Do you give music lessons? Have band CDs to sell? Provide other services to NCBS members? Or, do you just have an instrument to sell? Each Northern California Bluegrass Society member can place one short want ad for free each month in the NCBS magazine Bluegrass By The Bay. It will appear in both the PDF and print editions.

Make sure your membership is up to date, then submit your ad copy to the BBB editors in an (e-mail) bluegrassbythebay (at) gmail (dot) com. The June issue deadline is May 17.

NCBS Membership Info.

The familiar Northern California Bluegrass Society Information Booth will be out at festivals and concerts throughout the Known California Bluegrass World all summer long.

The booth will have news about the Society and its many fun area events, as well as information about all the other exciting bluegrass activities in the area. The booth tour heads out this weekend for the Parkfield Bluegrass Festival in the (very) tiny and (very) beautiful Central Coast town of Parkfield. NCBS will be sharing a booth with Gene Bach’s brand new Susanville Bluegrass Festival. Should be fun!

Stop by and say hello to the nice Society volunteers who staff the booth — and they will say hello right back! (Very bluegrassy and all, we think!)

Via The Bluegrass Blog comes the story that the IBMA has tapped local favorites A. J. Lee and Max Schwartz to host a key portion of an updated version of their “Discover Bluegrass” video. The video is available on DVD to schools, libraries, and youth groups, and aimed at introducing bluegrass music to young people.

A. J. and Max are familiar to NCBS audiences as members of OMGG as well as veterans of the Kids On Stage program at the GOF. AJ also performs with The Tuttles, most recently at January’s RBA concert. Read the full story at The Bluegrass Blog.

NCBS President Michael Hall, who consulted on the film’s revision, recommended A. J.  for the role. In the process of filming A. J.’s band, the producers discovered Max and invited him to be interviewed as well. The California Bluegrass Association’s Kids On Bluegrass program and a last-minute fundraising drive at the NCBS Jake’s Brown Barn Bluegrass Festival made possible last fall’s OMGG trip to Nashville.

You can become a fan of the Northern California Bluegrass Society on the social networking website Facebook. It’s free and fun. Tip: There are plenty of “NCBS” groups out there, so look for the NCBS Facebook page either under the full name of the Society or at the link <www.facebook.com/the.ncbs?ref=ts>. If you are not already on Facebook, registration is quick, painless, and free of charge.

Here are recent bluegrass instrument thefts reported on the NCBS National Bluegrass Stolen & Missing Instrument Page on this website:

DECEMBER 12 – SEATTLE – Multiple Gibson acoustic instruments, a Kay Bass, and related instruments and equipment were stolen from a private home.

NOVEMBER 23 — NASHVILLE — A Martin D-35 Guitar was stolen from a private home.

OCTOBER 18 – WASHINGTON, DC — A Deering 5-String GDL resonator model banjo with walnut neck and “Mastertone” inlay was stolen on a public street.

Complete information about these and other stolen instruments is on the page, linked under “Stolen/Missing Instruments” in the left column of this website.

Theft victims should immediately self-post to report a theft. Used instrument buyers should check the page before completing a purchase. The page content is searchable. This is a free NCBS service. Please report on the page when the instrument is recovered.