Friday, February 7

True Blue
Keystone Station
Dark Hollow

Noe Valley Ministry, San Francisco

7:30 pm - $14 advance / $16 door
Advance tickets available. All ages.

Hard core traditionalists have often viewed bluegrass bands from "west of the Mississippi" as somehow suspect. (This despite the California Bluegrass Association's status as the largest bluegrass membership organization in the world.) Yet even the most curmudgeonly critics would concede that California's Vern Williams Band was a true bluegrass treasure. Their few recordings (one for Rounder, two with Rose Maddox on Arhoolie) have gone on to influence a new generation of musicians (including one of our favorite bands, Open Road).

So when two key members of the Vern Williams Band reteamed to form True Blue, fans of traditional bluegrass in California took notice.

Del Williams grew up with the music of his father (Vern) and Ray Park. He went on to sing lead with the Vern Williams Band for fifteen years. Ed Neff, fiddler for the Vern Williams Band, has long been one of the state's premier traditional musicians, with High Country, Lone Prairie, and the Done Gone Band. In True Blue Ed shows off his powerful Monroe-style mandolin picking and his underheralded tenor voice. They're joined by Avram Siegel (The Kathy Kallick Band) on ripping banjo and baritone vocals, and Allison Fisher on bass. (Find out more about Avram Siegel's Bluegrass Banjo Workshop.)

Marin-based Keystone Station (built on the foundation of longtime duo Keystone Crossing) continues to gain fans, with a mainstage appearance at this past October's Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park. Larry Carlin and Claudia Hampe are joined by Francis Mougne (banjo), Dana Rath (mandolin), and Kenny Blacklock (fiddle).

San Francisco's favorite hometown bluegrass band Dark Hollow returns for its fourth SFBOT Festival appearance. The band was featured this past June at the CBA's Father's Day Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley. John Kornhauser, Alan Bond, Jennifer Kitchen, Mark Kronar, and Larry Cohea (High Country, Bluegrass Intentions) keep the local flame of bluegrass music burning brightly.

Address
1021 Sanchez Street, San Francisco

Buying Advance Tix
Click for advance ticket details.

Getting there
The Noe Valley Ministry is located at the corner of 23rd Street and Sanchez, in San Francisco. Parking is often limited in this residential neighborhood, so give yourself plenty of time. Or consider public transit--the J Church, 24 and 48 Muni bus lines all place you within 2 blocks of the Noe Valley Ministry. About the venue For 20 years Larry Kassin's Noe Valley Music Series has earned a reputation as one of the most diverse and innovative music/performance series in the Bay Area. The Noe Valley Ministry (the site of the performances) is an intimate and acoustically ideal 110 year old Victorian church in the picturesque Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco. The series has garnered praise for its programming of nationally and internationally known musicians (many who've won Grammys, Guggenheim Fellowships and other awards) and Bay Area performers of the highest quality.

Artist Links:

True Blue
Dark Hollow
Keystone Station