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Vern Williams
Vern Williams (born Delbert Lavern Williams) (December 9, 1930 – June 6, 2006) was a singer and mandolin player who was instrumental in introducing bluegrass music to the West Coast of the United States. Early life Williams was born on December 9, 1930 in Newton County, Arkansas (or Bullfrog Valley, Pope County, Arkansas), as part of a musical family; family members (such as brothers Junior and Hairl Dean) played fiddle, guitar, and banjo. Williams started on guitar, then switched to mandolin at age 17. In 1952, he was drafted into the United States Marine Corps and moved to San Diego, California for basic training. After serving at Twentynine Palms, California, he married Marjory Vogler and moved to Stockton, California. Vern and Ray In 1960, Williams formed a duo with fiddler Ray Park known as Vern and Ray. Vern and Ray became one of the most successful bluegrass bands in Northern California. According to DJ Tom Diamant, "Anybody who plays bluegrass in the Bay area and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bluegrass Music
Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ''roots music''. Many traditional songs have been sung ... that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe, Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like Country music, mainstream country music, it largely developed out of Old-time music, old-time string music, though in contrast, bluegrass is traditionally played exclusively on Acoustic music, acoustic instruments and also has roots in traditional English, Scottish, and Irish Ballads, Irish ballads and dance tunes as well as in blues and jazz. Bluegrass was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Monroe characterized the genr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pete Wernick
Pete Wernick (born February 25, 1946), also known as "Dr. Banjo", is an American musician. He is a five-string banjo player in the bluegrass music scene since the 1960s, founder of the Country Cooking and Hot Rize bands, Grammy nominee and educator, with several instruction books and videos on banjo and bluegrass, and a network of bluegrass jamming teachers called The Wernick Method. He served from 1986 to 2001 as the first president of the International Bluegrass Music Association. Wernick is also an outspoken atheist and humanist, and at one time led a secular humanist congregation in Boulder, Colorado. Biography Pete Wernick was born in New York City and began playing the banjo at the age of fourteen. He pursued studies at Columbia University, hosting New York City's only bluegrass radio program in the 1960s on WKCR-FM and earning a Ph.D. in sociology, thus the moniker "Dr. Banjo". In 1970 while working at Cornell University, he formed Country Cooking in Ithaca, New York toge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2006 Deaths
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany is won by Italy; Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 crashes in the Amazon rainforest after a mid-air collision with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet; The 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake kills over 5,700 people; The IAU votes on the definition of "planet", which demotes Pluto and other Kuiper belt objects and redefines them as "dwarf planets"., 300x300px, thumb rect 0 0 200 200 2006 Winter Olympics rect 200 0 400 200 Twitter rect 400 0 600 200 Nintendo Wii rect 0 200 300 400 IAU definition of planet rect 300 200 600 400 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum rect 0 400 200 600 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake rect 200 400 400 600 Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 rect 400 400 600 600 2006 FIFA World Cup 2006 was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1930 Births
Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 193 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * January 1 – Year of the Five Emperors: The Roman Senate chooses Publius Helvius Pertinax, against his will, to succeed the late Commodus as Emperor. Pertinax is forced to reorganize the handling of finances, which were wrecked under Commodus, to reestablish discipline in the Roman army, and to suspend the food programs established by Trajan, provoking the ire of the Praetorian Guard. * March 28 – Pertinax is assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard, who storm the imperial palace. The Empire is auctioned o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arhoolie Records
Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was founded by Strachwitz in 1960 as a way for him to record and produce music by previously obscure "down-home blues" artists such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Snooks Eaglin, and Bill Gaither. Arhoolie still publishes blues and folk music, Tejano music including Lydia Mendoza, Los Alegres de Terán, Flaco Jiménez, regional Mexican music, cajun, zydeco, and bluegrass. History Chris Strachwitz immigrated with his family from Silesia in 1947, and became enamored with American regional music after seeing the film ''New Orleans''. He eventually settled in the San Francisco bay area, and in 1960 he headed to Texas to record bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins, but it turned out that Hopkins was in Berkeley for a performance engagement. He met up with historian Mack Mc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California Bluegrass Association
The California Bluegrass Association (CBA) is a California Non-Profit Corporation which was founded in 1975 in the San Francisco Bay Area bCarl Pagter The CBA is dedicated to the furtherance of Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Gospel Music in California. The Articles of Incorporation further state that the organization is formed to promote, encourage, foster, and cultivate the preservation, appreciation, understanding, enjoyment, support, and performance of traditional instrumental and vocal music of the United States. The California Bluegrass Association has sponsored dozens of bluegrass festivals since its inception. The organization's main festival, held every Father's Day Weekend in June, is a four-day event at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley, California. This festival annually features a line-up of national and regional acts in the bluegrass and old-time country music field. It is preceded by a four-day music camp. The CBA also sponsors events in Bakersfield, and Seb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Bluegrass Music Association
