Its lonesome tales of home and farm life and its jubilant,
foot-stomping rhythms form an essential core of Americana, but
bluegrass music isn’t as old as most people think.
Bluegrass’ itself dates back only to the late 1930s or
mid-1940s, although its roots in the American folk music of the
hills of the Carolinas and Virginias, Tennessee and Kentucky, run
deep, according to the International Bluegrass Music
Association.
Its lonesome tales of home and farm life and its jubilant, foot-stomping rhythms form an essential core of Americana, but bluegrass music isn’t as old as most people think.
Bluegrass’ itself dates back only to the late 1930s or mid-1940s, although its roots in the American folk music of the hills of the Carolinas and Virginias, Tennessee and Kentucky, run deep, according to the International Bluegrass Music Association.
Still, the melodic ballads fueled by mandolin, guitar, banjo and bass rather than drums and synthesized back beats seem as old as time itself.
This weekend, South Valley residents have the chance to sample the genre themselves with a three-day festival at Casa de Fruta.
The first Gilroy Bluegrass Festival, an event that organizers hope to turn into a profitable and nationally known yearly gathering, will feature a bevy of locally and nationally acclaimed bands for three days and nights of food, family and music.
John Kael and his band, R.E.O. Haywagon, will be on hand for the event. Kael was drawn into the music business after he visited a bluegrass festival with a friend.
“I was inspired by the community surrounding the music, and the accessibility of the music and how much fun the people had that were playing it,” said Kael. “People who don’t even know each other – perfect strangers – can stay up all night camping and playing together and enjoying themselves.”
The main stage is a great place to experience the sound of bluegrass, but the real action, said Kael, always happens when the concert lights go out.
Players who’ve often driven hundreds of miles gather in the festival’s camp area to enjoy jam sessions, wandering from tent to tent in search of players they mesh with, said Mike McKinley, an event organizer and vocalist and mandolin player for the band Harmony Grits.
“You’ll find people wandering around with a banjo, and they’ll find someone they think is playing well, and they’ll start playing together,” said McKinley. “If people stay overnight, they get to wake up there with the music in the morning and go to sleep with it at night.”
Families are especially important to the bluegrass scene, since getting children involved is key to the genre’s survival, said Billy Pitrone, vocalist and guitarist for the band Bean Creek.
“We think bluegrass music is a really important building block in community and families, and it’s just a really unique community,” said Pitrone, a former reggae and ska singer in a band called Square Roots. “One thing that’s nice is the safety. Everybody who goes to a bluegrass festival has a $3,000 guitar, and they put them down and walk away. And they know when they come back it’ll still be there.”
But the main thing that attracts new talent to the pool is the transparency of bluegrass music, said McKinley.
“You can’t hide behind an amplifier or some kind of volume thing,” said McKinley. “You pretty much have to find your rhythm yourselves and find it together, but it’s not something you can dress up and make pretty. It is what it is.”
The Gilroy Bluegrass Festival was organized by the Gilroy Visitors Bureau and the Northern California Bluegrass Society, following the success of Hollister’s successful bluegrass festival.
Dale Ann Bradley
Born in rural Pineville, Ky., Bradley grew up singing in church and local contests before making her professional debut in 1992. Described by Music Row Magazine as a “gentle mountain songbird with a shimmering delivery,” she sings of her simple beginnings, sharing stories of her life and family. Bradley is backed up by her award-winning band, including Vicki Simmons, Jesse Brock, Michael Cleveland and Pete Kelly.
Perfect Strangers
Calling themselves a group of bluegrass veterans with “talent and vitality to burn,” Strangers was originally assembled to play on leader Chris Brashear’s album, Wanderlust. The group gelled so well, they decided to stick together, and the result was praise. Barry McCloud of Country Music Today wrote of the band, “They might just as well have been called Lonesome Strangers, for their music is in the great tradition of the most mournful, soul-touching bluegrass.”
Done Gone Band Reunion
Considered a legendary West coast bluegrass band of the 1970s, the Done Gone Band done gone and broke up more than a decade ago, but they’re back together and touring in 2005. Veteran performers Ed Neff, Tom Bekeny Steve Pottier and Mark Hogan, along with songwriter Don Humphries will be bringing back the good times again.
