May 2008 Santa Cruz Bluegrass Fair VOLUME 27 - NUMBER 5 Eddie and Martha Adcock Saturday, May 3, 2008! May - June Festivals to Play Mission City Coffee By Michael McKinley See You There! Company in Santa Clara By Dick Brundle The Santa Cruz Bluegrass Fair will be May 8-11: PARKFIELD BLUEGRASS held May 3rd, 2008, in San Lorenzo Park, FESTIVAL - Parkfield (15 mi north of Newgrass and Bluegrass, hot picking across the river from downtown Santa Hwy 46, 23 mi east of Hwy 101) (805- and original songs Cruz, from noon until 5 PM. 349-8397, http://www.parkfieldblue- Friday, 9th May, 8pm, $15/$17 grass.com) This event has become a staple of Santa Mission City Coffee Roasting Company, James King Band, Junior Sisk & Cruz culture for over 20 years, presented 2221 The Alameda, Santa Clara, CA Rambler’s Choice, Chris Hillman & as a celebration of Bluegrass Music 95050 Herb Pedersen with Bill Bryson, Leroy Month, that is, May. The Bluegrass Fair Mack & the BG Gospel Band, Del not only presents great music for the blue- Eddie Adcock is a bonafide living legend – Williams Band (with Paul Lee, Billy grass initiated; it also serves as a vehicle THE Patriarch of “new acoustic music” – Moore, Danny Van Meter, James Judd), to introduce your wider group of friends to a fusion of bluegrass, jazz and other styles, Eric Uglam & Sons, Bean Creek, Virtual good bluegrass music in a fun local set- which eventually became “Newgrass”. As Strangers, Whiskey Chimp, Southside, ting. the original banjo sparkplug, baritone Wild River Ramblers, Baloney Creek, vocalist, and key arranger of the ground- Better Late Than Never The music is presented from the Duck breaking Country Gentlemen of the 60’s, Island Stage, that (like it says) is situated May 22-25: STRAWBERRY SPRING he helped change bluegrass forever, taking right in the middle of a lovely duck pond. MUSIC FESTIVAL - Yosemite it uptown and into Carnegie Hall. In addi- There you will find the Northern (http://www.strawberrymusic.com) tion to his bold and original banjo style he California Bluegrass Society with some Ricky Skaggs, Tim O’Brien, Peter Rowan is also an innovative fingerstyle guitarist snacks, cold drinks, and a bluegrass raffle & the Free Mexican Airforce, and during lean times doubled as a jazz featuring among its prizes two full passes Emmylou Harris, John Cowan Trio, So guitarist under a pseudonym out here on to Strawberry Spring Music Festival and Austin Jug Band, Cadillac Sky, ... the West Coast. an instrument to pick or learn how to play. June 12-15: FATHER’S DAY BLUE- Eddie met Martha, a singer songwriter, in The performers include Eddy duCommun cont. on Page 4... 1973. Married and performing together and his band Higher Ground, showcasing since 1976, they now concentrate entirely INSIDE: Santa Cruz Bluegrass Fair songs of Eddy's new CD which will soon on duet shows, rather than full bands, fea- be available, Also Harmony Grits, the Flyer The Annual San Francisco Free turing bluegrass, blues, country, folk, jazz, Bluegrass Fair host band since 1987, and Folk Festival Slow Jams Classes rockabilly and gospel influences. Martha 2 of Santa Cruz's excellent newer bands, takes much of the lead singing and backs Jim Hurst Guitar Workshop Review Jimmy Chickenpants and the Down Beets. up Eddie’s lead instrumentals on rhythm The Bluegrass Fair is a long standing tra- CD Review of Tim O’Brien’s guitar. Other interesting facts are that in dition that has done a good bit to solidify his native Virginia the state has an official Chameleon Concert/CD Review: Jim Santa Cruz's position as a bastion of blue- “Eddie Adcock” day (June 14th), and The grass on the Central Coast. Hurst’s Box of Chocolates Martha is a certified welder. Bluegrass Muse Atlas Cafe In San Bring a lawn chair and blanket to sit on, Eddie is not in the best of health these days Francisco Bluegrass Schedule but do not bring dogs or alcohol, per park and cannot tour much now (though he rules. See you at the 2008 Santa Cruz Parkfield BG Festival Flyer 2008 Good recently managed a sold out tour of Bluegrass Fair on May 3rd. Check out the Japan!), so take this opportunity to listen Old Fashioned BG Festival Flyer 2008 Santa Cruz Bluegrass Fair poster on Page to one of the great gentlemen of acoustic Good Old Fashioned Volunteer Form 3 of this paper, it has happy ducks on it! music. EVENTS CALENDAR ...and more! Rick Cornish of the California Bluegrass Association is asking you to share your story of how you got hooked on bluegrass music. Go to the CBA website at www.cbaontheweb and look on the home page for the fish. Click on that to start typing! Bluegrass By The Bay is published monthly by the Northern California Bluegrass Society, an all volunteer, non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. The name was changed in 