The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music. Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International Bluegrass Music Museum as a joint venture with RiverPark Center in Owensboro. In 1987 IBMA established the World of Bluegrass, a combination trade show, concert, and awards presentation. This was originally set in Owensboro, before moving to Louisville, Kentucky in 1997. Nashville, Tennessee hosted this event from 2005 through 2012. Since 2013, the event has been hosted in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1991 IBMA established the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor at the International Bluegrass Music Museum to recognize lifetime contributions to bluegrass, both by performers and non-performers. In 2003 IBMA relocated its offices to Nashville, Tennessee. Winners are chosen by the 2,500 members of the International Bluegrass Music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rick Shubb
Richard Shubb (born January 11, 1945 in Oakland, California) is best known as the inventor of the Shubb Capo, a very popular guitar and banjo accessory. His 1978 patent is cited by Sterner's Capo Museum as being one of the most significant improvements in the development of the capo. He also invented the lever-operated banjo fifth string capo, the compensated banjo bridge, and holds several other U.S. and international patents on musical instrument accessories and improvements. He is also a noted and influential 5-string banjo player and teacher. He was among a handful of young West Coast musicians to discover and popularize bluegrass music, which was already well established in the Southeast. He graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1962, and during the folk boom of the 1960s he played in coffeehouses and taverns in Berkeley and San Francisco, playing with such musicians as Doc Watson, David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, and others. He later went on to develop a distinctive swi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandy Rothman
Sandy Rothman (born January 30, 1946, Miami, Florida) is an American, San Francisco Bay Area bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He plays mandolin, dobro and banjo, and he also sings. Rothman was a friend and colleague of Grateful Dead bandleader Jerry Garcia, and a member of the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. He played bluegrass with Garcia and David Nelson as the Black Mountain Boys in 1964, and has played with Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, Earl Taylor, Red Allen, Jimmie Skinner, Larry Sparks, the Kentucky Colonels, Country Joe McDonald, Kathy Kallick and Clarence White, among other musicians. He has been described as "one of the chief biscuits when and where bluegrass music is discussed, scribed, or performed in northern California." Discography *''Almost Acoustic'' – Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band – Arista Records (1988) (producer and performer) *''The Old Road to Home'' – Sandy Rothman – Tonebar Records (1993) (producer and performer) *''Bluegrass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurie Lewis
Laurie Lewis is an innovative American singer, musician, and songwriter in the genre of bluegrass music. History Laurie Lewis was born in Long Beach, California on September 28, 1950. Her family moved regularly from place to place until she was eight years old, when they settled back in Berkeley. Her family strongly encouraged Laurie and all her siblings to play music. She started on piano and violin until a friend took her to the Berkeley Folk Festival where she first caught the folk bug: Oh, it was so exciting. Every night there were concerts, and during the day you'd be in a eucalyptus grove listening to someone making music with nothing between you and them. Every day I'd hear something new, Doc Watson or the Greenbriar Boys. Something about it just invited me to start playing it. She began picking simple songs on the guitar, then the fiddle. After high school, she drifted away from the music, but always kept her fiddle under her bed, not knowing exactly why. In her ear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Coast Of The United States
The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S. states of California, Oregon, and Washington, but sometimes includes Alaska and Hawaii, especially by the United States Census Bureau as a U.S. geographic division. Definition There are conflicting definitions of which states comprise the West Coast of the United States, but the West Coast always includes California, Oregon, and Washington as part of that definition. Under most circumstances, however, the term encompasses the three contiguous states and Alaska, as they are all located in North America. For census purposes, Hawaii is part of the West Coast, along with the other four states. ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' refers to the North American region as part of the Pacific Coast, including Alaska and British Columbia. Although the enc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herb Pedersen
Herbert Joseph Pedersen (born April 27, 1944 in Berkeley, California) is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, and singer-songwriter who has played a variety of musical styles over the past fifty years including Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, Folk music, folk, folk rock, country rock, and has worked with numerous musicians in many different bands. Biography Pedersen often performs with Chris Hillman, and both were once members of the Desert Rose Band. Pedersen also fronted his own band called the Laurel Canyon Ramblers. Besides this, Pedersen has also worked with the following musicians and groups: John Fogerty, Mudcrutch, Pine Valley Boys, Michael Martin Murphey, Earl Scruggs, The Dillards, Smokey Grass Boys, Kentucky Colonels (band), The New Kentucky Colonels, Old & In the Way, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Vassar Clements, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Skip Battin, Tony Rice, Dan Fogelberg, Stephen Stills, Linda Ronstadt, Kr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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