It’s been an interesting few months and a lot has happened in the world of California Bluegrass. To start, the CBA has been part of two award winning parade float entries: the Pride Parade in San Francisco which won the Best Overall Contingent out of about 270 parade entries, and the Alameda 4th of July Parade float which took 2nd place in the civilian band category. The Pride float project was conceived and organized by Ted Kuster, our San Francisco Area VP, and was made possible by a very active group of San Francisco CBA members, and an equally committed group of CBA members from around the entire Bay area. It was amazing to watch this unfold and since Ted is a friend of mine, I was able to bug him every now and then and share in his achievements and listen to his frustrations. Mariaelena Quale did the organizational heavy lifting for the Alameda 4th of July Parade float, with serious help from Peter Barnato providing a flatbed truck, which came off just as successfully. I got to play on the Alameda float and what a trip that was…the audience up and down the parade route gave us a phenomenal response. If you haven’t done something like this I can’t tell you how much fun it is playing in front of folks in a parade and watching them groove on bluegrass music. I have heard that planning has started on having a CBA float in the St Patrick’s day parade in San Francisco…jeez I hope so.
The San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival is back after a four-year hiatus! Shows will happen all over San Francisco on Wednesday-Sunday, October 11-15, 2017. Some of the same folks that were instrumental in the float projects are in the mix on the SFBOT resurrection as well…Ted Kuster is in the mix again as is Michael Hall from the NCBS. I don’t know all the folks involved but certainly Matt Lauer, Rowan McCalister, and Chuck Poling have been on the email threads. When I get the opportunity I’ll name everyone involved to give due credit.
Now, I am going to take some pride for prestigious IBMA Award nominees that either come from California or have roots here. Laurie Lewis is a nominee for a Momentum Award in the Mentor Category and Megan Chowning is nominated for a Momentum Industry Involvement award for her Nashville Acoustic Camps. Molly Tuttle is the first woman ever to be nominated for an IBMA Guitar Player of the Year Award and is nominated as well for Female Vocalist of the Year, and Emerging Artist of the Year. Molly is a frequent teacher at the CBA music camp and is just tearing it up this year with IBMA awards. Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen are nominated for an IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year Award and Frank is also nominated for Mandolin Player of the Year. Front Country is nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year and Rob Ickes is nominated for Dobro Player of the Year. Finally, we should all congratulate Roland White on his induction into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. Roland White has enjoyed one of the most eventful and enduring careers in bluegrass. Early in his career, brothers Roland, Eric and Clarence began performing extensively as The Country Boys, appearing on two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. Changing their name to The Kentucky Colonels, they became one of the most popular West Coast bluegrass bands of the late-50s/early-60s. In 1967, Roland became a Blue Grass Boy, hired by Bill Monroe to play guitar, and he played on such seminal bluegrass recordings as “The Gold Rush,” “Sally Goodin,” and “Walls of Time.” After two years, he was hired to play mandolin with the newly formed Lester Flatt & The Nashville Grass, where he remained until 1973. He reunited briefly with brothers Eric and Clarence as the New Kentucky Colonels, until Clarence’s untimely death. Roland joined Alan Munde in the Country Gazette, where he performed for thirteen years. During his tenure with The Nashville Bluegrass Band, beginning in 1987, the band earned numerous IBMA awards, along with two GRAMMY awards and six nominations. Residing in Nashville, Tennessee, he has fronted the GRAMMY nominated Roland White Band for the past sixteen years.
We should be proud of our community and thank the founders of the CBA for seeding what has become a vibrant active organization that is having an impact on Bluegrass music in our state, across the nation and throughout the world. This did not happen by chance but by the blood, sweat, and tears of many, many CBA volunteers. If you see any of the folks I mentioned above, I hope you will join me in thanking them for their work and I hope you will help me encourage other CBA members to participate, volunteer, or organize a Bluegrass event, jam, float, or concert in their community. We want to get the word out and recruit new members to enjoy this fantastic community and each of you can help.
