CONTENTS
TOMORROW'S BLUEGR ASS STARS
FESTIVAL GUIDE
The Bluegrass Standard: First, tell me a little bit about the Central Valley Boys. Dave Gooding: About 10 years ago, a bunch of us had played together and in other bands. We wanted to put together a band to play some older music and travel to play lots of festivals. We were all hanging out together having a good time and decided to buy some red suits to perform in, and I ordered them right then. BGS: What are your favorite songs to perform? DG: Some of our threepart harmony Stanley Brothers songs are great. “God Gave You to Me” is one of my personal favorites. Songs written before 1964 tend to be our repertoire. We dig pretty deep into the catalog of older bluegrass. We’ve even gotten some songs off the B side of albums that were big in the 1950s and tend to be forgotten about now. BGS: What inspires your band, your sound, and your love for music? DG: One of our biggest inspirations is a man named Vern Williams. He played in many bands, and he brought the traditional bluegrass sound from Arkansas to California. BGS: After almost a decade of performing together, what would you say has been the most rewarding part of this experience? DG: The comradery of playing with the same people for almost ten years and a new audience who hasn’t seen us before getting excited to hear the older songs is what keeps us going. BGS: How do you feel your music resonates with fans? DG: I think it’s how people remember the roots of the music when they hear us sing or see us perform. Dressing up like we do and huddling around one microphone is a THE BLUEGRASS STANDARD
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