A Smattering of News

Sep 25, 2009 | Welcome Column

Good morning from Whiskey Creek, where we still have lovely summer weather and the bluest of blue skies. I’m sitting on a big rubber ball this morning. Truly. It’s about four feet in diameter, filled with air and intended to be a healthy, exercise-promoting alternative to my nice, comfortable office chair. (The exercise part comes in, I think, from the effort used to not roll off the ball and onto the floor.) I’m experimenting with it to see if it will change the tilt of my head toward the monitor; I’ve been having seriously awful pains in the back of my neck caused, we think, by the long hours I spend in front of a computer both at work and at home. We’ll see.

Of course the big news today is that Hobbs Grove will swing into action this afternoon. This is the CBA’s second year producing the event, but of course all the heavy lifting is done by Festival Director Kelly Broyles, who wrote a few days ago….”Howdy Bluegrassers! Well this is the week for Hobbs! Hope to see you there! just got some news that’s pretty exciting ! Molly Tuttle will be playing with the Nellies as a special guest!! It just keeps getting’ better! The ladies are going to rule the show it looks like for 2009. I’m really excited about this weekend’s entertainment! the temperature is going be warm during the day up around the 99 degree mark, but it cools off pretty fast when the sun goes down around 7:00. Everything is now in place and ready to roll, I went by the facility and it looks great! the trees are getting bigger every year and looking very nice, The stage is great and the lighting at night in the stage area tree’s are a sight to behold! it’s a regular enchanted forest! Hope your ready to jam till the cows come home and meet old an new friends! Frank Solivan called me yesterday and is chompin’ at the bit to put another great KOB show together. So well see you there and lookin’ forward to it. Kelly” If you haven’t made plans to drive down to Sanger, it’s not too late. v for details.

No bluegrass news update would be complete without once again thanking Larry and Sondra Baker for another incredible Plymouth Festival. The music, the weather, the friends and family and, ohhhhh, the jamming. L and S pour an enormous amount of time and effort into this classic fall event (as do their many volunteers) and it was wonderful to see so many happy, smiling faces fill up the fairgrounds last weekend. The only bad news is that we’ve got another entire year to wait for the next Bluegrassin’ in the Foothills but hey, we’ll find a way to pass the time.

Next up, of course, is the trip back to Nashville for a week of trade-showing at the IBMA. Many California folks will be heading back starting today; if you’re one of them, we look forward to seeing you up on the 11th floor. A huge thanks to Larry Kuhn who’s once again done all of the pre-planning for making the CBA’s presence back at the IBMA something for which we can all be proud. And, oh, speaking of thanks, here’s one to Mary Tilden for taking over the cbaontheweb.org controls in my absence next week. (In other words, got any complaints, take ‘em to Mrs. Tilden! Just kidding….I can ALWAYS be reached.)

And that’s a lovely segue into the next major event, our annual Fall Campout and Membership Meeting, which is honchoed by the other Tilden, Steve. Rather than get anything wrong, I’ll just do a simple paste and let Steve tell you about the upcoming festivities…..”Before you know it the fall camp out will be upon us to signal the end of the outdoor bluegrass season. It will take place at the Colusa Fairgrounds, 1303 10th St., Colusa, between October 14 and October 18. I plan to be there on Monday evening, October 12th to welcome any early arrivals. Rates for camping are $25.00 per night for RVs and $10 per night for tents.

Once again I will be seeking volunteers to help run the gate and to spark those exciting ‘Gate Jams’. I figure a DGP will again be in the offing for volunteers, provided participants haven’t grown tired of such sweet decadence. I estimate I’ll need six individuals to help out at the gate for a few days. Should you be so inclined to volunteer for the gate (or merely want the DGP), please call me at (530) 938-0388 or e-mail me at lavapig@cot.net so I can arrange scheduling.

We do have a few activities planned for this camp out to accommodate both pickers and grinners and I do try to keep such plans uncomplicated with a Keep It Simple S- – – – – (KISS) attitude, but………

On Friday evening around 6 PM Chef Mike Miller will once again put on the Kids On Bluegrass (KOB) fund raising spaghetti feed. Some KOB kids will put on their stellar performances before and during the dinner and the James King Band will perform after the dinner for grinners and appreciative pickers alike. Smilin’ James, new to the bluegrass genre, will provide his sound system for the happenings. smilinjamessound.com is his website.

Chef Mike will be in need of volunteers to assist in the taking of donations for the spaghetti feed, some assistance in the kitchen and also asks for help in cleaning up at the end of the evening. Mike will once again call upon Slim and Mrs. Slim to conduct his, for lack of a better term, ‘Stuff raffle’, a lucrative boost to the KOB fund. Last spring people brought sundry ‘prizes’ to be raffled off; i.e., wine, CDs, a T-shirt, something musical, rattlesnake rattles from JD’s mando, etc. Use your imagination; just bring ‘stuff’.

In order to determine how much food to make and to avoid having to turn people away as had taken place in the past, Mike (we) will need a count of the number of people who plan to attend. This count is NOT a reservation and does not ensure food will be held for specific individuals as some expected in the past. It is merely a count in order to make up enough bread, sauce and spaghetti for all who wish to attend. This count can be made by e-mailing my other e-mail address of grasspig@gmail.com or by phoning me at (530) 938-0388. Let me know your name and how many you expect to attend the feed.

I will continue to take a count at the gate from those who arrive early for the camp out who have not e-mailed or phoned me and will relay the information to Mike as late as Thursday night. I will exaggerate the numbers a bit in an effort to have too much. The James King Band will perform after dinner and donations to cover their travel expenses will be solicited.

Saturday will be a day of pickin’, visiting, quilting, telling lies, garage sale hunting, casino prowling, etc…. We will have a dessert pot luck that evening along with the drawing to determine the winners of the donated instruments. Proceeds collected all year from that drawing will assist with CBA expenses at the IBMA.

The Annual General Membership meeting will be held on Sunday morning. All are encouraged welcome to attend and participate in the proceedings. Come see how our Directors hold this great organization together.

Let’s close out the bluegrass outdoor season with a healthy attendance at the fall camp out. Also, please contact me with a head count for Mike’s spaghetti dinner and I will see that he receives it.

Steve Tilden
Statewide Activities, VP”

This past week we’ve had a lively and I think fruitful Message Board discourse on the way the CBA selects entertainment for the Fathers Day Festival. As a result of the couple of threads, we’ve added a bit of narrative to our process description that addresses selection of acts for Vern’s Stage. To review the entire band selection process, including the addendum for Vern’s, click here. Oh, and speaking of FDF 2010 talent, we’ve just booked the last of the acts for our 35th Anniversary and it’s going to be quite a show!

You may have noticed that today’s lead story on the web site is the CBA’s new Winter Music Camp. Registration opened last week and we’ve already enrolled over fifty campers. If you have any interest in attending the February camp you

Read about: