Great Gifts and Guilt

The Orion constellation was almost straight overhead in the early autumn night sky. The blazing nebula of Orion’s sword, set in the crystalline black background, indicated that we were indeed in the wee hours of the morning. My fingers were feeling sawed off after...

Great Gifts and Guilt

The Orion constellation was almost straight overhead in the early autumn night sky. The blazing nebula of Orion’s sword, set in the crystalline black background, indicated that we were indeed in the wee hours of the morning. My fingers were feeling sawed off after...

Great Moments in Bakersfield History

1858 – Area settled, and named (modestly) by Colonel Thomas Baker, who allowed weary settlers to rest in his fields. 1873 – Bakersfield incorporated as a city. 1874 – JD Rhynes born on the future site of the Crystal Palace 1925 – Rose Maddox born – not in Bakersfield...

Great Turn Out and We Got the Job Done

For well over forty years now, men, women and children have gathered together in various spots around Northern California for a few days during the third week in October to sing and play and dance to the music of Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Skruggs and the...

Green Rooms

I wrote a column a while back called ?The Little Things?. It was about the things that can make certain venues more fun to play than others, if a whole lot of other factors are equal. I spoke of free meals and drinks for the band, a subject on which (as anyone who...

Hoping for a full house

I’m hoping for a full house Friday night, Sept. 2, when the Freight and Salvage Coffee House in Berkeley puts on a special benefit show for banjoist Bill Evans and his wife.Kathy Evans, a long-time kindergarten teacher in the Albany schools, has been having a...