on him teaching his group some Led Zeppelin. Slaughter had the only kid group at the camp, and they sounded amazing.

Elliot Easton of The Cars was a terrific interview, and of course, a couple of people along the way had to be cut out of our report which was too bad. He told me that one of the reasons he likes doing the Rock n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, is because it feels good to give back. Actually all the stars we talked to said the same thing, and added that they remember what it was like to be a kid with a dream, and a garage, and truly wanted the chance to fuel the fire for other budding musicians.

Then Easton killed me with a line as we were heading for the door. “Hey, we just came up with the name for our band … 66-8, the neighbor of the beast” (Iron Maiden fans insert laugh here)

And finally, we stopped by Chris Slade’s room. The drummer of AC/DC. What fun it was to watch him instruct his group on how to perform one of his band’s biggest hits, even jumping in and hitting the cymbals with his hands to help out. He was the perfect picture of a heavy metal conductor. In fact, I taped some of that too on my cam, and am posting it here. Listen to the woman singer who definitely knows the trick of closing out a good rock song.

Special thanks to our entertainment producer Ashley Dvorkin, cameraman Rob Ginnane, and audio tech Ben. There was a lot of hustle going on around all these rooms to get everything on tape in one day.

I hope you enjoy the videos as much as the campers enjoyed playing them. (warning: do not watch these before you’ve had your morning coffee) In both these videos, it’s only the first or second time they’ve run through the songs. I think there may be some future Rock Star counselors in the mix! Check out www.rocknrollfantasycamp.com for more info on the program.

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