4 Days and Nights of Non-Stop Guitar and Rock n Roll

Great Guitar Escape is a 4-day event for players and music-lovers of all ages, levels, interests, and tastes! Whether you are a master player, a beginner, or just an enthusiastic fan, our four-day programs offer activities and workshops for you. Our environment is non-competitive and is strictly about immersing oneself in the joys of guitar playing, music and our lovely surroundings!

During Great Guitar Escape, you’ll receive:

  • A once in a lifetime mentor (one-on-one) session with one of our instructors
  • Jamming with the one and only Paul Gilbert himself!
  • A professional film crew to record your jam with Paul (extra charges may apply)
  • Camper jamming every night until the wee hours – rock out until dawn!
  • Intimate breakout sessions with Andy Timmons, Greg Howe, George Lynch, Greg Koch, Mike Kenneally, Gretchen Menn, Doug Doppler, Stephanie Bradley- organized by level and your interest!
  • A special signing session and photos with Paul and the other artists
  • Deluxe accommodations
  • Great food and great company – make lasting memories every day!

Paul Gilbert and Dreamcatcher Events respectfully ask all participants to be fully vaccinated or tested for COVID before attending.

An Invitation from Paul Gilbert

Hello friends! I’d like to personally invite you to join me at my upcoming Great Guitar Escape at taking place at the Kellog Conference Center, Pomona California July 28-August 1, 2022.

The upcoming GGE is my 6th camp, which is such an amazing honor. Especially considering the people who have joined me with them. Guitar players from all over the world come together and have the best time. The best time we could ever imagine. It doesn’t matter if you’ve spent just a few years on the instrument or you’ve spent your whole life with it. I want to make it so it doesn’t matter – you don’t have to put some insane amount of work into it in order to enjoy it, in order to connect with it. It’s a language and you should be able to speak at any level. I like to open the door for everybody. Great Guitar Escape is not something where you have to wait until you’re perfect. You can get in on any level.

To me, GGE is about making a connection. Everybody’s a human being and everybody has some music inside of them. Great Guitar Escape is not just me on stage, performing and teaching. There’s a back and forth that I think is really special. I bring everybody up, one at a time, and we jam back and forth. So in the space of just a few hours, I end up jamming with about seventy or eighty people, which, for me is an incredible experience.

Paul Gilbert Jamming with a camper

When you connect to music, when you connect to a musical instrument, you connect to people. People who play music know that and that’s why they do it. People who are musicians, they’ve acknowledged that music is something that’s very important to them and they’ve decided to go deep. It’s wonderful to get that breed of people together in a room, because that’s where we go deeper. To me, that’s something important and priceless and irreplaceable.

When you interact with other musicians, you discover a whole range of styles and abilities. It can be very easy to think, Oh, this is the only way to do it. But when you connect with other musicians, you realize they’re also getting it done, but in a different way. That’s wonderful to learn. There’s more than one way to make music. And there’s more than one kind of music. If it sounds right, it is right. That’s the wonderful thing about human beings. We find a path and it’s not always the same path. And when you get closer to people, you can see that more and more. You look at how people approach the instrument and everybody’s a little different. It’s not that way at all, everybody has a different approach.

As usual, my lineup of guest instructors is very diverse, each from different backgrounds and offering unique approaches. Some of my closest friends and favorite all-time players will be with us, including Great Guitar Escape veterans Andy Timmons, George Lynch, and Greg Howe. We’ll also be joined by some players that I’ve been following for a while. Jared James Nichols is really fiery, taking the style that was born with Hendrix and continued into the 70s, classic high energy blues rock guitar playing. It’s so nice to see a younger guy really getting a grip on that sound and putting his own thing into it as well. Gretchen Menn is highly regarded for her own original instrumental work and as lead guitarist for Zepparella, an all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band. Her dad is actually Don Menn, the former editor-in-chief for Guitar Player magazine! I’m definitely excited to jam with her.

We’ll also be joined by legendary session guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and composer Mike Kenneally, who has of course played with everybody from Frank Zappa to Steve Vai to Joe Satriani. And then Greg Koch is an amazing guitarist, bandleader, and author. He’s a master of hybrid picking, which is actually something I’m unable to do, but my regular picking has improved enormously trying to copy that style. I’ve not met Greg in person yet, but apparently he’s 6’7″ so for the first time, I’m not going to be the tallest person on stage!

