This isn’t quite band camp.

The Creative Strings Festival, hosted by violinist Christian Howes, will be held July 2-8. Through the festival, string musicians 18 and over will learn what it’s like to be a working musician as they work with professional players.

Not to worry, the 18-year-old age minimum isn’t iron-clad, exceptions will be made for some players.

Participants will spend their days in workshops at Otterbein College in Westerville, and their nights playing gigs in bluegrass, jazz, salsa, and traditional Appalachian genres.

Scheduled gigs will be held at The Mustard Seed in West Jefferson, the Bar of Modern Art, the Lobby, the Bluegrass Music Shoppe and Dick’s Den locally. Other appearances are booked in Dayton at Pacchias and at the Espresso Yourself Café in Powell.

Howes is a Columbus native who is now based out of Buffalo, N.Y. He is a part of five working ensembles including the Christian Howes Group, which is a quintet or quartet, the Hot Swing Group, the European Acoustic Trio, the Special Electric Violin Project, and Duo Americana. Howes also teaches all over the world.

Howes has been asked by many why he brings the camp back to Columbus.

“The music industry tends to be very polar, split between New York and Los Angeles, and this is why I find it so important to bring this music back to the Midwest. Not only am I rooted here, but so are these musical genres. Our workshop and festival has a symbiotic relationship with Columbus in that the city offers venues and an audience to the musicians who need it, while our musicians offer Columbus an enthusiasm that permeates the community through expressive, rich, explorative music,” he said in a press release.

For more information on Christian Howes, check out www.christianhowes.com or add him to your friends list on MySpace at www.myspace.com/christianhowesviolin