Hollister
– Paul Clarke, a 5-string banjo player, first got his start
playing short sets between bands at the Good Old Fashioned
Bluegrass Festival in Tres Pinos.
Hollister – Paul Clarke, a 5-string banjo player, first got his start playing short sets between bands at the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival in Tres Pinos.
Now Clarke and his band, Harmon’s Peak, will be playing for the first time as one of the mainstage acts.
Fiddlers and banjo pickers such as Clarke will be taking over Bolado Park this weekend for the annual Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival.
Twenty-four California bluegrass bands will be playing at the event, in its 14th year at the park. The festival draws bluegrass fans from the Bay Area and Central Valley to Tres Pinos to listen to music and enjoy the weekend’s festivities.
Rich Evans, festival director, said the event appeals to people of all ages. He’s hoping to draw a crowd of at least 1,200 for the weekend.
“It’s definitely a family event,” he said. “Bluegrass is very much of a family-oriented thing, so we always try to include activities for kids and people of all ages.”
Besides the two dozen bands playing throughout the weekend, there will be crafts and activities, such as facepainting and booths displaying various bluegrass instruments.
Music is played all weekend, starting from 3pm Friday through 5pm Sunday. Even when there is not a mainstage band playing, Evans said, local bands are invited to come onstage and play a few songs. These “‘tweener acts,” as they’re called, give starting musicians a chance to play in front of an audience.
“The (festival) is a place where bands get some exposure,” Clarke said. “It’s smaller and more intimate.”
This intimacy allows for a sense of community, Clarke said, noting that many of the same people and musicians have shown up year after year.
The musicians bounce off one another and work together to create music and spark creativity, Evans said.
Even after lights go down onstage at night, the music keeps going.
“With 24 bands you get upwards of 125 musicians and they all come and camp out,” he said. “One of the things that happens is jamming – where people come and play together – and they often will play until 3 or 4 in the morning.”
While the festival may be popular with Bay Area bluegrass fans, Clarke said he was hopeful more Hollister residents would attend and take part in the festivities.
“It’s something that probably a lot of people haven’t been exposed to,” he said.
