Windy Hill got its start in a woodshop class at Menlo Park High School, where two friends discovered that they both loved the music of Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Jimmy Martin, and set out to learn to play bluegrass. And boy, did they ever learn! The band won awards as Emerging Artists of the Year at Bluegrassin’ in the Foothills in 2010 and the String Summit Band Competition at Horning’s Hideout in Oregon in 2011, and they were the Showcase Band at the Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley in 2012. Tonight, they’re celebrating the release of their second album, Lonesome Garbage Man, featuring two covers and 16 originals. With Ryan Breen on banjo, Thomas Wille on mandolin, Kyle McCabe on bass, Johnny Campbell on fiddle, and Logan Ledger on guitar, the band plays high-energy bluegrass that’s fresh and contemporary and rooted in tradition.

The Central Valley Boys come from the Central Valley and their music pays tribute to some of the valley’s country and bluegrass greats, musicians like Vern Williams, Ray Park, Rose Maddox, Buck Owens, the Maddox Brothers, and the Farmer Boys. The band has a down home bluegrass sound with no frills or fancy stuff, just straight-ahead pickin’ and singin’. With Yoseff Tucker on guitar and vocals, Victor Skidanenko on banjo and vocals, John Cogdill on mandolin and vocals, Peter Hicks on fiddle and vocals, and Dave Gooding on bass, the band boasts an outstanding lineup of top musicians. Yoseff, for instance, has won recognition from the Northern California Bluegrass Society as both Guitar Player of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year.

The thing about both these bands is that they don’t play to live, they live to play!

Visit Windy Hill's website

Visit The Central Valley Boys' website