NCBS Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival
The annual festival was held in August at the San Benito County Historical Park in Tres Pinos near Hollister. Since its beginning in 1994 (thirty years!) its been a favorite festival featuring California bands and lots of jamming under the shady trees in the park. Here’s a selection of CD reviews from some of the performers. Mark your calendars for next year – August 7-10 2025.
Water Tower: Live From Los Angeles
www.watertowerband.com
Song List: National Anthem/Reuben’s Train, California Love, Cotton Eyed Joe, Five Tap, George Washington, I See the Light, My Little Girl in Tennessee, Lonesome Road Blues, Mary Jane, Radio, Skante Warrior, Stay All Night, River Song, AM PM, Take Me Back.
Back in 2005, Kenny Feinstein started the Water Tower Bucket Boys in Portland, Oregon. In 2018, he moved to Los Angeles and started Water Tower. Kenny plays banjo, mandolin, fiddle, and guitar, and his skills give the band the versatility to have arrangements with double fiddles and banjos. The overall sound is an overpowering wall of sound that envelops the listener. Band members are Tommy Drinkard on guitar and banjo, Jesse Blue Eads on bass and banjo, and Joey Berglund on bass.
The song selection runs the gamut from traditional bluegrass to originals from Tommy and Kenny. The band’s backgrounds include old-time, bluegrass, jazz, jamgrass, reggae, rock and punk rock. It’s a diverse mix, and the songs easily from genre to genre under the lead vocals of Tommy and Kenny. “My Little Girl in Tennessee” has all the hard-driving banjo of classic bluegrass with the blended vocal harmonies, and “Lonesome Road Blues” has strong vocals and the double banjo playing of Tommy and Jesse. The opening song flows from a melodic banjo version of the National Anthem to the hard-driving two banjo-powered “Reuben’s Train.”
The original songs focus on the grittier side of life in LA. “AM PM” with its flow of wheeling and dealing and “Skante Warrior” give a nod to the drug world. “California Love” has a rapper rhythm with nods to Compton, Watts, and the city of sex and alcohol. “Radio Radio” has pulsating repeats of the word “radio” that becomes a chant of escape. “George Washington” is not really about the former president, but the question of permanence vs. sudden demise from an incoming asteroid or micronova. It has the repeating chorus of “we’re going to die someday” that earworms into your mind. The album closes with “Take Me Back” with a bluegrass theme of return to the old home place, but the singer’s old home is a skid row of drugs and pills. Water Tower is captivating and contrary, but it presents a fascinating fusion of bluegrass, rap, and punk rock.
Sonia Shell: We’re Going Home
www.soniashell.com
Song List: Pretty Polly, Old Grimes, Saint James Infirmary, Arkansas Traveler, Roving Gambler, I Could Have Danced All Night, Workin’ Woman Blues, Betting on Jones, Both Sides Now, Hello Trouble, Waltzing Matilda/Yellow Bird/Farewell Blues,, We’re Going Home.
Sonia’s success in the Bay Area bluegrass scene includes years of banjo and jam session classes, and membership in the bands Sidesaddle, Harmony Grits, and the Goat Hill Girls. Currently she is also part of the band Bluegrass Holiday based in Marin County.
The songs featured in the album are classic jam favorites, rousing instrumentals, and a sprinkling of popular show tunes. Each has Sonia’s graceful banjo playing and feature a stellar group of Bay Area musicians: Jim Lewin on guitar, Sara Eblen on bass, Johnny Campbell/Dana Frankel on fiddle, and Hide Kawatsure/Jesse Appleman on mandolin.
“Pretty Polly” is a classic murder ballad, but Sonia has updated the lyrics to give Polly the wherewithal to kill Willie before he does her in. It’s a welcome variation and a warning to avoid ramblers who would leave you astray. Sonya also revamped “St. James Infirmary” to give it a more bluesy backdrop with the help of James Lewin on guitar and Dana Frankel on fiddle. “Roving Gambler” has an upbeat bluegrass instrumental backdrop and a vocal harmony trio. An album highlight is “Working Women’s Blues” with Sonia giving the song a modern The gentle lullaby “We’re Going Home” was written by Sonia for her daughters and the sweet vocal and melodic banjo playing bring the album to a close.
