by Bert Daniel | May 13, 2021 | Welcome Column
(Editor’s note: It is a pleasure to introduce our newest welcome columnist, Aynsley Porchak. Many of you may remember seeing Aynsley at Grass Valley when she performed for us with her band Carolina Blue a couple of years ago. She is not only a talented fiddler but...
by Bert Daniel | May 9, 2021 | Welcome Column
For my money the best song ever written about Mother comes from Hazel Dickens. I like songs that tell a story, and this one about a young lady leaving home for the first time speaks to how a mother can strengthen and guide a child for their whole lifetime: I thought...
by Bert Daniel | May 6, 2021 | Welcome Column
After 14 months of pandemic captivity, I played a gig last Saturday. It was so much fun, I’m planning to do it again this Saturday at the same venue, R&W Vineyards in Cupertino. The band that I’m playing with (and I use the term band loosely) is the Ames bluegrass...
by robin | May 3, 2021 | Welcome Column
I’ve been criticized for not taking Bluegrass seriously and disrespecting the music because good bluegrass music makes me want to dance. It’s fun music. Not just fun, it’s also funny. Bluegrass has a well-established sense of humor. To prove it, I asked some of...
by robin | Apr 23, 2021 | Welcome Column
“The CBA has been a thrill ride for me… I’m grateful to the CBA for the help raising my kids, taking me seriously in a leadership position, and turning the Grass Valley nights into magic.” (Mark Varner, Facebook, April 19, 2021) I’ve recently been recruited to...
by robin | Apr 20, 2021 | Welcome Column
When I discovered bluegrass music back in the mid-1960s I was puzzled by the contrast between the instruments used by the majority of bluegrass musicians and the folksy origins of ‘mountain music’ as it was often called. Impoverished hill farmers and miners couldn’t...
