Calico Ghost Town Announces Bluegrass in the Spring Festival Lineup

(February 18, 2009 - San Bernardino, CA) Spring, warm temperatures, and sunny skies have Calico Ghost Town getting ready for its annual Bluegrass in the Spring Festival.

Scheduled for Mother's Day weekend, May 9-10, this season's lineup promises that mom and the entire family will be in for a real treat during this year's musical extravaganza!

The main attraction will be Bluegrass, Etc. featuring Byron Berline. Bluegrass, Etc. is nationally and internationally recognized in bluegrass music circles. Since the band's formation it has progressed to embrace an eclectic acoustic mix. Grammy award winner Dennis Caplinger plays banjo and fiddle, John Moore plays mandolin and guitar, and Bill Bryson plays bass. Appearing with Bluegrass, Etc. will be Byron Berline, considered to be one of America's most preeminent fiddle players and a highly prominent figure in contemporary bluegrass music.

Berline started fiddling when he was five years old, and it was soon discovered he was quite talented. He formed a bluegrass band named California and for three consecutive years (1992-1994) won the International Bluegrass Music Association Instrumental Group of the Year award.

In 1995, Berline moved to Oklahoma, opened a fiddle store, formed the Byron Berline Band and founded the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival, among the most acclaimed bluegrass festivals in the United States.

Over his career, Berline has recorded with some of the best musicians of our times, including Willie Nelson, The Eagles, Tammy Wynette, Emmylou Harris, The Rolling Stones, Ricky Skaggs, Earl Scruggs, Bob Dylan and others.

Calico Ghost Town Announces Bluegrass in the Spring Performers

Other bands slated for the Bluegrass in the Spring Festival are Stuck in Reverse, a Las Vegas-based bluegrass band bringing a wide range of bluegrass, gospel, and original vocals and instrumentals to the stage; High Hills Bluegrass Band, a female quartet; local bluegrass prodigy Scott Gates with the Scott Gates Band with Nathan McEuen; Mojave County and more.

Calico Ghost Town is a historical mining town founded in 1881 during the largest silver rush in California's history. The town prospered for eleven years, but when the price of silver plunged, Calico's population dwindled and by 1907, became a ghost town. In 1951, Walter Knott purchased Calico from the Zenda Mining Company and in 1966 the property was donated to San Bernardino County Regional Parks.
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