Regina Ann Bartlett passed away suddenly on October 1, 2014, while attending the IBMA’s World of Bluegrass event in Raleigh, North Carolina. She had been enjoying herself jamming into the early hours, but passed away in her sleep later that morning.
A resident of Watsonville, California, she was a native of Wheeling, West Virginia, but had lived most of her life in California. Born on May 29, 1948, she was 66 years old.
Bartlett, who played guitar and Appalachian dulcimer, was a longtime bluegrass, country and folk music performer, songwriter and a very dedicated advocate for children in bluegrass music. She was best known for directing the Kids on Stage program for the past 15 years at the Northern California Bluegrass Society’s (NCBS) Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival in Tres Pinos.
Also, she assisted with the Kids on Bluegrass program at the California Bluegrass Association Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley and helped with children’s programs at other California festivals.
Bartlett was a graduate of Bishop Conaty High School in Los Angeles and later studied music education and performance at California State University, Long Beach, and Cabrillo College, Aptos, California, and at Long Beach City College in Florida.
For many years she taught music at Calabasas and Bradley Elementary schools.
She was a regular performer at most of the NCBS-related festivals over the years. Her trademark Regimobile was a fixture at the many bluegrass festivals that she frequented each year.
Bartlett organized the then Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society stage at the Santa Cruz County Fair during the 1990s.
Bartlett also wrote a music column, Harmony Road, for the California Bluegrass Association.
Funeral arrangements are not known at this time.