There will be two historic bluegrass internet broadcasts on Sunday, January 31, 2010, at 1:00 and 6:00pm. One will also air on the KPIG network of stations.

Grammy Afternoon Internet Broadcast:

1:00-4:00pm – 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards Pre-Telecast Ceremony. For the first time, the portion of the awards that include bluegrass music will be streamed live on www.grammy.com.

To celebrate, there will be a special bluegrass musical performance by nine-time Grammy-winning singer Ray Benson, country instrumentalist and former SCBS member Alison Brown, two-time Grammy winner Jim Lauderdale, singer/songwriter Michael Martin Murphey, three-time Grammy winner Bryan Sutton, and singer/fiddle player Gabe Witcher.

The same portion of the program will feature two possible Grammy awards to Alisa Rose, fiddler for the San Francisco bluegrass band 49 Special. The latest album from her chamber music project, Quartet San Francisco, is nominated in the Best Crossover Classical and Best-Engineered Classical Recording and Rose will be in attendance at the afternoon ceremony in Los Angeles. Read the Full Story.

Evening KPIG Broadcast:

6:00-9:00pm — NCBS Honorary Lifetime Member Cuzin’ Al Knoth will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the “Cuzin’ Al Bluegrass Show” from the Freedom, CA. studios of KPIG Radio. Special guests will help Al remember the show’s run on such classic radio outlets as KTAO, KFAT, KHIP, and KPIG.

There will be live studio performances by Lone Prairie, the Black Crown String Band, and the Bear Creek Boys. Tune in, turn on!

The KPIG broadcast will reach over-the-air listeners in the Watsonville, Paso Robles, San Francisco, and Chico areas. The rest of the known bluegrass world will be listening on the KPIG live streaming website.

The Northern California Bluegrass Awards Ceremony will be held as a part of the NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway Festival in Redwood City. The nominees are:

1. Bluegrass Band

49 Special, Alhambra Valley Band, Barefoot Nellies, Bean Creek, Belle Monroe & Her Brew Glass Boys, Blue & Lonesome, Bluegrass Conspiracy, Cabin Fever, Carolina Special, Circle R Boys, Common Cents, Dalton Mountain Gang, Dark Hollow, Deep Elem, Diana Donnelly & The Yes Ma’ams, Eddie DuCommun & Bluegrass For The Record, Faux Renwah, Harmon’s Peak, High Country, Houston Jones, Jeanie & Chuck’s Country Round-Up, Jimmy Chickenpants, Kitchen Help, Mighty Crows, Mineral Kings, Mountain Drive, Mountain Laurel, Natural Drift, Nell Robinson & Red Level, OMGG, Rogue River,Savanah Blu, Sidesaddle & Co., Smiley Mountain, Snap Jackson & The Knock On Wood Players, Stoney Mountain Ramblers, Tuttle Family, Wintons, Wires & Wood.

2. Male Vocalist

Luke Abbott, Tyson Alteri, George Best, Danny Booth, Page Brownton, Eric Burman, Glenn Dauphin, Eddie DuCommun, Matt Dudman, Adam Field, David Field, Avram Frankel, Pete Hicks, Rob Horgan, Glenn Houston, Travis Jones, John Kael, Chris Kee, John Kornhauser, Larry Lynch, Jim Mintun, Billy Pitrone, Max Schwartz, Nate Schwartz, Ted Silverman, Chris Smith, Yoseff Tucker, Marty Varner, Butch Waller, Del Williams, Jason Winfree, Cody Winton,Jesse Winton, Randy Winton, John Woodell, Robert Zeien.

3. Female Vocalist

Regina Bartlett, Pam Brandon aka Belle Monroe, Julay Brooks, Jean Butterfield, Joni Davies, Diana Donnelly, Sarah Eblen, Kim Elking, Penny Godlis, Kathy Kallick, Jennifer Kitchen, A. J. Lee, Louise Mintun, Samantha Olson, Hilary Perkins aka Nell Robinson, Lynn Quinones, Betsy Riger, Nichole Solis, Annie Staninec, Chris Stevenson aka Prairie Flower, Yvonne Walbroehl.

