I have been part of the California Bluegrass Association for as long as I can remember growing up in the scene, performing, jamming, and now serving as Director of the CBA Kids on Bluegrass program since 2019. A product of CBA’s youth programs myself, I am passionate about strengthening and unifying these initiatives to ensure they thrive for future generations.
Professionally, I am the Director of Marketing and Community Programming at Hanna Center in Sonoma, which has given me rich experience in nonprofit leadership. I oversee marketing, communications, fundraising, event management, and youth recreation, and I am ready to apply my skills to help the CBA grow in membership, visibility, and impact.
In my mind, it has never been a question of if I would run for the board—only when. The 50th anniversary feels like the perfect time to give back to the organization that shaped me into who I am today.

I’m the current chair of the California Bluegrass Association board. 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 play banjo with local bands and help produce two annual festivals, and I’m proud to be a founding member of Bluegrass Pride. 

I love bluegrass and old time, but even more than that, I love a grass-roots community that supports home-made music. I believe in Pete Seeger’s vision that digging in and listening to people (which is, after all, our superpower as bluegrass pickers) can help us face hard times together with courage and mutual support. And I believe in Pete Lude’s vision of building the CBA towards long-term stability and sustainability through effective, efficient projects and events that bring our unique value to more of the people who need it.

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.

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 — 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 2025 the best 50th Anniversary Father’s Day Festival ever!  We are soooo amazing!  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. I take full responsibility for the bright orange “Department of Transportation” volunteer t-shirts this year. (I’m not sorry – I really do like orange.) 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, http://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 last year to Nepal. Since then, I’ve heard that Yeti has taken up the banjo. No, honestly, he’s really nice when you meet him and he sings great baritone!

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); 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!  Be sure to keep in touch –  fiddlingphoebe@gmail.com

I am a long time CBA member and I care very much about the future of our organization and the music we support. I am a physician but mostly retired now so I have the opportunity to devote my time to serve on the board if you elect me.

If you are a regular visitor to the CBA web site you may already have some idea about my take on the Bluegrass music scene from reading my regular welcome columns. Maybe you have had some fun with my trivia questions as well. The welcome columns are a good start but let me spell it out more directly. These are some of the principles I stand for:

#1) Inclusion. The CBA is a democratic organization. That’s why you are voting–and do make sure to vote (hopefully for me). If elected, I will be your representative and I can’t do the job properly unless I hear your input. I want to hear your ideas even if I have never met you.

#2) Support for our music. Bluegrass, Old Time and Gospel music is somewhat threatened these days. Our local bands and local festivals need our full support because they face stiff competition from pop culture bands with more exposure.

#3) Look to the future. Preserving our music means passing it along to the next generation. I know our CBA youth programs are second to none. We should be proud of that but we should do even more to ensure that they have the resources to do even more. More importantly, we should encourage volunteerism and create leadership opportunities for our youth to make sure our music has a bright future.

#4) Optimize the FDF. Our signature event has suffered some speed bumps in recent years with aging and attrition of the volunteer crew, then COVID-19, etc. Thanks to our leadership the festival has kept rolling but the future is still uncertain. I would like to help preserve the atmosphere of the festival I first came to love more than a quarter century ago. It can be done.

#5) Outreach. What are we doing as an organization to have our music experienced by people who have never been exposed to it? We need to support efforts to bring our music to schools, fairs, local jams and other venues that might expose more people to the great music we are privileged to be a part of.

#6) Cross fertilization. I would like to hear from you about this controversial topic. How do we preserve the core essence of our music without being distracted by outside influences? Sure, we could draw bigger crowds to our festivals by booking popular bands that don’t really play Bluegrass, Old Time or Gospel. And maybe the mixing of musical influences would help musical evolution on all sides. But it’s a tough call. I think our first priority should always be the music our mission statement defines, but I am not opposed to stirring the mix a little.

