Good morning from Whiskey Creek, where it would definitely be snowing right now if there was a single cloud in the sky. I’m going to get right to it here. A couple of days ago I received an email from a guy called Bill Foss who told me about a WONDERFUL event coming up in San Francisco. It’s called the STANLEY SING and here’s what Bill told me.
………………………………………………………
The Stanley Sing started in 2013 as an event by Eric Embry, Scot Brenton, Bill Foss and Martha Hawthorne at the Lucky Horse Shoe bar in San Francisco. The idea was to honor the music of Ralph Stanley and the Stanley Brothers with a marathon invitational jam session of local musicians playing the music of Dr. Ralph. It is not an open mic. Members of the general public and bluegrass music fans are invited to come and listen and enjoy.
This is the 3rd Semi-Annual Stanley Sing
The bands are scheduled to perform 3 of their favorite Stanley songs each. They are scheduled such that repeat songs are spaced out as far apart as possible. However, last time there were very few repeats, believe it or not! Last time about 50 musicians participated! We try to include the mention of performers in our publicity. Scheduling is difficult and we were not able to publicize the exact times of performances before hand to the general public. We have to adjust performance time slots up to the last minute because sometimes performers run late, etc.
For the last Sing in 2014 we had a full house of audience and performers. We expect another big turn out. Everyone had a great time and many said it reminded them of the old days at Paul’s Saloon when it was the hub for bluegrass in the bay area.
This year we expect the Sing will have an element of being a memorial since Dr. Ralph passed away last year. So if people want to hear some great bluegrass while remembering one of the great bluegrass pioneers, come on down to the Stanley Sing.
It is being sponsored in part by the Northern California Bluegrass Society.
This year it is scheduled for March 18, 3:00-10:00 pm Cafe La Promenade 3643 Balboa Ave, San Francisco.
There will also be a raffle (the Ralph-le!) where you could win tickets to the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival or the CBA’s Fathers Day Festival.
Join the fun! It’s as Ralph as it gets! Strictly Stanley!
Members of the following bands and musicians are booked to perform. More to confirm:
Windy Hill (Thomas Wille, Ryan Breen)
Eric Embry
Hossettes (Angela Personeni, Hailey Pexton, Karon Wilhoyte)
Josh Tharp (of Keith Little’s Band)
High Country (Larry Cohea, Jim Mintun)
Keystone Crossing (Larry Carlin, Claudia Hempe)
Bernal Hillbillies (Larry Chung, Bill Foss, Martha Hawthorne, Scot Brenton, Amy Scher)
Ted Kuster
Town Howlers (John McKelvy)
Chris Smith (The Mighty Crows)
Chuck and Jeanie’s Country Round Up
Skillit Licorise (Matt Knoth, Elise Engelberg)
Tom Diamont
Paul Shelasky (house fiddler and Curly Ray Cline impersonator)
So there you go. If you live within a 300 mile radius of Cafe La Promenade you have no excuse for not showing up to this gala event.