Mountain Music Festival Features Great Bluegrass Line-Up In San Jose October 1

The FREEĀ Mountain Music Festival is set forĀ Sunday, October 1, 2017 atĀ Emma Prusch Farm Park, 647 South King Road inĀ San Jose.

A great bluegrass band line-up will feature Bean Creek, The Goat Hills Girls, Sidesaddle & Co, Radio Rail, The Wildcat Mountain Ramblers, Banjo Twins, & The Santa Clara Valley Fiddlers Association.

The festival is presented by theĀ Prusch Farm Park Foundation and theĀ City Of San Jose. The Northern California Bluegrass Society welcomes this event to our area.

Complete Performance Schedule

Emma Prusch Farm Park, San Jose

Bay Area Bluegrass Organizations Plan San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival October 11-15

The Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre

TheĀ San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival will return to San Francisco on Wednesday-Sunday, October 11-15, 2017. The revival of the fun bluegrassĀ event will take place the week after the October 6-8 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.

The SFBOT shows will be held in various venues, with the FREE closing Sunday concert set for at theĀ Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre inĀ McLaren Park.

The original festival (held 2000-2013) was organized by a quasi-independent committee of theĀ Northern California Bluegrass Society. The revival is a project of several area bluegrass organizations, including the California Bluegrass Association. NCBS welcomes this event. Additional support will be provided by theĀ San Francisco Parks & Recreation Department.

Mountain Drive To Perform At The Summit House Near Los Gatos On August 31

The Thursday Bluegrass Series at theĀ Summit House Beer Garden & Grill will present great music with Mountain Drive August 31.

The FREEĀ 6:00-8:30pm music program is presented by theĀ The Summit House and welcomed by theĀ Northern California Bluegrass Society.Ā TheĀ Summit House serves fine food and drink in theĀ Santa Cruz Mountains and is located atĀ 23123 Santa Cruz Highway,Ā six miles south ofĀ Los Gatos.

Mountain Drive

The Labor Day 2017 Weekend Festivals For Northern California

BanjerDan Mazer of Burning Man

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, Ā 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.

Bluegrass Loses Two Friends & Leaders — Pete Kuykendall And Delbert Doty

Delbert Doty
Delbert Doty (left) with Don Pidd preparing the roof of the new San Benito County Historical Park stage in 2016.

Bluegrass lost two good friends and two leaders today — Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine publisherĀ 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.

Pete Kuykendall (left) runs the Bluegrass Unlimited booth at a festival, with Ralph Stanley & Renfro Profitt.

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.

Pete Kuykendall

Peter V. Kuykendall was 79 years old. Ā 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?”

Pete’s funeral will be held on Wednesday August 30 at 10:00 am at the Moser Funeral Home in Warrenton, VA. Visitation will be on Tuesday evening from 3:00-5:00 and 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations in his name to the Bluegrass Trust Fund or the International Bluegrass Music Museum.

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.

Peter V. Kuykendall (1938-2017)

The SFBOT Returns To San Francisco This October — To Follow Huge Hardly Strictly Gathering

TheĀ San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival will return to San Francisco October 11-15, 2017 after a 4-year hiatus. The revival of theĀ 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 theĀ Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre inĀ McLaren Park.

The original (2000-2013) festival was organized by a quasi-independent committee of theĀ 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.

Mountain Music Festival Is FREE, October 1 at Emma Prusch Park In San Jose

Welcomed by NCBS.

TheĀ Northern California Bluegrass Society welcomes theĀ Mountain Music Festival, set forĀ Sunday, October 1, 2017 atĀ Emma Prusch Farm Park, 647 South King Road inĀ 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 theĀ Prusch Farm Park Foundation and theĀ City Of San Jose.

Performance Schedule

Northern California Bluegrass Awards Nominations Now Accepted & Due By October 21

The Northern California Bluegrass Awards Show, FREE, January 27, 2018, in Redwood City.

Nominations for the 11th Annual Northern California Bluegrass Awards are due from NCBS Members byĀ 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.