Thanks,
Bert Daniel

Greetings CBA Members! I’m seeking my 6th term as a CBA Board member. It’s been a very busy year for festivals and other events! Despite challenges due to the ever-increasing costs of venues in California, we continue to “grow the grass” in Southern California and other previously under-represented areas. South State 48 is in its 5th year. Long Beach Bluegrass Festival has become an annual event now in year 2. Square dancing and old-time music is gaining hold and attracting lots of young adults. Our CBA Photo Gallery now includes over 33,000 images from 50 years of CBA History and our year-round Media Team of 6 photographers was augmented by 5 members focusing on capturing video content for social media during this year’s Father’s Day Festival.

Some of my goals for the coming year are:

• Continue to collaborate with other like-minded music organizations and CBA Regional Directors in the diverse Southern California region to establish more programs, jams and events and encourage participation among all levels of pickers and grinners, especially young people.
• Continue to lead the year-round Photography and Website Teams to document the rich history of the CBA and the California bluegrass community and to keep our website and photo gallery reflective of today’s environment to support increased sponsorship, membership, and interest in the CBA.
• Continue to work toward establishing California as a destination for bluegrass, old-time, and gospel music by working with members, other non-profits, and venues to establish a network to support touring bands from all over California and other parts of the country, and publicize their events to increase audience participation.

Thank you for your consideration.

Robin Frenette
Long Beach, CA

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-pollenation 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 have been proud to serve on the CBA Board in the past, and I am very excited to continue our collaborations to move our great organization forward. I’ve learned so much, and I am finding the places where I can best contribute.

Once upon a distant time, Joel was a member of The Stringbeans, voted Knoxville’s (Tennessee) Best Bluegrass Band. He is a big fan of the Del McCoury Band, Steve Martin, and Country Gongbang!

Joel formerly volunteered with various contra dance organizations. These days, he is busy pickin’ at home with his family and enjoying all the great bluegrass and old-time music in California.

I’m Lani Way and I am asking for your vote for a sixth term on the CBA Board.   CBA’s  50th anniversary provided inspiration in looking for expanded ways to be relevant, meet current challenges and strengthen the best of what we are already doing.  It is exciting to see the launch of our new programs,  Spectrum Bluegrass, dedicated to connecting neurodiverse people through Bluegrass music and the After School Bluegrass Club partnering to bring Bluegrass instruction to youth.

I am the current Vice Chairman of the board and International Bluegrass Music Association coordinator. I provide outreach to our bluegrass partners, sponsors and media to assist in promoting our organization and events.

I attended my first Bluegrass festival over 30 years ago.  Throughout the years, I’ve attended music camps, played bass in the family band and raised children in the CBA youth programs.  Creating programs and opportunities for children and young adults to develop the love of Bluegrass and Old Time through listening, playing and performing is key to cultivating the vibrant exploration of the music. Our youth have developed as musicians, mentors, community members and leaders  nurtured in the environment of CBA youth programs, and embraced by the  community of pickers, and professional musicians in the greater Bluegrass community.

This is a very active time for the CBA with the board currently involved in strategic planning to build our capacity to take on new initiatives that broaden our reach and provide stability for the organization.  I would appreciate your vote for another term.

Greetings CBA members,

My name is Andrea Zelones (fiddle/mandolin player) and I am running for my 4th term on the CBA Board of Directors. I’m also CBA’s Corporate Secretary (3 years) and am CBA’s Southlands Regional Director (San Diego & Imperial Counties). I actively participate in various CBA committees with goals of diversifying events in California and increasing membership and participation in CBA. I’m still developing relationships and proactively promoting bluegrass and old-time music throughout California and encouraging K-12 participation at local jams and events.

I’m a current and active Member of CBA, San Diego Bluegrass Society (SDBS), North County Bluegrass & Folk Club (NCBFC), Southwest Bluegrass Association (SWBA), Songmakers, San Diego Mandolin Orchestra (SDMO), and Classical Mandolin Society of America (CMSA). I also hold board positions with other musical associations besides CBA (NCBFC, SDBS, SWBA, and SDMO).

Thank you for your consideration.

Andrea Zelones
San Diego, CA