1999 to reflect the expanded scope of the Society’s activities, from Marin to Monterey, California. Founded in 1982 as the Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society, it continues to be known by that name in the greater Santa Cruz County area. The Society brings peo- ple together for the preservation, enjoyment and advancement of bluegrass and related acoustic music through jams, instructional workshops, con- certs, community festivals and this monthly newsletter, via hard copy & electronic form, © 2007 Bluegrass By the Bay staff and contributors Thanks to writers/contributors: Ran Bush, Larry Carlin, Karen Imperial, Mike McKinley, Brenda Hough, Mary Munro Kennedy, Peter Thompson, . Photographs, graphics by Mary Kennedy or contributed by artists, and by others (flyers). NCBS Board of Directors: Note: The links in this .pdf are active, click to bring up email or webpage! Michael Hall; president, [email protected], 650-596-9332, Brenda Hough; secretary, [email protected], Elicia Burton; treasurer,[email protected], 831 338-7101, Eric Burman; vice-president, [email protected], Mike McKinley; mike@harmony grits.com, Lois Kellerman; [email protected], Penny Godlis; [email protected], Mike Russell;[email protected], Mary Kennedy; editor, [email protected], 408 241-5920 Committee Chairs Penny Godlis, Volunteers - [email protected],Mary Kennedy, BBB Editor, 408-241-5920, [email protected] Gary Mansperger, Webmeister, 408-251-8002, [email protected], Gary Anwyl, BBB Membership Chair, [email protected] Submission Deadlines: The 10th of the month preceding the desired monthly publication date. Digital Format: To [email protected] - Written submissions must be either ASCII text or Microsoft Word docu- ments. We accept *.tiff, *.jpeg, *.gif, or *.pdf format artwork. Paper format: To Mary Kennedy, NCBS/SCBS, P.O. Box 390846, Mountain View, CA 94039-0846. We accept manuscript, original photos and camera-ready artwork. Click On Link Below to go directly Ad Rates: Dimensions: Our printed full page ad (8" w by to pay for BBB Ads Online at Size 1 issue 6 issues Full Page: $ 200.00 $650.00 10 1/2" h), half pg (8" w x 5.25" h), 1/4 pg www.scbs.org/BBBpayment.php Half Page: $ 80.00 $360.00 (size 4"w x 5.25" h), business card (3 1/2" w x Note: Contact editor first & con- 2 1/8" h). Note: less than full page ads can be firm ad space and rates. Quarter Page: $ 50.00 $225.00 Business Card: $ 30.00 $135.00 placed vertically as well horizontally. Classified Ad Rates: Non-members: $.15/word; 10-word minimum. Members’ ads are free. Classifieds run in 4 consecutive issues. NCBS Web Site: http://ncbs.us or http://scbs.org - Maintained by: Gary Mansperger. Please email web calendar updates to: [email protected] Mail Address: NCBS/SCBS, P.O.Box 390846, Mountain View, CA 94039-0846 2 BLUEGRASS BY THE BAY Northern California Bluegrass Society BLUEGRASS MUSIC IN THE PARK date location time SAN LORENZO ALCOHOL, DOGS & SMOKING PROHIBITED IN THE PARK 5/3/08 PARK, SANTA CRUZ 12-5 FREE EVENT! RAFFLE & PRIZES! FOOD! THE SANTA CRUZ BLUEGRASS SOCIETY PRESENTS: THE BLUEGRASS FAIR EDDIE DUCOMMUN & HIGHER GROUND HARMONY GRITS JIMMY CHICKENPANTS AND INTRODUCING THE DOWN BEETS AUDIO BY CLARIFIED SOUND 2008 Banjo Venus Productions The Annual San Francisco Jim Hurst Guitar Workshop Review Free Folk Festival by Brenda Hough by Karen Imperial Jim Hurst, premier guitarist of the Claire Fiddling Cricket series. Dick formerly staged shows at the now closed Espresso Once again it is time for the annual San Lynch Band, toured Northern California recently and spent a busy day in the Palo Coffee in San Jose, and it is certainly good Francisco Free Folk Festival. We will cele- news that the South Bay has a new loca- brate our 32nd year in the newly built Alto-Santa Clara area sharing his skills and talents with delighted fans. tion for acoustic music and bluegrass Wellness Center at City college of San shows. Be sure to check www.fid- Francisco, 50 Phelan Ave, S.F. The festival Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto dlingcricket.com or this newsletter for will run Saturday and Sunday, June 21st - upcoming shows. 22nd, from noon -10p.m. Come join us for is a favorite Bay Area source for guitars, mandolins, banjos, fiddles and basses. dance workshops, music workshops, and Jim’s show was a lively mixture of blues, kids events during the day, then for dances You can equip an entire bluegrass band at Gryphon, and if you don’t have a band, original compositions and entertaining and concerts in the evening. All events are chatter between songs. Jim’s own family free and open to the public. you can find band mates in one of the many classes that Gryphon offers through- came from Kentucky and he honored his The San Francisco Free Folk Festival out the year.