4. Guitar Player

Tyson Alteri, Pam Brandon aka Belle Monroe, Cactus Bob Cole, Glen Dauphin, Jackie Miller Dick, Diana Donnelly, Rick Ednie, David Field, John Fuller, Gordon Gibson, Glenn Houston, Jim Lewin, Alex Mayers, Steve Palazzo, Billy Pitrone, Lynn Quinones, Mike Schwartz, Nicole Solis, Sam Sternlight, Yoseff Tucker, Molly Tuttle, Marty Varner, Yvonne Walbroehl, Jason Winfree, Jesse Winton, Robert Zeien.

5. Mandolin Player

Tom Bekeny, Alan Bond, Buzz Brown, John Cogdill, Cactus Bob Cole, Matt Dudman, Kim Elking, Pete Hicks, Chojo Jacques, Matt Kendall, Dan Large, A. J. Lee, Mike McKinley, Randy McKnight,Hide Kawatsure, Ed Neff, Steve Pottier, Nate Schwartz, Ted Silverman, Nicole Solis, Sam Sternlight, Ken Torke, Michael Tuttle, Marty Varner, Nina Weisenberg, Jesse Winton, Gary Vessez.

6. Banjo Player

Luke Abbott, Jered Cheney, Larry Chung, Paul Clarke, Larry Cohea, Tom Cooper, Scott Daley, Tim Edes, Craig Fletcher, Dave Guarante, Rob Horgan, Jordan Klein, Dave Magrum, Matt Milan, Billy Moore, Tom Naiman, Mitch Polzak, Jonathan Scheille, Bill Schniederman, Sonia Shell, Victor Skididako, Frank Solivan, Chris Stevenson aka Prairie Flower, Linis Tremaine, Cody Winton.

7. Fiddle Player

Elcia Burton, Johnny Campbell, Cactus Bob Cole, Jill Cruey, Chip Curry, Dennis English, Diana Greenberg, Christine Grim, Pete Hicks, Chojo Jacques, Steve Joynes, Paul Lee, Brian McClenahan, Ella Naiman, Ed Neff, Samantha Olson, Gail Reece, Liz Rhone, Alyssa Rose, Pete Showman, Annie Staninec, Fred Stepp, Mark Wardenburg, Lee Anne Welch, Cody Winton.

8. Dobro Player

Kathy Barwick, Lisa Berman, Rich Ferguson, Avram Frankel, Rick Hendricks, Ernie Hunt, Jon Maste, Jim Mintun, Gene Tortura, Charlie Wallace, Cody Winton.

9. Bass Player

Mike Baroni, Jess Beebe, Colleen Browne, Doris Burman, Lisa Burns, Bruce Campbell, Jim Davies, Tom Drohan, Sarah Eblen, Jessica Evans, David Field, Penny Godlis, Dave Gooding, Bill Hamburgen, Elida Ickes, Chris Kee, Jennifer Kitchen, Paul Knight, Jerry Logan,Bruce Mauier, Louise Mintun, Angela Personini, Max Schwartz, Gary Smaltz, Tom Spencer.

Principal financial  support for the March 11-14 NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway festival comes from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission, the Redwood City Public Library, and the Tapestry Church (formerly, the Peninsula Christian Center).

Redwood Bluegrass Associates will present the Nashville Bluegrass Band in a Northern California Bluegrass Society-sponsored concert in Mountain View on February 13, 2010. The 8:00pm concert will follow a 5:00pm jam at the First Presbyterian Church of Mountain View.

Advance ticket purchase is suggested for this popular band’s only South Bay appearance.

The International Bluegrass Music Association’s 2010 Leadership Bluegrass Class includes one Californian, Avery Ellisman of Encinitas. Ellisman is a bluegrass fiddler and a fundraiser for non-profit bluegrass projects. The class has members from Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the US. One class member, Phil Bankester, is currently shooting an updated documentary film that includes segments with Bay Area musicians A. J. Lee and Max Schwartz of the OMGG band. The Northern California Bluegrass Society is a longtime member of the IBMA. The class roster:

Phil Bankester, The Bankester Family, Genuine Human Productions;
Carbondale, Ill.
Carol Beaugard, WFDU-FM, WAMU’s Bluegrass Country; Chester, N.Y.
Kissy Black, Lotos Nile; Nashville, Tenn.
Linda Bonner, Grassland Elementary; Brentwood, Tenn.
Thomas J. Brown, Spatial Effects, Songwriter/Playwright,
Southeast Bluegrass Association; Dalton, Ga.
Megan Brugger, Classic Country Radio, Southern Ohio Indoor Music
Festival; Xenia, Ohio
Denis Chadbourn, Bluegrass Music Association Central Canada,
Nipissing Bluegrass Association, C-Denny Band; Rutherglen, Ontario,
Canada
Karl S. Cooler, Mountain Roads Recordings; Bristol, Tenn.
Lachlan Davidson, Davidson Brothers; Doncaster East, Victoria,
Australia
R. Avery Ellisman, Non-profit Management Resource Development;
Encinitas, Calif.
Doris Gray, Colorado Bluegrass Music Society; Boulder, Colo.
Chris Keenan, Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival; Co. Roscommon,
Ireland
Thad Keim, Compass Records Group, VP of Sales & Marketing;
Nashville, Tenn.
Joan Kornblith, Voice of America; Washington, D.C.
Jennifer Larson, Straight Drive; Brooklyn, N.Y.
William D. Lewis, PineCone - the Piedmont Council of Traditional
Music, Executive Director; Raleigh, N.C.
Patty Mitchell, Artist; Nashville, Tenn.
Jess Norburg, IBMA; Nashville, Tenn.
Gretchen Priest-May, The Musical Heritage Center, Fiddle & Pick;
Pegram, Tenn.
Michael Ramsey, Red, White and Bluegrass Festival; Morganton, N.C.
Gary Reid, Bluegrass Productions of Virginia, LLC; Roanoke, Va.
Jessica Smith, Bassist/Singer/Songwriter; Lyons, Colo.
Jean Spivey, Old Settler’s Music Festival; Austin, Texas
Andrew Stokes, Associate Manager, McLachlan Management
International; Nashville, Tenn.
Donna Ulisse, Donna Ulisse & the Poor Mountain Boys, Hadley
Music Group; Nashville, Tenn.

Leadership Bluegrass, now in its eleventh year with more than 250 alumni, is an intensive three-day program of advanced level, interactive learning experiences that invites participants to examine the challenges and opportunities facing bluegrass music along with related leadership issues. NCBS members are encouraged to apply for admission to future Leadership Bluegrass classes.

The August 13-15, 2010 Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival will again feature a tee shirt designed by a contest winner.  We want everyone, big or small, picker or listener, to feel like their ideas are precious to our process.

Our Prize Package: 2010 Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival Tickets for 2 Adults and their children, plus a free tee shirt for the person with the winning design, with their name next to the design.

Contest Rules: The competition is open to everyone.  NCBS membership is not required.

Read the rest of this entry »

The February issue of Bluegrass by the Bay features an interview with Nashville Bluegrass Band mandolinist Mike Compton. Mike and the rest of NBB will be here for the RBA concert series on Feb. 13th and an SFBOT show at the Freight & Salvage on the 14th.

The PDF version can be downloaded from the Members Area of the website; subscribers to the paper edition should have theirs later this week.

The Aromas Community Grange will present Keith Greeninger & Dayan Kai and The Rayburn Brothers Band in an NCBS-sponsored concert on Saturday, January 30, 6:00pm at the Aromas Grange Hall. The program is part of the regular NCBS/Grange bluegrass and folk series at the hall.

Admission is $12 for advance purchase or at the door for members of the Grange, NCBS members, students, and seniors. All others pay $15 at the door. Children under 10 are free. Dinner will be available beginning at 4:30pm. For more information, call Bill Hunter at (831) 354–2444.

The historic Grange Hall is at the corner of Rose Avenue and Bardue Street in Aromas. The north-Monterey County town is just off Highway 101 south of Gilroy. Proceeds from Saturday’s concert will benefit scholarships for local students.

Redwood Bluegrass Associates welcomed a standing room only crowd for tonight’s show featuring The Tuttle Family With A. J. Lee. The locals then proceeded to give their many fans a great show. The program featured the singing of A. J. Lee and Molly Tuttle, and the hot picking of the entire ensemble. The program focused on bluegrass and gospel music, but ranged from country to swing to gypsy jazz. The audience demanded and got two encores.

NEXT: RBA presents the Nashville Bluegrass Band February 13; The Tuttles open for Laurie Lewis at the  Stern Center, Palo Alto, February 20.