Lone Prairie
Vintage western music of the ’30s and ’40s, like songs penned by Sons of the Pioneers, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, comes to life in the hands of this Aptos-based group, which has shared the stage with Bonnie Raitt, David Crosby and Jack Brown. The group’s vocalists, Jack Sadler, Joe Kimbro and Paul King, bring a tight harmony to accordionist Barbara Barnett and bassist Sue Smith’s rhythms, while fiddler Ed Neff provides a little excitement to the traditional sound.
Brothers Barton with Overdrive
This Bakersfield-based duo, brothers Paul and Loren Barton, steam up the mandolin and guitar with their blend of traditional and original instrumentals and songs. They’ll be accompanied by Overdrive, a banjo, bass and fiddle group made up of Jamie Lampkins, Heather Grady and newcomer Christian Ward.
Bean Creek
Imbued with the sound of early country and mountain music, Bean Creek offers listeners traditional sounds with an exuberant quality all their own. Vocalist Billy Pitrone, a former reggae and ska band player, is accompanied by vocalist and bassist Sarah Eblen, vocalist and fiddler Pete Hicks and banjo player Rob Horgan.
R.E.O. Haywagon
A traditional bluegrass band in the style of the Stanley Brothers, Flatt and Scruggs and Bill Monroe, R.E.O. delivers stellar vocal trios and confident instrument work. Together, the group has nearly 100 years of musical experience among them and likes to joke that “it’s a wonder they’re still breathing.” The band brings together Santa Cruz musicians John Kael, Jim Mintun, Michael Thurman, Bill Ruskin and Louise Mintun.
MacRae Brothers
Charismatic Kentuckian Jake Quesenberry fronts this humorous trio of old-time country singers who focus on pre-bluegrass brother duets with close harmony singing backed by guitar and mandolin accompaniment. Matt Dudman plays guitar and is backed up by string bassist Jerry Campbell.
Faux Renwah
An acoustic trio specializing in old-time music with an original twist, the Renwah’s are an original family band. “Cactus” Bob Cole, his wife “Prairie Flower” Chris Stevenson and her son Michael P. Kennedy bring together a variety of acoustic instruments to play everything from authentic Gold Rush songs of the 1850s to 1960s pop favorites and Celtic fiddle tunes.
Larry Hosford
Country rocker Hosford, who shares a hometown with John Steinbeck, began his musical career playing folk songs on Cannery Row. He played in various bands throughout the 1960s and 70s, the most notable of which was the Santa Cruz group, Snail.
Harmony Grits
Harmony Grits resulted from the 1985 marriage of an itinerant mandolin player from Michigan and to the Santa Cruz-based electric jam band The Continental Drifters. Together, the group became known as the Harmony Grits, and has played everywhere from the streets of Santa Cruz to organic harvest fairs and festivals throughout the western United States. Their hit, “Gospel Bong,” became a staple piece of Americana through air play on maverick stations like Santa Cruz’s KPIG.
Kids on Stage with Frank Solivan
An avid bluegrass enthusiast, Frank Solivan’s camp site has been the gathering point for musicians at many a bluegrass festival, but a few years ago, Solivan decided to offer festival-goers a new experience. He organizes young players at each festival, bringing together performance groups to showcase the future of bluegrass. Watching the Kids on Stage, concert-goers will be able to see the talent coming up in their own communities.
Papermill Creek Rounders
Formed in 2003, the San Francisco-based Rounders feature David Nelson and Banana, a bluegrass-loving pair who sing the duets popularized by classic bands like Reno & Smiley and The Stanley Brothers. Also in the band, bluegrass veterans Ed Neff, Paul Shelasky and Paul Knight.
Kathy Kallick Band
Kallick has been considered an elite member of the bluegrass community since her 1975 breakthrough with the internationally acclaimed Good Ol’ Persons band. A Grammy-winning artist, Kallick was among the first to incorporate the sounds of swing, Latin and Cajun music into her folk/bluegrass background, and continues to produce original folk and acoustic material with her bandmates, Tom Bekeny, Avram Siegel, Amy Stenberg and Brian Wicklund.
