April 2016 President’s Message

by | Apr 4, 2016 | Welcome Column

I am late again getting my April President’s Message to editor Mark Varner and am going to insert instead a review I wrote about our first ever  CBA Youth Program fundraising concert held February 26th  in Alameda CA.  We made a couple hundred dollars...

April 2018 President’s Message

by | Apr 2, 2018 | Welcome Column

February was a big month with many musical options for California bluegrassers.  Volume Five appeared at the CBA produced Shingle Springs and a Night at the Grange concerts.  Many CBAers make the trek to Lake Havasu in Arizona for the big festival Larry and...

April President’s Message

by | Apr 4, 2017 | Welcome Column

The Spring Campout is this month in Turlock! The CBA hosts three campouts each year: the Spring Campout, the Fall Campout (the Annual Membership Meeting) and the Old Time Cam- pout. If you have never attended a campout this might be the year to attend.Several years...

Are Charts Cheating?

by | Dec 5, 2012 | Welcome Column

In my parents’ generation, when they went out to watch music being played live, it was orchestras. Even the top bands on their day were orchestras. Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Phil Harris and the acts were bandleader front men backed by their orchestras. The...

Are Great Bluegrass Songs Born That Way?

by | Feb 8, 2012 | Welcome Column

Bluegrass music sure has a lot of great songs (I’m including “songs” and “tunes”). Over the years, many have emerged as popular favorites, some to a degree that they have fallen out of favor. My personal favorite example is “Rocky Top”. From the time I first started...

Are There Too Many Festivals?

by | Aug 17, 2014 | Welcome Column

I came across an interesting read this week entitled “Why the Summer Festival Bubble is About to Burst”. You can find this rather long discussion on the economics of festivals at http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/too-many-summer-music-festivals. Now granted, the...