National Bluegrass Playoffs - Final Four Top Flight Bands Selected

Palmer Divide, from Colorado and Burnett Family Bluegrass from Arizona join Sawmill Road and The Brombies from California as the final four bands selected to perform during the National Bluegrass Playoffs in Victorville , California , Saturday, June 14th at 12 noon.

The nine year old Playoffs is held each year at the Huck Finn Jubilee, and is designed to assist deserving bands further their involvement in the Bluegrass music industry.

After a six month review, which began at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Convention in Nashville last September, four top flight bands are offered an invitation to showcase during the Playoffs. Dick Pierle with Old Blue Sound assists in the selection process. “It takes several dozen festivals, and music submissions before we extend an invitation”, states Pierle. “We are very careful to create a level playing field, and we are very proud of this year’s selection”.

A warm-up set is requested of each band on Friday, June 13th, and $500 is given to cover travel expenses. The Southwest Bluegrass Association is raising funds by raffling a Deering “Calico Model” banjo, a Beard “Series E” resonator guitar and Martin D18V donated by participating companies. All monies collected support the Playoffs.

The National Bluegrass Playoffs Band of the Year, is then chosen to attend the IBMA Convention, Awards Show and Fan Fest in Nashville , Tennessee . An expense allowance for travel, lodging and registration up to $4,000 is provided.

This year’s Playoff bands will perform before thousands of bluegrass fans and share the stage with some of the music’s top acts, including Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, The Dan Tyminski Band, Blue Highway and Dry Branch Fire Squad.

A schedule of performance is posted at www.huckfinn.com.

KID “PICKERS” JAM CAMP June 14th & 15th

with Chris Stuart & Backcountry

The Kid Pickers Jam Camp will bring out the bluegrass musician in kids, age 6 through 16, in a fun way by having them learn and play a couple of songs together on bluegrass instruments-guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin and bass. They'll learn how to play together (jam), meet new friends, play on stage, and become part of the bluegrass family. The camp will be held Saturday and Sunday, June 14 and 15, at the Mountain Man Village Shelter in Mojave Narrows Regional Park, Victorville, CA, as part of this year's Huck Finn Jubilee.

Jam Camp is free, but is limited to the first 15 kids per instrument. Kids should bring their fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, or bass for small-group music lessons and practice sessions with each other and members of Chris Stuart & Backcountry, a popular California-based bluegrass band. Parents are welcome and encouraged to stay and observe during the Jam Camp sessions.

A Saturday evening jam will include all Kid Pickers Jam Camp participants and, on Sunday, a special Jam Camp performance will be held at noon. Some Kid Pickers may even be invited to perform with Chris Stuart & Backcountry on the Main Stage during their Sunday afternoon show.

A kid picker's pass to attend the 32nd annual Huck Finn Jubilee will be given to each participant who pre-registers, and a Kid Picker's Jam Camp T-shirt will also be given to each participant.

To Pre-register call Stacey Uglum at (760) 953-6008 or e-mail
suglum@aol.com.
It is also possible to register at check-in on Saturday

Mark Twain Live

Presented through the considerable talents of Mike Randall,who returns from New York in Mark Twain Live,to talk about a California frog during Huck Finn’s 32nd Jubilee, Friday, June 13th at 9:00 PM. Double click below for a sample of his performance.



Mark Twain may be best remembered for his classic novel Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn first published in 1885. That book, jam packed with controversial themes and memorable characters, is considered the author’s greatest achievement. Ernest Hemmingway said of Huck Finn – “it was the one book from which all modern American literature came.” The truth is that the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn may never have been written if its author had not first found a frog in Calaveras County, California. Interestingly, Calaveras is just a few counties away from Victorville where we celebrate The Huck Finn Jubilee each summer on Father’s Day weekend.

Mark Twain’s first published short story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County was printed November 1865 in a New York Newspaper and quickly reprinted around the country. The name “Mark Twain” exploded onto the national scene and launched one of the most famous writing careers in American literature. Though Mark Twain later discounted his frog story as a “villainous backwoods sketch," America quickly embraced it and its author and has continued to do so ever since. On the lecture circuit Mark Twain would bring out a shortened version of the frog tale to the delight of his loyal fans.

Today, Mike Randall as Mark Twain Live makes an exclusive Southern California appearance during the Huck Finn Jubilee. The one-man performance will address various topics, including Bad Habits, Huck and Jim, A Ghost Story, and of course, the famous California frog. Randall has been portraying Twain for 36 years with performances ranging from The State Department in Washington D.C. to New York City’s only dinner theater, “The Little Hippodrome.” He’s often been compared to Hal Holbrook, and reviews credit him for giving a breathtaking re-creation of America’s most famous humorist.