Hi!  I’m Phoebe.  I’m currently on the Board of Directors and I’m running for re-election. You may know me as the Volunteer Coordinator who crowds your inbox with volunteering info.  Don’t hold that against me, but I’m doing that again by asking you to vote for me.  

That’s all very nice, you’re saying, but what’s in it for ME if I vote for you? Very simply, if you don’t elect me to the Board, someone else will have to be on the Board.  Would you like to be that someone else?  See what I mean? By having me on the Board, you don’t have to be on the Board, give up your weekends and evenings, sit through long meetings, listen to financial reports, discuss contracts and vote yea or nay. It’s a great deal for you — I go to meetings and you get to have fun! See how I’m making your life better? So you’ll vote for me, right? 

So what’s in it for me, Phoebe? Well I just happen to have the “funnest” job at the CBA.  I get to meet and work with all of you.  Together we made 2026 one of the best Father’s Day Festivals ever.  And we even got the 2025 – 50th Anniversary Father’s Day Festival nominated for IBMA Best Event of the Year!  We do good work together! But this coming year is going to be even better. Remember – I said you get to have fun:  I’m inviting you to join us in volunteering. You get to meet new people who share the same passions you do.  And not just that, you’re helping out bluegrass and old-time music, by sharing it and passing it down and keeping it alive and young.  Let’s all of us get together to hear the music, to play music together, to be with other people who enjoy this music, and to invite others to join us in sharing our music.  The music brings us together. Bluegrass is community. All of us. You, too. 

And since you’re not going to the Board meetings, you need to let me know what you want. Otherwise I may make decisions you wouldn’t make. Those t-shirts were NOT pink this year! (Didn’t you see the Barbie movie? THAT’S pink!) Do you want more concerts? More on-line events? More educational content? Or just free beer at festivals? I’m not making any promises — that would be a violation of campaign rules— but we can do all of this.  Let’s grow the community together by meeting with regional directors, and working with local groups with similar interests so that we can meet our goal: more bluegrass and old-time music!

I’m active locally in the Long Beach Dog Park Bluegrass Jam and host a local events calendar, https://labluegrass.com. Despite the valiant efforts of many fine teachers, I remain an enthusiastic but incompetent fiddle player. I took my fiddle on a trip to Antarctica a few years ago. The penguins tore up my visa and refused to let me play there again. What do penguins know?  Penguins have taste??? They eat sardine ice cream. Just ask them. And by the way, if you vote for me, I won’t have time to show up at your jam, so that’s another good reason to keep me on the board. 

In a previous life I was an accountant and an attorney, wrote boring stuff for tax journals and practitioners’ manuals (no extra points for guessing which ones); worked for a stuffy firm where everyone wore suits (just like those tone-deaf penguins); and did pro bono work for Bet Tzedek and the Inglewood Legal Aid clinic, providing free legal services to the community.  Although I’m happily retired and no longer spend my days talking with IRS auditors, I still get to work with finances. As the CBA Treasurer I’m overseeing our finances. That’s yet another reason to vote for me! So you’re going to vote for me? Did I mention free beer? No, of course, not!  Did I mention penguins? Be sure to keep in touch –  fiddlingphoebe@gmail.com

It has been an honor to serve the California Bluegrass Association for 6 years as one of the first board members from Southern California and I’m seeking my 7th term.

When I first joined the CBA Board in 2020, we had to pivot quickly in order to sustain our organization, stay connected, and support our bluegrass and old-time communities during the pandemic when we couldn’t have live music. We rose to the challenge and used this down-time to establish a global online presence.  During that time, I developed the CBA Photo Gallery that now includes over 37,000 images representing 50 years of history and growing. I served as a member of the Communication Strategy Committee responsible for the development of the current CBA website. I was also on the production teams for two online “Turn Your Radio Online” festivals and a 50+ hour international Jam-a-thon.  These early efforts taught me to think globally.  I’ve been a professional member of IBMA since 2024.

During the years since the pandemic, we’ve seen an explosion of bluegrass and old-time music all over California and the West and the CBA has expanded our membership into Southern California and beyond.  In the last 12 months, mostly as a volunteer and sometimes as a paying guest,  I’ve attended 18 music festivals, 2 campouts, two hotel events, IBMA’s World of Bluegrass, and many local jams and small concerts. I continue to use these opportunities to learn what matters most to our pickers, grinners, performers, association members, and others within our music communities.

