The season-ending concert for Redwood Bluegrass Associates in 2009-2010 will be the Kathy Kallick Band this Saturday, May 1, with sponsorship from the Northern California Bluegrass Society. The schedule:

4:00pm — Jam

5:00pm — Dinner presented by Sam’s Barbecue of San Jose.

8:00pm — Concert

This concert series is a key institution in the Northern California bluegrass community. The formal South Bay/Santa Cruz area concert series was launched by the Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society in 1985. In 1990, the series was split in two, with a “large concert” series produced first by Townsend Music, then later by Redwood Bluegrass Associates, and a “small concert” series produced by SCBS. In 1995, the two series were consolidated under the RBA banner with SCBS (now the NCBS) sponsoring all of the concerts and helping out with significant back-office services and other contributions.

The 2010 season is the 21st under RBA/Townsend management, the 26th overall, and the 16th under NCBS sponsorship. Thanks for your support!

Redwood Bluegrass Associates will present the Kathy Kallick Band in a May 1, 2010 concert. All RBA concerts since 1995 have been sponsored by the Northern California Bluegrass Society. The 8:00pm Mountain View concert will be preceded by a jam at 4:00pm and a barbecue dinner at 5:00pm.

The evening RBA concert will follow an afternoon of free bluegrass music at the NCBS/SCBS Santa Cruz Bluegrass Fair at the Duck Pond Stage in San Lorenzo Park.

The Northern California Bluegrass Society/Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society will present a big day of bluegrass on Saturday, May 1 in Santa Cruz and Mountain View:

Noon: 24th Annual Santa Cruz Bluegrass Fair, Duck Pond Stage, San Lorenzo Park, Santa Cruz. A fine SCBS afternoon of music in the park 12:00-5:00pm with Harmony Grits, Mountain Drive, Family Hogwash, The Down Beets, & Faux Renwah. FREE.

8:00pm: The Kathy Kallick Band, NCBS-sponsored Redwood Bluegrass Associates concert, Mountain View, preceded by a an open jam at 5:00pm. $18 advance/$20 door. Sam’s BBQ will cater a fine meal prior to the concert. $10.

You can easily make both of these fine events, which will kick off the month-long worldwide celebration of the Official Bluegrass Month Of May!

Last evening’s  Joy Kills Sorrow concert in Mountain View expanded the boundaries of bluegrass music for the long-running, mostly traditional Redwood Bluegrass Associates concert series. A curious crowd of RBA regulars — plus many new fans — gathered to hear the youthful Boston-based band that has strong West Coast influences.

Most familiar to the audience was lead singer Emma Beaton, who matched her exalted advance billing with her exalted voice. The audience also found much to like about her lesser-known bandmates Matthew Arcara, Jacob Jolliff, Westly Corbett, and Bridget Kearney, who write the group’s songs and supply excellent instrumental work, plus vocal harmonies.

Beaton is very entertaining on the band’s many charming, slow, breathless, and girlish tunes.  She becomes a towering vocal star when she opens up on the band’s less frequent, more powerful material that fully reveals her deep emotional range and talent.

Next: This was the last stop on the current Joy Kills Sorrow California tour. They will return for next month’s Strawberry Spring Music Festival. The NCBS-sponsored 2009-2010 RBA season concludes with the Kathy Kallick Band on May 1.

The Boston-based bluegrass band Joy Kills Sorrow will appear in a Redwood Bluegrass Associates concert sponsored by the Northern California Bluegrass Society this Saturday evening, April 10, 2010.  Here the band performs “Fall On My Knees” in a 2009 concert in Big Sur on YouTube.