Bill Evans needs no introduction to banjo players or bluegrass fans. As a performer, teacher, writer, composer, scholar and very passionate banjo enthusiast, he covers all territory, from nineteenth century minstrel to both classic and progressive bluegrass styles. If it’s
I caught up with Billy Pitrone, the guitarist, lead singer, and songwriter for Bean Creek, at his ditch-side camp at the CBA Fathers Day Festival. Billy is a multi-year winner of the Northern California Bluegrass Society’s male vocalist of the
California is blessed with great weather and fine bluegrass. This past weekend the annual Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival (GOF) was held in the brown rolling hills of nearby Tres Pinos, CA by the folks at the Northern California Bluegrass
Ohio-based banjo player Joe Mullins, leader of the Radio Ramblers, has been playing bluegrass virtually his entire life. His list of achievements—including multiple IBMA and SPBGMA awards, playing virtually every major festival in the country and hosting a syndicated weekly
Greg Blake, five times SPBGMA Guitarist of the Year, nominee for IBMA Male Vocalist of the year, and long time member of Jeff Scroggins and Colorado, has a new band called Real Country. Greg, originally from West Virginia and now
Every year about this time, beneath the West Marin sky, Peter Rowan puts on a Bluegrass BBQ birthday bash for fans, friends, and family to stop by and eat, drink, and pick. Peter’s birthday is on July 4, but this
Randy Hanson and Mark Miller formed San Diego-based MohaviSoul in 2012 to create a new sound blending contemporary bluegrass and Americana called Grassicana. Their CD, Hometown Blues, was nominated for best album of year in 2018 by the San Diego Music
It is said that you can’t go home again, but even if we don’t physically travel there, many of us keep track of hometown events via local newspaper websites. This is precisely how I discovered plans for a new festival,
The CBA Youth Academy is a four-day music camp for beginning and intermediate players 8-16 years old. It is one of many CBA youth programs, and held on the Nevada County Fairgrounds during the 44th Annual CBA Father’s Day Festival.
Maddie Witler is mandolin player and vocalist in the Boston-based Lonely Heartstring Band, which just released its third album, Smoke & Ashes. Maddie hails originally from La Crescenta, California. She picked up the mandolin when she was 14 and fell
