There’s gold in them thar hills! I don’t know if that’s ever really been said, but it came true last Saturday night in Grass Valley, California, when the Anderson Family Bluegrass Band invited Menlo Park, CA-based Windy Hill to come up and perform a concert with them at the Tin House.
Ryan Breen, banjo player for Windy Hill says, “The Tin House is literally right next to the festival grounds, basically looking at the festival grounds.”
This is hallowed ground for California bluegrassers. The Nevada County Fairgrounds is the home of the California Bluegrass Association’s legendary Father’s Day Festival, which will enjoy its 37th year in 2012. To keep costs down and revenue up, the Anderson’s put the Windy boys up at their house for the night.
The Anderson Family Bluegrass band features Paige Anderson on guitar and vocals, who was recently profiled in Flatpicking Guitar magazine. The rest of the siblings, Aimee, Daisy and Ethan “Bo” Anderson, hold their own respectably for their age, along with mom and dad.
Windy Hill is a young group that plays bluegrass with the right attitude. Their new CD Let’s Go to the Fair was reviewed here on Bluegrass Today recently, and it’s a strong straight-ahead bluegrass record with some excellent singing and fiddling (the latter provided by whiz kid Annie Staninec of the Kathy Kallick Band). Interesting to note, Windy Hill’s current fiddler is Johnny Campbell, brother of the late, great fiddling Jimmy Campbell of Jim and Jesse fame.
This show is a good example of bands creating the concerts and the venues they need to find the correct audience/performer experience. The show at the Tin House seems like a good model for bands and promoters interested in putting a successful evening of bluegrass together.
I bet the Andersons wouldn’t mind if you sent them a note with any questions if you have! Just visit their site.
Here are a pair of videos from the show.
Ruby – Anderson Family Bluegrass with Windy Hill at the Tin House, Grass Valley, CA 11/5/2011
I Hear a Choo Choo Coming – Anderson Family Bluegrass with Windy Hill at the Tin House, Grass Valley, CA 11/5/2011
