This might seem a bit off the beaten path for some of our musician readers, but it's such a cool opportunity that we thought it deserved mention.

You're probably familiar with the idea of artists' retreats; maybe you picture bongos around a campfire and sharing the color of your aura. That's not what Blue Mountain Center is about (your aura is your own business). This is a practical artist retreat, where the focus is where it should be: an environment conducive to creative exploration.

The Blue Mountain Center is a working community of writers, artists, activists and musicians in the heart of Adirondacks, the largest state park in the continental US. As a part of our cultural commons, the Center exists to provide a peaceful and comfortable environment in which guests are able to work, free from the distractions and demands of normal daily life.

Sounds great to us. Here's the thing, though: The Blue Mountain Center is geared towards creative and non-fiction writers, and artists "not requiring exceptional facilities." So no Marshall stacks. But composers and songwriters could probably get a lot out of the experience.

Here's some more info from their website:

The committee is particularly interested in fine work which evinces social and ecological concern and is aimed at a general audience.

The Blue Mountain Center hosts conferences for up to 25 people during the spring and fall months. The purpose of the meetings is to bring together those working on pressing social problems such as civil liberties, environmental health and safety, peace, and economic justice.

The Application deadline for our Traditional one month Residencies is February 1. The session dates for 2010 are:

Session 1 - June 18 to July 16M
Session 2 - July 24 to August 21
Session 3 - September 3 to October 1

So, if you can put that iPhone or Blackberry and step away from Facebook, you might want to apply!