When you connect to music, when you connect to a musical instrument, you connect to people.

Besides doing my own performance, I organize jams with the other instructors and the big jam that I do with the students. But that’s not all there is to it – there are jams going on all night, where anybody who wants to can participate. I know a lot of people stay up all night to jam with their buddies and then come to the morning classes, loaded with enough interest and energy to make it through. By the end of the camp, a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, man, I have got to get some sleep!’

Great Guitar Escape is a place where we’re going to connect musically, we’re going connect as human beings. We’ll share our thoughts about gear, our senses of humor, whatever, all those things that bring us together. That one of the joys of life. Without that, it’s really a struggle. Great Guitar Escape is the opposite of that. This camp is a joy and I really hope you’ll join us.

See you soon,
Paul Gilbert

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Artists

Paul Gilbert

Andy Timmons

George Lynch

Greg Howe

Greg Koch

Mike Keneally

Gretchen Menn

Jared James Nichols

Pete Griffin

Bill Ray

Doug Doppler

Stephanie Bradley

Chris Cisneros

Josh Scott

Schedule & Itinerary

Great Guitar Escape will begin at 3pm on July 28 and end at noon on August 1. The camp schedule is subject to change. You will be provided with an updated schedule upon check-in. Also, we will post the daily schedule in the dining hall in case of last-minute changes.

Thursday July 28

  • 3:00pm

    Guest check-in

  • 4:00pm

    Welcoming reception/Q&A with Paul and all the instructors

  • 6:00pm

    Dinner

  • 7:00pm

    Paul and friends concert

  • 9:00pm

    Camper jamming plus more learning with Doug and Stephanie

Friday July 29

  • 8:00am

    Breakfast

  • 9:30am

    Paul master class

  • 11:00am

    Breakouts with Gretchen, George, Greg Howe, Jared, Greg Koch, Andy, Mike – 3 beginner and 3 advanced

  • 12:00pm

    Lunch

  • 2:00pm

    Mentor sessions

  • 3:00pm

    Jamming w Paul (2 hours) – plus sessions with Doug Doppler and Stephanie Bradley

  • 5:00pm

    Breakouts with Gretchen, George, Greg Howe, Jared, Greg Koch, Andy, Mike – 3 beginner and 3 advanced

  • 6:00pm

    Dinner

  • 7:00pm

    Paul and friends concert

  • 9:00pm

    Camper jamming plus more learning with Doug and Stephanie

Saturday July 30

  • 8:00am

    Breakfast

  • 9:30am

    Paul master class

  • 11:00am

    Breakouts with Gretchen, George, Greg Howe, Jared, Greg Koch, Andy, Mike – 3 beginner and 3
    advanced

  • 12:00pm

    Lunch

  • 2:00pm

    Mentor sessions

  • 3:00pm

    Jamming w Paul (2 hours) – plus sessions with Doug Doppler and Stephanie Bradley

  • 5:00pm

    Breakouts with Gretchen, George, Greg Howe, Jared, Greg Koch, Andy, Mike – 3 beginner and 3
    advanced

  • 6:00pm

    Dinner

  • 7:00pm

    Paul and friends concert

  • 9:00pm

    Camper jamming plus more learning with Doug and Stephanie

Sunday July 31

  • 8:00am

    Breakfast

  • 9:30am

    Paul master class

  • 11:00am

    Breakouts with Gretchen, George, Greg Howe, Jared, Greg Koch, Andy, Mike – 3 beginner and 3
    advanced

  • 12:00pm

    Lunch

  • 2:00pm

    Mentor sessions

  • 3:00pm

    Photos and signing (2 hours)

  • 5:00pm

    Breakouts with Gretchen, George, Greg Howe, Jared, Greg Koch, Andy, Mike – 3 beginner and 3
    advanced

  • 6:00pm

    Dinner

  • 7:00pm

    Paul and friends concert

  • 9:00pm

    Camper jamming plus more learning with Doug and Stephanie

Monday August 01

  • 8:00am

    Breakfast

  • 9:30am

    Morning wrap ups led by Doug, Stephanie, plus whoever!

