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Music in the mountains. By the time you read this your intrepid Almost Daily News editor will be settled in at the Strawberry Music Festival at Camp Mather just outside of Yosemite, where I will be until Monday. (There is no truth to the rumor that I am really going to Burning Man!)(though this would make for a better story.) I have been going to the fest since 1991, and it is always a great time. There are always some bluegrass bands on the bill along with singer/songwriters, blues, swing, country, and more. If you want to attend at the last minute, go to the Strawberry Ticket Exchange to see if you can score a ticket. However, there is no web access at the festival, so the next ADN column will not appear here again until the beginning of next week. So there is more info than usual in this mid-week column. If by chance you do make it up to the festival, stop by the mess hall some morning for the live Breakfast Show. Yours truly is the host in the bathrobe, slippers and strawberry pajamas. In the meantime, have a fun and safe Labor Day Weekend. South Bay bluegrass barbeque -- The Mighty Crows will be entertaining you with bluegrass to go along with the spicy barbeque at Sam’s in San Jose on the 27th from 6-9 p.m. Hyperbole Mountain will play a short opening set. Reserve a table at (408) 297-9151. Shades of Blue in Grass Valley -- The new group Shades of Blue, featuring Tom Shewmake, Melissa Copenhaver, Brian Burke and Kathy Barwick, can be seen playing at Latitudes in Auburn on the 27th from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Jammin’ in Lompoc -- On the second and fourth Wednesdays there are evening jams in Lompoc from 7- 9 p.m. at the Southside Coffee Company, 105 South "H" Street. Head on over there tonight. For more info call Bill at (805) 736-8241. Bluegrass in San Francisco -- The Atlas Cafe presents the best in live bluegrass and old-time music every Thursday night from 8-10 p.m. On the 28th you can take part in the bluegrass and old-time jam, and there is no cover charge. Jammin’ in Ventura -- There is a bluegrass jam on the second and fourth Thursdays at Zoey's Café, 451 E. Main Street, in Ventura from 6-9:30 p.m. All skill levels are welcome. Friendly folks, great food and drink, and fun pickin'. Spectators are appreciated. For more info, contact Gene at generubinaudio@earthlink.net. Jammin’ in Morgan Hill -- In Morgan Hill the jam at the El Toro Brewing Company takes place every Thursday from 6-10 p.m. For info contact Dick Simunic at (408) 316-4745 or jrsimunic@hotmail.com. Pickin’ in Petaluma -- Ed Neff and Friends play bluegrass every Thursday at the Willowbrook Ale House in Petaluma from 6:30-9:30 p.m. There is no cover, and you get to hear some of the finest traditional bluegrass in the North Bay. The regular pickers are Ed Neff on mandolin, Mike Wilhoyte on guitar, Jeff King on bass, Paul Shelasky on fiddle, and banjoist Larry Cohea. The address is 3600 Petaluma Boulevard North. Call (707) 775-4232 for more info. Jammin’ in Encinitas -- On Thursdays everyone heads to Today’s Pizza, 481 Santa Fe Drive, in Encinitas, for a night of pizza, pickin’, and grinnin’. This is an excellent jam for those closet pickers wishing to learn to play bluegrass with others. The time is 6:30-9 p.m. For more info email Jason at banjojay@hotmail.com. Hot summer nights in Temecula -- There is a series of free Friday night shows from 6-9 p.m. in old town Temecula called Hot Summer Nights that has multiple bands playing. One of the acts you can see there on the 29th is the Silverado Bluegrass Band. Bluegrass in Sonoma -- At Murphy’s Irish Pub in the town of Sonoma on the 29th at 8 p.m. enjoy the traditional bluegrass sounds of Blue & Lonesome, and then on the 30th at 8 p.m. The Spiral Mystics offer up far-ranging styles, from bluegrass, Celtic and folk to Appalachian. Tasty food is available in a family-friendly atmosphere, and there is no cover. Jammin’ in Sebastopol -- The place for bluegrass pickin' on Saturdays is the Coffee Catz, 6761 Sebastopol Ave, from 2-5 p.m. Kitchen Help at McGraths -- Don’t miss Kitchen Help pickin’ some bluegrass at McGrath’s Pub in Alameda for their first time on the 30th starting at 8 p.m. Jammin’ in Fresno County -- For all of you central California pickers, the last-Saturday-of-the-month-bluegrass-jam-and-potluck will take place in Squaw Valley on the 30th from 5-9 p.m. at the Bear Mountain Library, 30733 E. Kings Canyon Road (Hwy. 