Now the high cost of fuel is making it more difficult for performers to tour the Western states and the rising cost of land, insurance, and other factors eats away talent budgets. Government grants for the arts and music education have all but dried up and we must rely more and more on donation revenue to keep our CBA events and programs sustainable.  Our CBA leadership must work to seek out new sources of revenue while continuing to listen to our association members and supporting the events and programs that our members enjoy in a fiscally responsible way.

As part of a global music community, we must encourage effective collaboration among like-minded associations, venues, event producers, community leaders, pickers, and fans. By working together, we can make it more affordable for artists touring the American West, and provide more opportunities for the growth of bluegrass and old-time events and programs throughout California.

Thank you for your consideration.

Robin Frenette
Long Beach, CA

As we experience our 2025 Summer here in California, our CBA board and volunteers continue to connect with and serve our CBA members by holding live gatherings and events, as well as connecting with online outreach, and in print. This organization, with the board, works to be even more relevant and engaging by keeping its stellar ongoing programs afloat, while creating additional projects into the future. The current board, blessed with talented and forward thinking leadership, has done impressive work! And there is always more to be done.

I have been an active member of the California & West Coast Old Time, acoustic and roots music communities for decades. I bring these communities’ voices to the board. Through my work at music camps and festivals beyond California’s borders, I consider myself a member of the Old Time music community in the East, Southeast, and greater U.S., and bring this wider connection to the Board.

I have served as board liaison to the CBA’s Summer Music Camp, helping steer the Camp through its leadership transition in 2022. I’ve been involved in many CBA San Francisco Chapter events, starting with the inaugural Gay Pride Parade float band. I serve as director of the monthly Feral Friday San Francisco Square Dance that the CBA proudly sponsors. I am on the board of the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention.

I experience the CBA from the perspectives of being a member, a board member, and as a musician, having performed at our Father’s Day Fest on all 3 stages, for the square dances, and taught at our beloved Summer Music Camp. I play locally and on the West Coast with the bands Plaid Strangers, the Knuckle Knockers, and KC & the MooNshine Band. I have also performed with Paul Brown, Eddie Bond, Suzy Thompson, Rafe Stefanini, Nokosee Fields, Hank Bradley, Mike Bryant, Maria Muldaur, and Molly Tenenbaum, among others.

My interests on the board include furthering the cross-pollination of the Old Time and Bluegrass communities by promoting additional participation from Old Time. As your Old Time director, I am running (with volunteer help!) our yearly Golden Old Time Campout, this years’ being August 22-25. I will continue to be active in my role as board liaison to our highly successful Summer Music Camp. I will continue to support live music, jams and dances in our communities, with an interest in creating workable licensing scenarios for small venues. Thank you for your support in the past and in the future!

I’m Lani Way and I am asking for your vote for a seventh term on the CBA Board.  I continue to  pursue ways for the CBA to be relevant to our members, meet current external challenges and strengthen the best of what we are already doing.  This year it is exciting to see the growth in our After School Bluegrass Club program and in our fundraising efforts to support our organization.  

I am the current Vice Chairman of the board, the International Bluegrass Music Association coordinator and festival merchandise coordinator.

I am a retired Architect and utilize creative project management skills to develop projects within the CBA.  I have woven my interest in youth activities, international exchange and community work into my life.  It has been a delight to discover that I can continue to pursue these passions within the bluegrass community. I would like to develop a broader platform to better mentor youth in the broader musical ecosystem, develop international exchange opportunities and expand our community outreach and engagement. 

This is a very active time for the CBA with the board currently involved in leadership transitions within the organization and festival management.  I would appreciate your vote for another term.

Greetings CBA Members,

My name is Andrea Zelones, and I am a fiddle and mandolin player running for my fifth term on the California Bluegrass Association (CBA) Board of Directors. I currently serve as CBA’s Corporate Secretary, a position I have held for the past four years, and as the Southlands Regional Director, representing San Diego and Imperial Counties.

As a Board member, I actively serve on CBA committees focused on expanding and diversifying events throughout California while increasing membership, participation, and engagement. I continue to build relationships across the state, promote bluegrass and old-time music in our communities, and encourage K–12 students to become involved through local jams, educational programs, and events.

In addition to my service with CBA, I currently serve on the boards of the North County Bluegrass & Folk Club, the San Diego Bluegrass Society, the Southwest Bluegrass Association, and the San Diego Mandolin Orchestra. I also previously served for many years as Secretary of the Summergrass Board. I am also an active member of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), Songmakers, and the Classical Mandolin Society of America (CMSA).

