Tired of  malls and holiday traffic?

You can give individual or family gift memberships in the Northern California Bluegrass Society with just a few clicks on this website.

Individual: $20
Family: $25

Left: Some fun at the NCBS Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival.

Do you need a fun Christmas gift for an area bluegrass friend? Your friend will enjoy a year’s membership the Northern California Bluegrass Society. You can easily purchase a membership online for your friend just by clicking on “Membership” in the left column of this website. Only $20 for an individual or $25 for an entire family.

Dr. Elmo Schropshire of Novato, who has appeared many times with his band “Wild Blue” on NCBS stages over the years, will be featured on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America” program this Saturday morning, December 12. The segment will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of the unusual Christmas record “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” by the then Bay Area bluegrass act Elmo & Patsy & The Homestead Act.

The program will include film shot this past week in the Bay Area with Elmo and other local participants in the recording and promotion of the song, some with a merry view…but others not so merry. The program will appear on Channel 7 in the Bay Area.

RIGHT: Patsy & Elmo Schropshire in 1984.

The story behind the best selling holiday tune of all times is Bay Area bluegrass history at its zaniest and worth reading up on if you haven’t yet. Here are some fun current articles about the unlikely, but meteroic rise of “Grandma” to the top of the charts a quarter of a century ago:

SF Chronicle “Wayback” Column “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer At No. 1,”  December 6, 2009.  (The band story)

SF Chronicle “Radio Waves” Column (halfway down) “Good Morning Grandma,” December 11, 2009. (The radio story)

Vanderbilt Magazine “Southern Journal” Column “All I Want For Christmas Is Another Grandma,” December, 2009. (The songwriter story)

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12/12/09 Update: The Good Morning America Weekend segment (under “GMA Hot List”).

The December issue of Bluegrass by the Bay is now available for download in the Members Area of the website. It’s a little thinner than usual this month to save your poor editors’ holiday-frazzled brain cells, but it includes a lovely and lively remembrance of Yodeling Lady Lolita written by Mike McKinley.

Subscribers to the print edition can expect it in their mailboxes soon, thanks to the work of our dedicated membership chair Gary Anwyl.

There are over 200 Lifetime Members of the Northern California Bluegrass Society. These folks have made a significant financial commitment to the support of the organization that brings bluegrass to the San Francisco Bay Area, the Monterey Bay Area, and to all of Northern California. You can join their ranks! Details on the membership page of this website.