The Thursday Bluegrass Series at the Summit House Beer Garden & Grill will present great music with Mountain Drive August 31.
The FREE 6:00-8:30pm music program is presented by the The Summit House and welcomed by the Northern California Bluegrass Society. The Summit House serves fine food and drink in the Santa Cruz Mountains and is located at 23123 Santa Cruz Highway, six miles south of Los Gatos.
Northern California Bluegrass Society Members will be out this Labor Day Weekend to enjoy some great festivals. Here are the events for this weekend. Come on out and join us!
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER
Burning Man Festival, August 27–September 4, Black Rock City, Black Rock Desert, NV.
Strawberry Fall Music Festival, August 31-September 4, Westside, Tuolumne.
SEPTEMBER
Plumas Homegrown American Festival, September 1-3, Plumas County Fairgrounds, Quincy.
Four Corners Folk Festival, September 1-3, Reservoir Hill Park, Pagosa Springs, CO.
San Francisco Folk Music Club Fall Campout, September 1-4, Boy Scout Reservation, Boulder Creek.
Front Porch Music Festival, September 2, Wente Vineyards, Livermore.
Santa Cruz Mountain Art Wine & Music Festival, September 5-6, Garrahan Park, Boulder Creek.
Two Month Reminder: Nominations for the 11th Annual Northern California Bluegrass Awards are due from NCBS Members by October 21, 2017.
The Northern California Bluegrass Society will fete the volunteers and bands of the past year’s events and projects at the NCBS Volunteer Thank You Party, set for Saturday, October 14 at an undisclosed location. The highly coveted invitations will be out soon! Thanks for your support!
Bluegrass lost two good friends and two leaders today — Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine publisher Pete Kuykendall of Broad Run, VA, and Delbert Doty of Hollister, CA, the longtime president of the San Benito County Historical Society. While neither was a NCBS member, both contributed to the success of the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival.
—
Pete Kuykendall was a bluegrass musician, songwriter, promoter, DJ, and journalist, who brought essential business skills to bluegrass music at an early time when professionalism was lacking and the development of the music was in doubt. He took over the newsletter of a small non-profit organization in the Washington, DC area and developed it into the national bluegrass magazine of record. He also co-founded the International Bluegrass Music Association and brought the concept of Leadership Bluegrass to the IBMA.
When the NCBS’ fledgling GOF Festival caught Pete’s attention as a source of new west coast bluegrass energy, he and his wife Kitsy Kuykendall came all the way to California as a fully-paid vendor (turning down our offer of a free BU booth) to lend support — and credibility — to the new event. Kitsy saw The Waybacks on the GOF stage and booked them for a slot at the IBMA convention, the band’s first appearance at the national level.
Peter V. Kuykendall was 79 years old. Under the name Pete Roberts, he performed as an early member of the Country Gentlemen, and wrote numerous bluegrass songs, some of which were included in the soundtrack for the movie “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?”
—
Delbert Doty played a significant role in building out the historical village at the San Benito County Historical Park, the new home of the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival. His last major project was the new stage, which has been named in his honor by the SBCHS. He helped with the negotiations that brought the bluegrass festival to the park in 2016.
Delbert Leon Doty’s Celebration Of Life will be held on Friday, September 1 at 2:00pm at the historical park, 8300 Airline Highway, Tres Pinos.
The San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival will return to San Francisco October 11-15, 2017 after a 4-year hiatus. The revival of the small, fun, bluegrass event will take place the week after the huge Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.
The SFBOT’s Wednesday-Saturday shows will be held in various well-known bluegrass venues around town, while the FREE closing Sunday concert will take place at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre in McLaren Park.
The original (2000-2013) festival was organized by a quasi-independent committee of the Northern California Bluegrass Society. The revival is a project of several area bluegrass organizations, including the California Bluegrass Association. NCBS welcomes the 2017 event. Additional support will be provided by the San Francisco Parks & Recreation Department.
Save the dates — a full performance schedule will be announced soon.
The Northern California Bluegrass Society welcomes the Mountain Music Festival, set for Sunday, October 1, 2017 at Emma Prusch Farm Park, 647 South King Road in San Jose.
Bands: Bean Creek, The Goat Hills Girls, Sidesaddle & Co, Radio Rail, The Wildcat Mountain Ramblers, Banjo Twins, & The Santa Clara Valley Fiddlers Association.
The FREE, family-oriented festival is presented by the Prusch Farm Park Foundation and the City Of San Jose.
Nominations for the 11th Annual Northern California Bluegrass Awards are due from NCBS Members by October 21, 2017.
Nominations honoring Northern California’s primarily non-touring bluegrass bands & musicians are being accepted in 9 categories: Band, Male Vocalist, Female Vocalist, Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, Fiddle, Dobro, and Bass. Paper nomination forms will be available at the NCBS Information Booth at fall events and e-mail nominations can be sent to Michael Hall. Each member may nominate up to 3 in each category.
NCBS members will receive two rounds of ballots over the winter. The awards ceremony will be held on January 27, 2018 as part of the FREE NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway Festival in Redwood City.
The awards show and January 26-28 festival are supported by a base grant from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission and by other Redwood City-area businesses, agencies, and organizations.
The 11th Annual FREE Bluegrass On Broadway Festival will be held January 26-28, 2018 at various venues in Redwood City. The festival is presented by the Northern California Bluegrass Society with principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission.
Here are the official Northern California Bluegrass Society events for September & October, 2017:
SEPTEMBER
26-30 — IBMA World Of Bluegrass, Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh, NC. (NCBS is a longtime organizational member of IBMA)
OCTOBER
1 — Mountain Music Festival, Emma Prusch Farm Park, San Jose. FREE. (NCBS-welcomed)
11-15 — San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival, various venues, San Francisco. (NCBS-welcomed)
14 — NCBS Volunteer Thank You Party, undisclosed location.