180), in Squaw Valley. Coffee will be provided. Bring your dinner service and a potluck dish to share, and your beverage of choice (no alcohol). Also bring your instruments and, most important, prepare to have a great time. For more info contact Nancy or Henry at (559) 476-0446 or (559) 476-0447. Mountaineers go to the beach -- The Mason Mountaineers will be pickin’ bluegrass at Suzy's Bar and Grill in Hermosa Beach on the 30th from 4-7 p.m. Turn your radio on -- Tune into Peter Thompson’s Bluegrass Signal radio show on KALW (91.7 FM) in SF on the 30th from 6:30-8 p.m. Peter will be previewing the music of Brown Barn Bluegrass Festival, with music by High Country, Blue & Lonesome, The Mighty Crows and others, as well as a look at the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention, with music by Benton Flippen, Rayna Gellert, Stairwell Sisters, and others and more. Rita and Willie -- See Rita Hosking & Cousin Jack play the pre-event show on the 1st at the Oxbow Public Market in Napa. Willie Nelson will appear later, sponsored by the Napa Valley Opera House. Rita will play from 4:30-5:30 p.m. The cost for her part of the bargain is $60 a ticket – it's a fundraiser, and you get all the food and drink you like. Willie is already sold-out. Bearfoot in SF -- And no, we’re not talking Barefoot Nellies here! They played last Monday. On Monday the 1st the bluegrass night at Amnesia in SF will feature the bluegrass band Bearfoot (formerly called Bearfoot Bluegrass) starting at 8:30 p.m. They are filling in for Belle Monroe & Her Brewglass Boys, who will be on their way back from tearing it up on the main stage at the Strawberry Music Festival. B. Judd, Bluegrass Philosopher -- “I don't approve of political jokes... I've seen too many get elected.” The Almost Daily News is updated almost daily. If you have news that you would like to share with our bluegrass community, let me know and I’ll spread the word. E-mail me here. |
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For the BOCD'ers in our group (you know who you are) here's more…. CBA Regional Newsletters Cybergrass, The Internet's Bluegrass Magazine Bluegrass World Bluegrass Music Profiles-Bluegrass News The Bluegrass Blog The Bluegrass Works And for our mandolin playing friends, we recommend you check out what's going on over at Mandolin Cafe. 
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The wit and wisdom of my 'ol pal Tom Long, fiddler, and jes a pure "good 'ol boy". Today's column from J.D. Rhynes Thursday, August 28, 2008 The year was 1974, if'n I reckon right. Now you have to remember that this was a few years before we had ANY bluegrass festivals here in California to go to, and folks would get together to spend a long week end of pickin' and singin' every time we had a chance. This story is about one of those times, that I wish I could relive many times over. My good friend Jack Sadler [ Yes, THAT Jack Sadler, one of the founding fathers of the CBA] threw a big pickin' party at his house on top of Overlook Mtn., above Los Gatos, Ca., which does indeed overlook all of the towns in a 30 mile radius. He had invited several of his pickin' buddies, and we spent Friday through Sunday afternoon playing music and eating and drinking, and jes enjoying the hell out of each others company. A lot of Jack's friends at the time were members of the California Old time Fiddler's Association, an association that preceeded the Calif. Bluegrass Assoc. by several years. They would have fiddle contest's and a lot of us would go to the contest's primarily to just enjoy the parking lot pickin'. That's how I got acquainted with Jack and a lot of the fiddler's that became my friends for the rest of our lives. Enter Tom Long, fiddler, a brother in law of one of Jack's boyhood friends who is also a fiddle player. Now, back to the pickin' party at Jack's house. Jack lives in an old 1880's era , two story farm house, that is a magnificent place to live. It has several rooms on both floors and, on this particular night, there were several of us in what I would guess to be the parlor, pickin' and singing and telling stories. Most of us were from different parts of the southern states, and we got to telling about how we had ended up in California, and how we got here. We all had pretty much the same stories of traveling to California with our families,I n a car, a few came west with the Army, Marines, etc., and then someone asked |
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