Northern California Bluegrass Society

The Whippoorwill Arts Fellowship — a year-long opportunity for musicians to craft a project of their choosing — has named as 2022-2023 Whipoorwill Arts Fellows, the fiddler Miles Quale, of Alameda, CA who plays bluegrass fiddle with a fierce edge, playing dynamic and inventive solos with a melodic sophistication with his bands Crying Uncle and Jubilee; and the American guitarist from California, Nina Gerber, who first came to attention when she accompanied singer-songwriter Kate Wolf from 1979 until her death in 1986 and is now shining a light on her work as the lead on a new album.

Other fellows include Fabiola M. Méndez, Puerto Rican cuatro player, educator, and composer who has taken part in a musical movement, crossing over the lines of genres such as folkloric, jazz & Latin; and Pura Fé, an Indigenous singer-songwriter-musician, storyteller, instructor, seamstress, artist and reviver of Canoe song/dance and woman’s drum.

Whippoorwill Arts, of Berkeley, CA, founded and led by Hilary Perkins (aka Nell Robinson) & Jim Nunally, invests in the creativity and lives of working roots musicians through ethically paid live and online performances including a festival, the Music aLIVE grant program, and COVID Safety Guidelines for Working Musicians; uplifts those artists through Artist Awards/Fellowships, and seeks to transform the music ecosystem to be more equitable through data-driven research and strategic partnerships. For program information, please visit <www.whippoorwillarts.org>.

The fellows receive a grant of $25,000 and other support for their year of artistic work.

Miles Quale will perform with Jubilee at the August 11-14, 2022 Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival.