The Northern California Bluegrass Society is a member of the International Bluegrass Music Association, which provides leadership and professional training in the annual Leadership Bluegrass class.

NCBS members are encouraged to apply for the March 9-11, 2010 class. Applications are due on Friday, November 13, 2009.

NCBS members Larry Carlin of Sausalito, (Michael Hall) hallmw (at) gmail (dot) com of Redwood City, Roger Siminoff of Atascadero, Dana Thorin of Scott’s Valley, and Joe Weed of Los Gatos are Leadership Bluegrass graduates and can provide information and advice about the program.

The NCBS Website has updated news every day in four categories:

NCBS-Related News: Center Column

California Bluegrass News: Left Column (”On The Board”)

National Bluegrass News: Right Column (”The Bluegrass Blog”)

Bluegrass Calendar: Right Column

Items in each newsfeed appear in reverse order of the posting dates (newest at top).

Frank Wakefield is in the area, performing at the Freight and Salvage tonight (Oct. 22nd), the RBA concert series in Mountain View (co-sponsored by NCBS) on Oct. 24th and Don Quixote’s in Felton on the 25th. This review of his latest CD was written by Stewart Evans and originally published in the May issue of Bluegrass by the Bay.

In 1981, Bill Monroe released the all-instrumental album “Master of Bluegrass”, featuring ten new originals. Coming in his 80th year, when he could easily have been coasting on his established repertoire, it was a startling burst of creativity, ranging from the now-standard “Old Daingerfield” to the haunting “My Last Days on Earth”. Like so many mandolinists, Frank Wakefield was heavily influenced by Monroe, and with his latest album, “Ownself Blues”, he has released his own mandolin tour de force.
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The NCBS Website Calendar offers a comprehensive list of upcoming bluegrass events in Northern California. Bands and venues can be included simply by registering on the site and then self-posting all their upcoming activities (pending continued good online behavior). This is a free service — and the best way to let bluegrass fans know about your gigs!

Here are recent updates from the Northern California Bluegrass Society’s National Stolen And Missing Instrument Web Page:

-The  Randy Kohrs Band has recovered all of the instruments stolen on July 25 while on tour in Columbus, OH.

- On September 21, two men were arrested for the June murder of 44-year-old Sacramento bluegrass musician Keith Fessler, but the bluegrass instrument collection involved in the theft that motivated the killing has not yet been recovered.

- Skip Gorman reported that his custom German violin was stolen during a workshop at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, KY. on September 11, 2009. The instrument was a gift to Gorman from J.D. Rhynes and had been previously repaired by Laurie Lewis.

- Bob Gray reported that two rare mandolins, one a Monteleone Grand Artist model and the other a John Sullivan Custom F instrument, were stolen during a burglary of his home in Tijeras, NM (near Albuquerque) in early October.

More details about these and other pending theft reports can be found on the page, which is linked in the left column of this website.

The FREE NCBS service provides an instantaneous central reporting location for stolen and missing bluegrass instruments. Musicians should self-post the information immediately upon discovery of the theft. Used Instrument Buyers should check the listings prior to any purchase.