by Bert Daniel | Feb 6, 2022 | Welcome Column
The Daily Grist: Where oh where is pretty little Susie? Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch (traditional) Spring is springing already here in California! And there is no greater delight than watching the trees bloom each spring. Like many others during the COVID era I...
by Bert Daniel | Feb 4, 2022 | Welcome Column
I can tell you from experience. It’s not a bad thing at all to be stuck in Lodi. For years now the CBA has held its fall or spring campout at the Grape Festival Grounds in Lodi. By April we may be somewhat out of this pandemic mess and I hope we will be able to...
by Patrick Campbell | Feb 4, 2022 | Announcements
Check out the VIDEO that CBA staff photographer Robin Frenette shot at Molly and Golden Highway performing “Grass Valley” at the Roxy Theater on Feb 2. Anyone who has attended at Father’s Day Festival in Grass Valley will feel pretty darn nostalgic!...
by Patrick Campbell | Feb 3, 2022 | Reviews
Magnolia Drive: Timeless www.MagnoliaDrive.com Song List: Lonely Side of Goodbye, The Girl On Sugar Pie Lane, Going Back in Time, Your Tender Loving Care, I Will Always Be With You, I Won’t Call You, It’s Me Again Lord, Mountain Rose, Sweet Country Girl, Going Home,...
by Patrick Campbell | Feb 3, 2022 | Announcements
Greetings – Thanks for your interest in Bay Area bluegrass and old time music events — and for sending me updates and corrections. Please visit the Bluegrass Signal web site for the latest listings and playlists, as well as a number of items and articles...
by Patrick Campbell | Feb 3, 2022 | Interesting Instruments
CBA Member Kai Lyons, currently on a study trip to Brazil, tries out a “samba banjo.” Based on a traditional Brazilian instrument called a cavaquinho, this instrument uses a banjo body for extra volume, like a banjo uke. It’s tuned an octave above...
by Bruce Campbell | Feb 2, 2022 | Welcome Column
I’ll never make a living on music. There. I said it. My parents were right. I tried, I really did. But I discovered that a few things were holding me back. First and foremost, I don’t have enough talent to rise to the upper 1/10 of 1%. I just don’t. I have some...
by Patrick Campbell | Jan 31, 2022 | Reviews
Jamie Francis: The Complete Tune Playing Toolkit for 5-String Banjo www.melbay.com Publication ISBN 978-151-346-812-9 The banjo is a unique American instrument with origins in Africa. The four string banjo or tenor, enjoyed popularity in jazz and Irish music,...
by Bert Daniel | Jan 30, 2022 | Welcome Column
THE DAILY GRIST: “If nature has ever produced a more perfect thing than the mesmerizing beauty of this starling swarm, I have yet to encounter it. No other phenomenon has ever stopped me in my tracks quite like this, made me forget everything else in the world except...
by Bert Daniel | Dec 13, 2022 | Welcome Column
I’m very proud to claim Irish heritage on this Saint Patrick’s Day, but as Kermit the frog said, it’s not easy being green. My surname is derived from the Irish name O’Daniel and I have no idea why my ancestors emigrated from the Emerald Isle to the “Greenfields of...
