Northern California Bluegrass Society

The big national/international convention for bluegrass music — the World Of Bluegrass run by the International Bluegrass Music Association — will be held in Raleigh, NC on September 24-28, 2019.

The Northern California Bluegrass Society will be there, as always, looking for new ideas, new talent, and new bluegrass fun.

The Society’s highlight for 2019 will be the first Official Showcase for Santa Cruz’s AJ Lee & Blue Summit. The introduction of this popular NCBS unit to the rest of the known bluegrass world represents a big step for for the band and also for Northern California bluegrass music in general. Two members of the band, AJ Lee and Jesse Fichman are members of the NCBS Board Of Directors and NCBS President Michael Hall has been tapped to emcee the band’s performance. The band is the reigning Best Bluegrass Band in the 2019 NCBS Northern California Bluegrass Awards.

Lee has also been nominated for a Momentum Award as one of the nation’s Best Young Vocalists. Hall will help organize a reception honoring the alumni of the IBMA’s Leadership Bluegrass Class, which will be his final project for the Leadership Bluegrass Alumni Committee after 15 years. He co-founded the group, which will also present a Master Class at the convention. He will also attend his first in-person meeting as a member of the IBMA Foundation’s Board Of Directors.

There will be plenty of Californians in attendance. The California Bluegrass Association has some evening performances planned, although on a smaller scale than in the past. Many young California performers, including Crying Uncle from Alameda, will be performing on the weekend’s Wide Open Bluegrass Festival that will follow the convention proper.

The NCBS is a longtime organizational member of the IBMA.

The Northern California Bluegrass Society Volunteer Thank-You Party will be held on Sunday, October 13 at an exciting new, close-in location.

NCBS volunteers and bands on any project over the past year will soon receive their coveted invitations. This is always the best bluegrass party of the year!

The Northern California Bluegrass Society welcomes TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s performance of the Bluegrass/Americana musical Mark Twain’s River Of Song which is set for October 2-27, 2019 at the Mountain View Center For The Performing Arts.

The show, written by Randal Myler & Dan Wheetman (the latter of Marley’s Ghost fame), brings the stories of Mark Twain and plenty of our kind of music to the stage.

Bluegrass fans can receive a $10 Discount when purchasing tickets by using the code “BLUEGRASS.”

The month-long run of the Steve Martin-Edie Brickell-penned Americana/Bluegrass musical Bright Star at the Lucie Stern Center Theater in Palo Alto continues this weekend.

The Palo Alto Players are presenting this show and tickets are still available.

The Northern California BLuegrass Society welcomes this important bluegrass cultural event to our area. Our own Dan Mazer will perform on banjo with the show’s orchestra. Area bluegrass performers will ensure a pleasant start for each performance with the sounds of jamming outside on the plaza courtyard before the formal show begins inside.

Remaining Performance Dates:

All This Weekend and then next weekend, Thursday-Sunday: September 26-29.

The annual Northern California Bluegrass Society Volunteer Thank-You Party will be held on Sunday, October 13 at an exciting new, close-in location. NCBS volunteers and bands on any project over the past year will soon receive their coveted invitations. This will be the bluegrass party of the year!