photo by Hallah Karaman
"We don't need rock stars, we need folk heroes."   The Gypsy Camp is a growing collective of artists, musicians and appreciators of folk and alternative folk music, DIY art and lifestyle and community building. The goal of these events is to create a microcosm that promotes creative expression, to perform and experience live music in a whole new way and to facilitate connectivity between conscious and like-minded artists and new audiences. We want to not only provide a magical experience for all involved, but also to inspire people to create and contribute toward manifesting visions of a better community and world through the connective power of art and music.
The Gypsy Camp was started in October of 2009 by Flip Cassidy. This idea was motivated by a particularly epic and life-changing stay in the Bay area and its proliferation of artists' communities as well as its love of public art.   Being a Los Angeles native, and having become frustrated with the comparative lack of such things back at home, Flip decided to do something about it and began visualizing the idea of a community-run, DIY live music experience that would bring a bit of that northern magic to the LA area, and create an atmosphere where people can meet and connect without any of the usual pretenses. So far, these attempts have proved wonderfully successful.	photo by Hallah Karaman	The location was a very simple issue. El Escorpion Park is located in the suburban pocket community of West Hills, bordered by Woodland Hills, Canoga Park and Calabasas at the San Fernando Valley's western edge. It has long been used by hikers, bicyclists, dog-walkers and photographers as a beautiful local getaway.   And there's definitely something magical about those trees. You're outdoors, but you're in a dirt-floored room full of friends and music. There are no walls, but around the perimeter we've created an art gallery. And right between the trees, the band plays for all who have gathered and all who may stumble upon it by chance. The Gypsy Camp welcomes you all.
photo by Eric Romine	Currently, The Gypsy Camp is looking for a new home, as it has grown too large for El Escorpion Park. It is inevitable, however, that as we grow, we will not only need to branch out to even bigger local locations, but also to extend this community to other cities and states that don't have anything like this going on.   The idea of taking this phenomenon on tour is exciting. It's more than just a band going out on the road, it's planning and connecting with people everywhere and throwing all the physical materials of the experience in a truck. The rest is up to what happens in the moment when all of us exist, create and listen together.	photo by Hallah Karaman
In addition to the surreally crafted microcosm in which you experience it and the people you get to experience it with, the simple natural acoustics of the environment - the trees, dirt and branches create a magnificent pocket of sound.   And talk about photo opportunity. If photography is your passion, this is your playground. For as much as we put into adding to the visual environment, the place is just so inherently beautiful that the combination results in an excellent setting to click away to your heart's desire.	photo by Phil Holland	For information about our next event, please consult the 'Participate' section of the site. There you'll find the event flyer with the lineup of bands listed, as well as more pertinent details about the location.   Have fun perusing this website! It's loaded full of information, evidence and a whole page of the best music you've never heard before. It's a great place to learn about new artists and find that new favorite you just didn't know was out there.