About Old School
Old music, new ideas!
Old School Camps is a based in the heart of the Lanark Highlands, Elphin, Ontario. It was co-founded in 2014 by the incredible award-winning Canadian folk and roots musician, Jenny Whiteley.
The annual Old School Bluegrass Camp takes on Jenny's property heart of the Lanark Highlands, Elphin, Ontario with other pop-up events taking place on Wolfe Island at Hotel Wolfe Island and Everdale Place in Erin, Ontario.
When Jenny’s close friend Alysa Hawkins and her family purchased a de-commissioned public school in Prince Edward County with the intention of renovating and living in it, Jenny had found her location for the camp.
Jenny's vision was simple yet brilliant: why travel far when we could host a world-class adult music camp right here at home in Ontario? For a decade, Old School Camps thrived on her hard work, deep connections to a community of exceptional musicians, and her guiding philosophy of inclusion, welcoming, and pure joy. We truly could not have done it without her unwavering dedication and energy.
After five successful years in Prince Edward County, Jenny and her husband, Joey Wright, moved the summer camp to their home property in Elphin. They poured their hearts into preparing the space, adding heated showers, a stage, and more to create the perfect camp environment. The business showed its resilience by adding popular Old Time and Fiddle/Banjo camps during the challenging years following 2020.
After a decade of producing over 30 magical music camps, founder and director Jenny Whiteley has made the decision to hand the Camp Director reins over to Jaymie Karn and Kyle Kirkpatrick. They are honoured and thankful to continue the legacy of this special community and take Old School Bluegrass Camp into its 11th year and beyond.
While Jenny's focus has now turned to her new glitterfolk music project, LeVolume, the spirit of Old School lives on! And the annual summer camp is still graciously hosted on her property in Elphin, with the programming and operation now managed by Jaymie Karn and Kyle Kirkpatrick.
While leadership is shifting, the spirit of Old School very much remains the same. We are committed to celebrating the best of traditional and contemporary bluegrass music, fostering and developing this community, and, of course, late night music and laughs.
Jaymie Karn (she / any) has served as Old School's Camp Assistant for the last two years before transitioning to Director and Camp Manager. Beyond her role as the camp's administrative manager, their day-job is in the folk music industry as a Programming Assistant and Graphic Designer at Folk Canada. She is a graphic artist for many Canadian folk and bluegrass musicians and organizations, specializing in album art and promotional design.
Jaymie Karn
Camp Manager
Kyle (they / he) is a seasoned folk, country, and bluegrass artist and a thoroughly dedicated music educator. You may recognize them from their time playing dobro and touring with The Barrel Boys or from a past Old School Camps session as an instructor on guitar and clawhammer banjo. Kyle has a depth of experience instructing and developing emerging bluegrass musicians, having mentored at Folk Music Ontario's Developing Artist Program, as well as instructing at other Canadian bluegrass camps like NimbleFingers in British Columbia and Northern Lights Bluegrass Festival in Saskatchewan.
Kyle Kirkpatrick
Programming Director
Jaymie and Kyle are committed to preserving the camp's, joyous energy and Jenny’s vision of welcoming ALL people into the evolving world of bluegrass, folk and roots music.