by Bert Daniel | Jun 29, 2022 | Uncategorized, Welcome Column
What a treat last week to once again sit in a lawn chair at Grass Valley and listen some of the best musicians in the land! We had a lively crowd, mild weather and lively jams sometimes fueled by recent graduates of the reborn yearly music camp. I hope our venerable...
by Patrick Campbell | Jun 28, 2022 | Announcements
Photo: Sycamore Bend Bluegrass Band at the Park in Clovis. Photo credit: Karana Hattersley-Drayton Bluegrass and Old-Time Music are thriving in the Central San Joaquin Valley. On May 13th we kicked off the 14th season of free Friday concerts in Clovis with Bluegrass...
by Bert Daniel | Jun 26, 2022 | Welcome Column
The Daily Grist: As her lute doth live or die, Led by her passion, so must I: For when of pleasure she doth sing, My thoughts enjoy a sudden spring, But if she doth of sorrow speak, Ev’n from my heart the strings do break. (Thomas Campion) All of our traditional...
by Patrick Campbell | Jun 26, 2022 | Announcements
CBA member Rebecca Stone relates “a fun happening”: I was manning the Membership Booth and Lost and Found on Sunday morning when LeeAnn Welch of the Goat Hill Girls came seeking her lost Michael Cleveland CD which he had signed for her the night before....
by Patrick Campbell | Jun 25, 2022 | Announcements, Band News
Birches Bend recently released their debut album “While We’re Waiting” back in May of this year. This phenomenally talented young band, that just performed on Vern’s stage at Father’s Day Festival, features Jasper Manning (mandolin), Lucy Khadder (fiddle/vocals), and...
by Dave Berry | Jun 23, 2022 | Announcements, Bluegrass Musicians
The great James Reams died June 22, 2022. Following is a Porch Talk interview by Dave Berry published in July 2016. photo: James Reams is in the white jacket This month’s chat is with James Reams, a nationally known musician, songwriter and bandleader with close to...
by Bert Daniel | Jun 20, 2022 | Uncategorized, Welcome Column
It is interesting to think of just how old some of the music that crept into the bluegrass genre from long ago is. Bluegrass songs often tell a story. That might be a murder (most likely by a guy named Willie) but it might be something quite different. In the middle...
by Bert Daniel | Jun 10, 2022 | Uncategorized, Welcome Column
Photo credit: Robin Frenette I have to leave for Grass Valley in a couple of days. The festival has always been a centerpoint for my bluegrass experience and I am happy that the festival has risen from COVID ashes to be a real festival again. But I am really sad that...
by Patrick Campbell | Jun 9, 2022 | Announcements
Dancin’ John was a fixture at virtually every CBA event for decades. Whether dancing alone or surrounded by a gaggle of young folk, quietly and relentlessly – medieval monk-like – he radiated the meditative power of the music to which he danced....
by Bert Daniel | Jun 8, 2022 | Welcome Column
The Daily grist: “if you have to keep declaring, over and over, that poetry is dead, it can’t actually be dead.” (from a college literary magazine) I read a disturbing article a couple of months ago from Washington Post columnist Christopher Ingraham. The...