Pricing and Registration

Pricing & Room Types

  • Commuter Package
    1,599

    Enjoy all the workshops, concerts, meals, and activities at Great Guitar Escape but spend the night at home or wherever you like! Everything is included except accommodation at the Kellogg Center. Pricing is per person!

  • Shared Room with Two Beds
    1,899

    Standard Room with two beds and a roommate. You may either name your own roommate or one will be assigned by Dreamcatcher Events. Roommate matches are based on age and gender. If signing up with a roommate in mind, please enter their name in the “Roommate” field as you continue registration.

    *Please note, pricing is per person and all registrants must stay at the Kellogg Conference Center and all payments and deposits are non-refundable.

  • Single Room with One Bed
    3,599

    Standard room with one king bed for one participant.

    *Please note, pricing is per person and all registrants must stay at the Kellogg Conference Center and all payments and deposits are non-refundable.

  • Bring Your Loved One with One Bed (2 people)
    4,299

    If you would like to have your loved one join you at the Kellogg Conference Center but not participate in workshops, we recommend this price point. You both share the accommodations, dine together with the group for all meals, and attend all evening concerts together. During the days, while one of you is participating in workshops and living out your guitar virtuoso dreams, your loved one can enjoy the wonderful accommodations and interesting things to do in the Pomona area. The room includes one king bed. Pricing is for one participant and one non-participant.

    *Please note, all registrants must stay at the Kellogg Conference Center and all payments and deposits are non-refundable.

What's Included

  • A once in a lifetime mentor (one-on-one) session with one of our instructors
  • A professional film crew to record your jam with Paul (extra charges may apply)
  • Accommodations
  • 3 amazing meals a day
  • All workshops, activities and entertainment for 4 days and nights
  • Parking
  • Wi-Fi

What's Not Included

  • Transportation
  • Alcohol and snacks
  • Sighteseeing excursions in the area
  • Personal musical gear

Pricing and Registration Policy

  • Registration & Payments
    • All rates are per person, unless stated otherwise.
    • All prices subject to change. Prior sales excluded. Dreamcatcher Events reserves the right to change any price, package or offering at any time without prior notice.
    • All rates are subject to a 9.9% surcharge, which includes all state and local taxes, plus service fees.
  • Installment Payment Plan – Upon checkout, you have the option to pay in full or one 50% installment.
    • Upon registration, a non-refundable deposit of 50% of the total purchase amount is charged to your credit card.
    • The remaining balance will be automatically charged to the credit card on file on May 1, 2022.
  • Cancellations
    • All payments and deposits are final and non-refundable.
  • Dreamcatcher Events LLC reserves the right to re-schedule any event if there should be an “Act of God,” pandemic, natural disaster, or any other circumstance which makes an event impossible to hold. In this circumstance, Dreamcatcher may issue full financial credit in the amount paid to all registrants who have paid. These “Credited” funds may be used solely for the specific event to be rescheduled. The financial credit shall last two years from the dates of postponement. Registration refunds will not be distributed in the event that an event has to be rescheduled due to circumstances beyond Dreamcatcher’s control. This also applies to any registrant who may not be able to attend an event due to Covid and/or Force Measure.

If you have any questions, please call our customer service number (+1) 800-852-9277, or send us an email at info@dreamcatcher-events.com

For complete details please see our Registration and Payment Policy

Kellogg West Conference Center

Settings and Accommodations

Uniquely located on a wooded hilltop overlooking cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg’s former ranch estate, Kellogg West Conference Center & Hotel @ Cal Poly Pomona offers the perfect backdrop for meetings, conferences, and special events. Conveniently located just 30 minutes from downtown Los Angeles and 15 minutes from Ontario International Airport, Kellogg West offers a truly relaxing and distraction-free setting for any event or venue.

Travel Directions

Kellogg West Conference Center

Address
3801 W Temple Ave Bldg. 76
Pomona, CA 91768

Website
Kellogg West Conference Center

Contact
Contact Us

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Instrument Travel

FAA Rules - Bringing Musical Instruments on Flights