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Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival performers Alan Bond & Skedaddle and Annie Rye will play on KKUP Monday Night Bluegrass 6:00-9:00pm on August 18, 2025.

The station broadcasts at 91.5FM in the South Bay & Monterey Bay Areas and is streamed on <www.kkup.org>. Monday Night Bluegrass has appeared on the station every Monday since 1980. NCBS Vice-President Mike Russell will host this show, joined by NCBS President Michael Hall and live music engineer Lars Bourne.

Joel Sidney of Berkeley has joined the band Spectrum Bluegrass. He performed with the band on guitar this spring at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. The band’s next show will be at the South State 48 gathering in Carlsbad in November. The band members are all on the autism spectrum. The band and the support group for bluegrass musicians with autism was founded at the CBA Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley.

Joel is a longtime NCBS member and a regular at the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival and other area bluegrass events. He is the first autistic civilian employee of the Berkeley Police Department. He joins a number of other musicians on the spectrum who play and enjoy bluegrass.

The Spectrum band has been getting attention of late from news out lets across the country.

Spectrum Bluegrass plays Autism Speaks in LA – Bluegrass Today

This music project uses bluegrass to bring people on the autism spectrum together : NPR

The NCBS National Bluegrass Stolen & Missing Instrument Page is on this website. It provides a central reporting location for the recovery of stolen or lost bluegrass instruments. This service is for both theft victims and used instrument buyers. The FREE page is searchable, and links can be added to connect additional information. Please post again when the instrument is recovered.

Your Membership in the Northern California Bluegrass Society supports local bluegrass music in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Monterey Bay Area, and in all of Northern California.

NCBS Membership

The Northern California Bluegrass Society accepts donations to support area bluegrass and is a California Not-For-Profit Corporation with Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) status that is also known as the Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society. The NCBS/SCBS Tax ID No. is 94-2907716.

Mail-In Donations: NCBS/SCBS, PO Box 390846, Mountain View, CA 94039-0846.

NCBS Online Donations

The members of the Northen California Bluegrass Society elected the 2025-2026 Board of Directors on Saturday, August 9, 2025 at the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival in Tres Pinos.

All the incumbents were returned for another year. They are: Gary Anwyl of Palo Alto, Bruce Bellochio of Brookdale, Eric Burman of Bonny Doon, Scott Conroy of San Luis Obispo, Bruce Edmundson of Sunnyvale, Michael Hall of Redwood City, Lois Kellerman of Mountain View, Joanne Minasi of Modesto, and Mike Russell of Fremont.

The Northern California Bluegrass Society welcomes the Snazzy Productions concert with the nationally-touring all-women band Della Mae this Thursday, August 14. This award-winning band is a Santa Cruz area favorite!

The performance will be held at The Landing (formerly the Scotts Valley Performing Arts Center) in Scott’s Valley.

The IBMA Foundation was the subject of an informative article about its support for bluegrass in the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee newsletter. The Northern California Bluegrass Society is a longtime organizational member of the International Bluegrass Music Association, which is affiliated with the IBMA. NCBS President Michael Hall is on the IBMA Foundation Board of Directors.

IBMA Foundation Article — Keeping The Roots Alive With The IBMA Foundation (CFMT, 2025)

SUNDAY, August 10

Main Stage

10:00—Mountain Drive
11:00—Kids on Stage
12:00—Critical Grass

1:00—Alan Bond and Skedaddle
2:00—Lucas Lawson

3:00—Festival Ends

The NCBS Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival runs August 7-10, 2025 at the San Benito County Historical Park in Tres Pinos.