The CTBA 2021 Annual Meeting and Show will take place at Independence Brewing (3913 Todd Ln, Austin 78744) on Sunday, November 14th. We will be jamming from 2-4PM, after which we will have performances from CTBA members and member-bands. Here's the rundown...

• 2-4PM CTBA Jam

• 4PM Mike McKinley & Quackgrass

• 5PM MoPac Traffic Jams

• 6PM CTBA Election Results

• 6:15PM CTBA "Mostly Board Band"

In addition, we'll have merch for sale and CTBA leadership on-hand to help you renew your membership or cast a ballot in the 2022-2023 Board Elections. And if you can't join us in person, we'll be livestreaming the event on our Facebook and YouTube pages, so please tune in!

2022-2023 BOARD ELECTIONS

Speaking of which, the CTBA 2022-2023 Board Elections are underway!

If you have yet to cast your vote, please do! All CTBA members in good standing can vote until 6PM on Sunday, November 14th. If you have not received a ballot, now would be a great time to check your membership status! Swing on over to CentralTexasBluegrass.org/Login and make sure your membership is active or just shoot us a line at CTBA@CentralTexasBluegrass.org, we'll be happy to help.

Old Settler's Music Festival (OSMF) returns this weekend! OSMF was postponed last year due to COVID-19, but they are back and ready for a festival October 21st-24th at their venue in Dale, TX. Those attending can expect to hear and see an all-star lineup, including Sam Bush, the Travelin' McCourys, Della Mae, the Cleverlys, the Po' Ramblin' Boys and Austin's own Tony Kamel.

As in previous years, the CTBA is proud to sponsor OSMF and will also be sponsoring the OSMF Youth Talent Competition. The competition will be held on Saturday morning at the Bluebonnet Stage from 10:30AM-1PM. We encourage you to come out and support these young and talented musicians.  

The CTBA will be on-site during the festival with a table to say howdy and to reach out to our friends in the bluegrass community. We'll have lots of information and CTBA swag for sale. And if you're a member or interested in becoming one, feel free to join or renew your membership right there!

If you are a CTBA member interested in volunteering at OSMF, please get in touch with us at CTBA@CentralTexasBluegrass.org.

OSMF has announced COVID-19 health and safety protocols will be in place during the festival, for information on this or updates re: lineup, tickets, volunteer opportunities, etc please visit the OSMF website. You can also connect with OSMF on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here for the CTBA newsletter

2021 BOARD ELECTIONS

Are you passionate about bluegrass? Do you have a vision for the bluegrass community? Do you like collaborating? The Central Texas Bluegrass Association is putting a call out for CTBA members to serve on the CTBA Board from 2022-2024.

Ballots will be going out on October 1st, and we're hoping to have our lineup of candidates in place by September 15th or so. If you're interested in getting involved or learning more, please shoot us a line at CTBA@CentralTexasBluegrass.org.

And - by the way - now is a great time to check your membership status! All members of the CTBA in good standing will be able to vote in the election, swing on over to CentralTexasBluegrass.org/Login and make sure your membership is active. Any questions, shoot us a line at CTBA@CentralTexasBluegrass.org.

2021 SCHOLARSHIPS

The CTBA is excited to announce our 2021 Willa Beach-Porter Scholarship recipients!

Izaak Mora, age 15, banjo

Round Rock, TX

Chris Cheek, age 20, guitar

Austin, TX

Martina Stecklein, age 15, mandolin

Sugar Land, TX

Congratulations to all of the recipients!!!

In lieu of bluegrass camps, recipients will be participating in a year-long program studying with master musicians through Artistworks. This year's recipients will be working with Noam Pikelny (banjo), Bryan Sutton (guitar) and Sierra Hull (Mandolin). We are incredibly grateful to ArtistWorks, they have been an invaluable partner in keeping our scholarship program viable the past two years.

For more information about how you can study with the masters, visit ArtistWorks.com.

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Central Texas Bluegrass Community,

On August 31st, 2021, I resigned from the CTBA Board after three years as I transition into a full-time role supporting our unhoused neighbors.

Serving on the board has been nothing short of an incredible learning experience with so many challenges but mostly an emboldened sense of gratitude, grass, and community.

I want to express my sincere gratitude to the CTBA Board and all of our members who have given so much time and energy to keep CTBA afloat even amidst a global pandemic, severe winter storm, and everything in between.

At the September Board meeting, the CTBA Board elected CTBA Vice-Preisdent Chris Jones to finish my term, through the end of 2021. Best of luck and many thanks, Chris!

Take care of each other, and happy pickin’ y’all!

Libby Brennan

Click here for the CTBA Newsletter

2021 CTBA WILLA BEACH-PORTER SCHOLARSHIP

The CTBA is excited to again partner with AristWorks for our 2021 Willa Beach-Porter Scholarship. As there are still very few Bluegrass camps available this year, the CTBA is offering year-long subscriptions to the course of the recipient's choice among the many fine ArtistWorks teachers. Scholarships are available to Texas residents aged 12 and over who would otherwise not be able to afford the lessons.

Applications are due July 15th, so head on over to CentralTexasBluegrass.org/Scholarship and apply today!

RETURN OF THE CTBA SUNDAY JAM SESSION

And the CTBA is thrilled - THRILLED! - to announce that Bluegrass is back at Oskar Blues and the CTBA jam will be starting again on Sunday, June 27th, from 3-5PM.

