The Northern California Bluegrass Society is 30 years old this year. Since it’s founding as the Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society in 1982, the club has brought many great bluegrass moments to the San Francisco Bay Area and the Monterey Bay Area. During this period, NCBS has grown into the most active regional bluegrass organization in the nation.
What later became a formal organization began as a group of fans drawn to a bluegrass radio show launched in the late 1960s on KTAO radio in Los Gatos. Host “Cuzin’ Al” Knoth, in addition to spinning bluegrass records on the airwaves, also organized some concerts and jams, and even one bluegrass festival. When Knoth moved on to other stations in the area (mostly notably KFAT in Gilroy and his current station KPIG in Freedom), some of his listeners decided to organize a bluegrass club for the South Bay and Monterey Bay.
Karen Quick of Los Gatos and Glenn Christensen of Santa Cruz formally organized the new club and established a monthly jam on the second Sunday of each month at DeLavega Park in Santa Cruz. Annual dues were $8, plus $2 for each additional family member. A lifetime membership cost $100. The small, intermittently-published magazine, Bluegrass By The Bay, made it’s first appearance. The magazine became a bi-monthly publication in 1984 under the direction of Vance Townsend.
Within the organization’s first five years, a regular concert series featuring local and nationally-touring bands was established, with shows held at Moraga Hall, the Santa Cruz Art League, and most famously at the Redwood Estates Pavilion. Because of the isolated mountain location of the Pavilion, a regular potluck supper before each show fed the band and volunteers — a tradition that was continued even after the concert series was continued by Redwood Bluegrass Associates at other venues.
The club soon began regular spring and fall weekend campouts held at Mt. Madonna County Park organized by Walt Bamber. An early precursor of the later NCBS Northern California Bluegrass Awards was conducted in 1985, with Hot Rize and Sidesaddle ending in a virtual tie in a vote by SCBS members for “Bluegrass Band Of The Year.” The organization’s coffers were refilled with an early “Bowling For Bluegrass” event. The SCBS Booth, principally staffed by Christensen, Townsend, the Clark’s, and later by Craig Nelson, became a fixture at festivals and concerts.
A key early feature of Society life was the SCBS Camp staged by Dick & Judy Dowell and Dick & Joyce Clark and others at the Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley and at other area festivals. The camp was known for great evening jamming, fine beer, and the hearty Saturday morning “Two Dick’s Cafe” breakfasts served up by the hosts. “Straight Dave” McLaughlin expanded the camp’s beverage offerings with his legendary hospitality that attracted many famous musicians to the SCBS Camp for a long evening jam session with the locals.
– Michael Hall
