The Pasadena Folk Music Society will present the Kathy Kallick Band, the wonderful bluegrass quintet from the San Francisco Bay area in just 9 days, on Saturday, October 10 at 8:00 PM in Beckman Institute Auditorium (Little Beckman).  Kathy has a signature vocal style and is an talented songwriter and guitarist who has surrounded herself with some of the finest musicians on the West Coast.  Joe Ross, of Bluegrass Now wrote, “A profound songwriter and expressive singer, San Franciscan Kathy Kallick is a mountain gal at heart. Her singing has always been earthy and passionate. As a songwriter, she knows how to pen beautiful impressionistic pieces with memorable contemporary messages. A troubadour and exquisite storyteller, (her) arrangements are tightly crafted, with each song given its own non-formulaic treatment.” She met Bill Monroe, the man often called the “father of bluegrass,” early in her career and he became quite smitten with her song, A Broken Tie, which Kathy still often uses as their opening song.  Hear it here.  The band includes Tom Bekeny, mandolin, fiddle & vocals, Greg Booth, dobro, banjo & vocals, Cary Black, acoustic bass & vocals, and Annie Staninec, fiddle, clawhammer banjo & vocals.  They don’t get down our way very often, partly because Greg lives in Alaska, so they have to coordinate their schedules pretty carefully.  The band was able to put together a tour down our way by booking our date and they will be headlining at the Old Fiddler’s Convention, north of Santa Barbara, the next day.  More about that below.

Kathy joined with Laurie Lewis and several other women in the Bay area back in 1975, forming a Group called the Good Old Persons, a group that still does occasional reunion performances, including later members such as John Reischman on mandolin and Sally Van Meter on dobro, who have also gone on to gain fame on their own.  This group was the springboard for some extraordinary talent that helped solidify California’s place on the bluegrass map and Kathy has certainly been one of the most enduring.  The Kathy Kallick Band has a brand new recording coming out called Foxhounds that should be available at this show, so there are plenty of new songs to go with classic older ones.  See the main page of their web site for more on Foxhounds.  Their young fiddler, Annie, who is in her mid 20’s, has been turning lots of heads and we just heard that she was named IBMA’s (International Bluegrass Music Association) 2015 Momentum Award for Instrumentalist of the Year yesterday!  This band is a delight to watch.  Hear them do the title song to their last CD, Time, from last year’s fall Strawberry Festival in Grass Valley here.  And their fine rendition of the traditional song, Waterbound can be found here .  You can get a real sense of Kathy’s spirit and musical motivation, along with a couple of songs, featuring some great dobro and mandolin, in this interview from Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

Tickets for the show are $20 for adults and $5 for Caltech students and children.  Order them at the Caltech Ticket Office, 9AM-4PM, Monday through Friday at (626) 395-4652 or in person (no service charge that way) at Winnett Student Center on campus.  You can also buy tickets online or get them at the door on Saturday night.

The Kathy Kallick Band will also be at the Old Fiddler’s Convention in Goleta, above Santa Barbara on Sunday, October 11, the day after their Caltech show.  You will want to hear them in Pasadena, as it is closer for most of you, AND you’ll hear a full 2 sets of music.  But we do recommend this festival, which is like a mini- Topanga Fiddle, Banjo Contest, also in a wonderful spot, surrounding the historic Stowe House and featuring jamming, workshops, main stage performances, and, of course, the contest!  Once you pay the modest admission price, you can enter the contest and perform a song to compete for prizes.  Or you can sit back and listen to some great music of the fine hired performers, and mingle with the jamming musicians.  You’ll hear a similar mix of instruments and singing that you hear in our series.  Find details here.

Art Night Pasadena is coming next Friday, October 9, 6-10 PM!