It has been an honor to serve the California Bluegrass Association, and I would be grateful for your support as I seek another term on the Board of Directors.

Thank you for your consideration.

Andrea Zelones
San Diego, California

I’m the current chair of the California Bluegrass Association board. These days I mostly focus on fundraising and building our capacity to deliver on our mission. I also hold down the role of the Regional Activities VP, responsible for coordinating our great team of jam and event organizers around the state. I live in Sonoma county, where I organize community jams and shows, play banjo with a couple of local bands, and help produce two annual festivals. I’m proud to be a founding member of Bluegrass Pride.
I love bluegrass and old time music, but even more than that, I love the grass-roots community that’s emerged around it over the years. I believe in Pete Seeger’s vision of facing hard times together with courage, mutual support, and great music. I believe in bluegrass as a force for good in the world, and I want to help bring it to more of the people who need it. For me that translates into mobilizing a shared effort to build the CBA towards long-term stability and sustainability.

Hi, I’m Devin Wilcox, and I offer to serve on the Board of Directors for the California Bluegrass Association.  My calling is building community through bluegrass jamming.  For many years, I’ve hosted Honey Buckets jam camp at festivals and events, creating a welcoming space for everyone, including beginners and those with no exposure to jamming culture, to experience something unique and magical about bluegrass.  I believe collaboration between associations is needed for effectiveness in our mission and I work to build those relationships throughout the west.  I bring over 30 years business management experience, a love of bluegrass, an open mind and desire to work together in service of our community to help it thrive.

Several years ago I retired after a career with the National Park Service. Immediately upon retirement I enrolled in a broadcasting program offered by the Davis community radio station KDRT 95.7 FM. Following several years of broadcasting bluegrass and Celtic programming at KDRT, the relationships I formed with bands and booking agents transitioned into hosting musicians for the McCloud Mountain Bluegrass Festival, for venues and private events.

Upon moving full time to Mount Shasta in Siskiyou County, with the help of other music lovers, I initiated the live band venue known as the McCloud River Music series and the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Shasta Mountain Music. We’re now into our fourth year of music production. 

A core element of our mission with the nonprofit is to support musical arts and the belief we can enhance the vitality and quality of life of our rural areas by building community and foster in-person connections and experiences through production of live music events and workshops. As a member of the CBA and current Regional Director for the North County Region 7, I’ve attended sponsored events and am also a professional member of the IBMA.

I hope to serve the bluegrass and old time music community as a member of the CBA’s Board of Directors.

Dave Reynolds
Executive Director, Shasta Mountain Music,
a 501(c)(3) non profit. EIN: 33-2274322
North Country Regional Director, California Bluegrass Association

“Mountain music has always been about gathering – family, friends, strangers – and making something beautiful together.” – Doc Watson

Greetings to the CBA membership. This is a brief statement of why I would be honored to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of this organization. During the years I have been playing music and making friends in our bluegrass community I have become very impressed with and appreciative of the CBA and its volunteers in their work and dedication to the CBA mission statement and I would like to contribute to those efforts. My interests in this regard include but are not limited to 1) the protection of the future of the organization, 2) the growth of the membership with a focus on youth involvement, 3) the involvement of volunteers in CBA activities and programs, 4) diversity and inclusion in development and implementation of CBA policy. I’m a recently-retired lawyer, having spent decades assisting disabled people obtain medical care and other statutory benefits. Now I would like to give something back to an organization which has provided me with so much music, friendship, and joy.

My name is Tyler Stamets, and I am running for the Board of Directors of the California Bluegrass Association.  I am an enthusiastic and active member of San Diego’s acoustic music community.  I am a native of Julian, CA and a long-standing business owner there and I serve as the President of Julian’s Chamber of Commerce. My extended family and I have been attendees at, and great supporters of, the Julian Family Fiddle Camp. I am excited that CBA has become the sponsoring organization of this important annual event. It has been a great honor to serve this past year as a member of the Board of Directors, and I feel that the work is just getting started.  I will continue to be an asset to the CBA in continuing the positive relationship between the community of Julian, the CBA, and the Julian Family Fiddle Camp.  I wish to be an active part in helping CBA achieve its mission to encourage appreciation, understanding, enjoyment, support, and performance of bluegrass music statewide, especially in Southern California.