Sonia’s banjo playing has always had a blend of melodic interludes and crisp rhythms and the Lerner and Lowe “I Could Have Danced All Night” and Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” are magically changed into banjo instrumentals. Sonia and Jim perform “Old Grimes” with interweaving solos and a Celtic lilt. It’s always a treat to see a band performer’s venture into the solo spotlight, and when you’re accompanied by turquoise boots and white wall tires, it’s mighty fine!
Mission Blue: Traditional Ways
www.missionblue.net
Song List: My Home in the Mountains, I’m Walking Down the Line, Memories & Dreams, Nashville Blues, I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name, Peggy-O, Things in Life, Booth Shot Lincoln, I Am Weary Let Me Rest, Nellie Kane, You Go To Your Church and I’ll Go To Mine.
Mission Blue is based in Pacifica, and features the father-daughter playing and vocal harmonies of Dana and Avram Frankel. Avram has been active in traditional bluegrass bands in the area, and Dana’s emergence as an up-and-coming fiddle player has made the formation of a band a natural progression. Joining the duo on this collection of songs is David Thiessen on mandolin and vocals. Tom Sours on bass and vocals, and Sam Reed on banjo.
The opening song, “My Home in the Mountains” has all the hallmarks of a bluegrass song: a home place, a high tenor vocal solo, three part vocal harmonies, a sparkling banjo beat, a percussive mandolin and guitar. Dana and Avram have a lovely duet blend in the Larry Sparks song, “Memories and Dreams.” Vocal harmonies shine in their rendering of the classic “Peggy – O” and “I Am Weary, Let Me Rest.” “Nashville Blues” is an Earl Scruggs song and fiddle and banjo propel the melody and rhythm of this album highlight. Dana’s fiddle playing certainly adds an extra zest to the sound and she is also featured vocally in the Bob Dylan song “Walking Down the Line” and Don Stover’s “Things in Life.” If you like your bluegrass freshly traditional, be sure to seek out this band.
The Storytellers: Hear the Grass Grow Volume One
www.storytellersband.com
Song List: No More To Leave You Behind, Good Times Around the Bend, Peggy-O, Nobody’s Love Is Like Mine,” “Don’t Be Afraid,” “I’m On Fire,” “Shady Grove,” “Beat In On Down the Line,” “Dancing on Your Grave,” “Homestead on the Farm.”
The Storytellers band story began seven years ago with an appreciation of the group “Old and In the Way.” The members of that group had common roots in bluegrass but its members had successful careers in rock, jazz, and Americana music. Jerry Garcia started the Grateful Dead, David Grisman pioneered “dawg grass,” Peter Rowan wrote unique compelling songs and Vassar Clements’ fiddle playing was cosmic. The Storytellers are Scott Diehl on guitar and vocals, Lance Frantzich on bass and vocals, Tyler Emerson on fiddle and vocals Ethan Van Thillo on mandolin and vocals, and Steve Stelmach on percussion and washboard.
The song selection covers a wide range of sources from the Infamous Stringdusters to the Carter Family, the Grateful Dead and Bruce Springsteen. Andy Hall’s song, “No More to Leave You Behind,” is defined with a fiddle and banjo framework as the singer yearns for a return to his sweetheart and home. Its bookended with another old folks at home song with Carter Family and Flatt and Scruggs roots, “Homestead on the Farm.” The Storytellers excel at using and banjo and fiddle to propel the melody and add a strong rhythm that inspires their audiences to get up and dance. The band does a jamgrass take on Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” and it flows through 6:43 minutes of soaring melody and counterpoint under a heartfelt message of desire. The Grateful Dead performed Jesse Fuller’s “Beat It On Down the Line” with a old-timey beat, and the Storytellers add a bouncy percussion to the mix. Other “oldies but goodies” are the band’s versions of “Shady Grove” and Carter Stanley’s “Nobody’s Love Is Like Mine.” Here’s a band that sends out lots of energy in their performances, and is likely to inspire audiences to jump up and dance with them!