Oskar Blues has been wonderful partner of the CTBA since 2018, and we are thrilled to be hosting our Sunday jam there again. In addition, there will some live bluegrass on their deck the weekend before. CTBA member-band The Greenlawn Rangers will be performing on Saturday, June 19th. And Central Texas Bluegrass luminary Mr. Eddie Collins will be performing for a special Father's Day celebration the following day, Sunday, June 20th. More information on the Oskar Blues website or Facebook page.

Please note Oskar Blues is adhering to CDC guidelines and strongly recommends masks for anyone who is not vaccinated.

CTBA JAM & EVENT CALENDARS

And a quick head's up that the CTBA Jam & Event calendars are back up! We're doing our best to keep them up-to-date with all the Bluegrass in Central Texas, if you have an event to list please email us at Events@CentralTexasBluegrass.com or (if you are a member) feel free to use the event submission form at CentralTexasBluegrass.com.

Click here for the CTBA Newsletter

CTBA 2020 END-OF-YEAR SURVEY

Sunday night, the CTBA Board convened via Zoom for our first meeting of 2021. We had some time to reflect on the many lessons learned adapting to a virtual world and what that will look like for the year ahead. It is truly inspiring to be surrounded by such a talented group of Bluegrass lovers from all walks of life. This year, you can expect a quarterly newsletter, virtual performances by member bands, competitions, and more ways of staying connected.

While we get started planning, it would be greatly appreciated if you took a couple minutes to fill out our end-of-year survey. While we can’t physically engage in the many counties of central Texas, it is important we have any and all feedback so we know how we can best serve our community in the coming year.

The survey is available here or at http://tinyurl.com/2020-ctba-survey.

As always, we are grateful for your continued support. Looking forward to a very grassy 2021!

Happy pickin’ y’all.

Libby Brennan

President, CTBA

IBMA GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

And with the dawning of 2021 it's a great time to swing on over and check out the grants and scholarships available this year from the IBMA Foundation.

There are scholarships for student songwriters and collegiate-level musicians studying bluegrass, as well as bluegrass-related project and scholarship grants available. The most pressing deadline is for the IBMA Foundation's Arnold Shultz Fund Grant, which "[supports] activities that increase participation in bluegrass music by people of color." Applications are due January 31st, best get on it!

And don't forget the CTBA Scholarship program, available to Texas residents aged 12-21. More information is available at CentralTexasBluegrass.org/Scholarship.

CTBA ANNUAL MEETING 2020

The CTBA Annual Meeting for 2020 is THIS SUNDAY, November 15th!

The meeting will be held at Nomadic Beerworks (3804 Woodbury Dr, Austin 78704) from 5-7PM.

If you are interested in coming, please note there will be very limited in-person attendance. Please plan on wearing a mask and social distancing. And as there will be limited seating available, please consider bringing your own chairs, blankets, etc.

If you can't make it in-person, no worries! Just tune into the livestream on the CTBA Facebook and YouTube pages!

Here's the lineup:

5:00 Opening remarks

5:10 Performance by Celebrindal Roberts

5:40 ArtistWorks scholarship drawing

5:45 Performance by UT's Burnt Orange Bluegrass

6:15 Board election results

6:30 Performance by the Greenlawn Rangers

7:00 Closing

More information is available on our Facebook event page.

NEW CTBA MERCH!

And - hey! - just in time for the Annual Meeting, we have brand-new CTBA bandanas! Mask up the CTBA way, or go for that CTBA-inspired Springsteen sorta look... Available now at the CTBA store!

ARTISTWORKS DRAWING

A reminder that we are holding a drawing for a one-year scholarship to ArtistWorks! If you would like to enter the drawing, please enter your name and email address at http://tinyurl.com/ctba-scholarship. If you are not a member of the CTBA, we would kindly request you consider joining or making a $5 donation.

2021-2022 BOARD ELECTIONS

There is still time to vote in the 2021-2022 CTBA Board Elections! Ballots may be cast online or in-person until 6PM on Sunday, November 15th. If you haven't received your ballot or have any questions whatsoever, please give us a holler over at ctba@centraaltexasbluegrass.org.

And, of course, anyone joining or renewing their CTBA membership before November 15th will be able to vote as well.

Regarding membership:

If you are now or have ever been a member of the CTBA, you have an account at CentralTexasBluegrass.org that you can access at CentralTexasBluegrass.org/Login.

If you are unsure of your membership status, here is how to check:

Navigate to CentralTexasBluegrass.org/Login

Enter your email address

Click “Recover Password”

You will receive an email with a link to the page where you can create a password for your account

After creating your password, you can log in and access your account

It is important to check your membership status. While we have made dramatic improvements to our membership management over the past year, there is still a chance your membership may have lapsed without your knowledge. And, if you prefer, you are of course welcome to submit a printed application and any payments by cash or check.

If you are not a member of the CTBA, please consider joining! You can read all about the benefits and privileges of membership at CentralTexasBluegrass.org/Join.

The CTBA is a membership organization; we are only as successful as our membership is strong. Your modest membership fees go a long way to promoting and supporting Bluegrass in Central Texas, be it through performances, scholarships, or our website and social media support. Please consider renewing or joining today.

Again, if you have any questions whatsoever, please contact us at ctba@centraltexasbluegrass.org, we’ll be happy to help you sort it all out.