Camp Jam to Benefit Shepherd Center

From Patch Reports

Camp Jam, a Peachtree Corners-based company, will sponsor a benefit concert for Buckhead's Shepherd Center on Feb. 25, according to a Shepherd news release.

The event by the the nation’s largest provider of rock music camps and educational rock and roll  programs for kids and adults will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Tavern 99. A $10 donation will be collected at the door to support the Shepherd Center.

The evening will include performances by Camp Jam EXP bands, and conclude with a performance by “Dudes of the 80s” band composed of Jeff Carlisi; Liberty DeVitto, former Billy Joel drummer; Derek St. Holmes, guitar and vocals for Ted Nugent; and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee Ricky Byrd of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. In addition to the concert, an autographed guitar will be auctioned during the event.

“I’ve had the pleasure to work with Shepherd Center this past year,” said Carlisi, founding member of .38 Special and co-founder of Camp Jam. “Shepherd does great things for people with brain and spinal cord injuries, and for the community, and I just felt a need to give back somehow. When I learned that Shepherd received a donation of guitars, I asked to come in and teach and play guitar with some of the patients. Playing music is very therapeutic and healing.”

Guitars were donated by the National Pawnbrokers Association, and D'Addario donated guitar strings to the center. Each patient interested in playing or learning to play is given a guitar and is able to take the instrument home when released from Shepherd Center.

Carlisi added, “One day I had the privilege to sit and play with some of the troops in the SHARE Military Initiative, the rehabilitation program for service men and women who sustained injuries in the Afghanistan and Iraqi conflicts. These people gave up so much for our country.  The whole Shepherd experience inspired us turn the Camp Jam EXP event into a benefit show for the center. It’s just the right thing to do.”