Bluegrass music is deeply integrated into American musical culture and roots. Yet bluegrass isn’t a pure form. It’s an amalgamation of many preceding styles and individual root systems. None have revealed more about the instrumental beginnings of bluegrass than David “Dawg” Grisman. His mandolin virtuosity was simply too adventurous to not stray from the vein of Kentucky-born grass.

To the delight of Bay Area and Northern California bluegrass lovers, mandolin guru David Grisman is fronting the Dawg Day Afternoon Bluegrass Festival at Green Music Center at Sonoma State University.

There’s more to country than heartbreak and hillbillies. Experience the depth and breadth of this American art form when the Green Music Center hosts “Dawg Day Afternoon Bluegrass Festival” with Sonoma favorite The David Grisman Sextet, The Del McCoury Band, and dobro master Jerry Douglas presents the Earls of Leicester.

On Sunday, October 12, 2014 at 7:30 pm, The Earls of Leicester will perform in concert at the Boulder Theater, 2032 14th Street, Boulder, CO, 80302. Tel (303)786-7030.

Tickets are priced from $20.00 to $27.50, and are available at the box office, or www.bouldertheater.com.  The Earls of Leicester, an homage to the music of Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, is the brainchild of musician, songwriter, and producer Jerry Douglas.

Yonder Mountain String Band graced us again this holiday season with a five night run at Boulder Theater. Each night featured a different master musician as a guest for the entire show, and on the third night, December 29, Jerry Douglas, the dobro virtuoso, was our guest star.

Last September a devastating “100 Year Flood” about fifty years overdue devastated parts of Colorado, in particular Boulder County. The historic town of Lyons, a beautiful gateway town to Rocky Mountain National Park and precious wilderness was affected worse than most. The St. Vrain River and other waterways turned the town into a riverbed, destroying and displacing many homes and lives. One of the worst hits was the Planet Bluegrass Ranch. Festivarians celebrated their 41^st Rockygrass Festival last summer a little over a month later the property was underwater.

It was the biggest and best small festival I have ever attended. There, I said it. I have started with a boom; a writer’s biggest mistake. There was no building to this statement. The opportunity to hook you with subtlety and humor was lost. If you stop reading now, I have only myself to blame.

Last year I wrote a preview for a festival I had never attended. This year I write a demand for anyone who considers themselves fans of bluegrass. Go to Grey Fox!For 37 years, this festival has been doing it right. It’s the total package.

MerleFest, offering the feel of both music festival and family reunion, drew nearly 76,000 fans to North Wilkesboro, North Carolina during April 25-28, 2013.  Beginning in 1988 as a tribute to the life of Merle Watson, this year’s event also served as a celebration of the lives of Merle’s parents, “Doc” and Rosa Lee, who passed away in 2012.