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.
Time to join the Northern California Bluegrass Society so you will be ready for bluegrass season!
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.
Here are the 2026 Grammy Winners from the Bluegrass and related music categories, announced tonight in Los Angeles:
Billy Strings — Best Bluegrass Album: Highway Prayers.
I’m With Her — Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan & Sarah Watkins — Best Folk Album: Wide and Clear and Blue. Best American Roots Song: Ancient Light.
Chris Stapleton — Best Solo Country Performance: Bad As I Used To Be.
The Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass FestivalĀ is 32 Years Old this year, only 33 years after it was founded in 1994 (that dern pandemic!). The 2026 event will be heldĀ August 6-9Ā at theĀ San Benito County Historical ParkĀ inĀ Tres Pinos. The beloved gathering is a benefit for theĀ Northern California Bluegrass Society.
Everyone is welcome to join the Strawberry Music Festival Family in celebrating the life of one of its founders, Charlie Cran. The gathering will be on Saturday, February 14 at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds in Sonora.
TheĀ Northern California Bluegrass SocietyĀ accepts donations to support area bluegrass and is aĀ California Not-For-ProfitĀ CorporationĀ withĀ Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3)Ā status that is also known as theĀ Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society.Ā TheĀ NCBS/SCBS Tax ID No.Ā isĀ 94-2907716.
Mail-In Donations: NCBS/SCBS, PO Box 390846, Mountain View, CA 94039-0846.
Join the people who have joined the Northern California Bluegrass Society! 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.
The IBMA Foundation is pleased to announce Cassie Wright, of Chicago, has been hired to serve as the organizationās new Executive Director beginning April 1, replacing Nancy Cardwell, who is retiring after 10 years with the IBMA Foundation and 20 years at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) previously. Ā
The Northern California Bluegrass Society is a longtime organizational member of the IBMA, which is affiliated with the IBMA Foundation. NCBS President Michael Hall is a member of the foundation’s Board Of Directors.
Raised in Raleigh, North Carolina where she still has family, Cassie Wright is a banjo and Dobro player who co-leads the Chicago based Fox Crossing Stringband. Wright is a 2024 graduate of IBMAās Leadership Bluegrass program and a member of the Northern Illinois Bluegrass Association board of directors, and she served as a cultural diplomat on U.S. State Department tours to Kazakhstan and Mexico with the Bluegrass Ambassadors (The Henhouse Prowlers). Cassie also manages the Bluegrass Chicago website, which promotes live bluegrass and old-time music in the region.
Wright brings over 15 years of professional experience leading programs and operations for nonprofit and government partners in public health, housing, and education sectors. Cassie has served as Senior Director of Operations for the nonprofit Education Development Center, an organization that works with partners worldwide to advance every personās journey to learn, work, and be well. She has provided strategic leadership collaborating with various partners across a multi-million dollar portfolio of projects.
āI have spent my career at the intersection of nonprofit work and bluegrass music because I truly believe in the power of this community,ā Wright said. āIām so excited to put that experience to work as we expand the reach and impact of the music that means so much to all of us. Nancy Cardwell and the Board of Directors have led the way withĀ remarkable work, and I am honored to build on that foundation as we start this next chapter together.ā
āWeāre thrilled to welcome Cassie Wright as our next executive director,ā said Trisha Tubbs, president and board chair of the IBMA Foundation. āOur work thrives on relationshipsāwith generous donors, dedicated volunteers, and trusted community partners, along with a shared passion for bluegrass music. Cassie deeply understands this and brings valuable experience and commitment to advancing our mission and growth. We also extend heartfelt gratitude to Nancy Cardwell as she retires, honoring her years of dedicated service, integrity, and leadership that have strengthened our community and shaped the Foundationās success.ā
Wright holds a Masterās degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Public Policy from the University of Nebraska, Omaha; a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from DePaul University; and a Project Management Certification from Cornell University, College of Engineering.
Wright will assume the role of executive director on April 1, following a transition period in March working alongside current executive director Nancy Cardwell. Cardwell will remain as a consultant through June 2026. āI am pleased to pass the torch to Cassie Wright, and I look forward to witnessing what can be accomplished in the next ten years,ā Cardwell said. āI will continue to support the IBMA Foundation (formerly the Foundation for Bluegrass Music) from the sidelines, as they continue the important work of making the future of bluegrass music brighter.ā
Cardwell is retiring from the IBMA Foundation to dedicate more time to her family, writing, consulting, volunteering, and travel. She has also joined the Virginia-based bluegrass band Appalachian Express on acoustic bass. The group, which includes members Cindy West, Clyde Bailey, Tim Peade, Bobby Thompson, and Johnny Ridge, previously recorded five albums on the Rebel Records and Atteiram labels, and they remain a festival favorite in the southeastern U.S.
The IBMA Foundation supports programs and initiatives that foster the growth of bluegrass music. The Foundation helps donors create a bluegrass legacy through charitable donations and planned giving by supporting programs focused on bluegrass-related arts and culture, education, literary work, and historic preservation. For more information, please visit <bluegrassfoundation.org>.
The 2026 Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival will be held August 6-9 at the San Benito County Historical Park in Tres Pinos. The 32nd gathering is a benefit for the Northern California Bluegrass Society.
