Bonnie Raitt, Janis Ian and other stars performing in Grass Valley

ROCK IMPRESARIO BILL GRAHAM HELPED SPARK A musical renaissance in the ’60s in Northern California. The Fillmore and Winterland Arena in San Francisco helped incubate musical talent from the Grateful Dead to Jefferson Airplane.

The foothills felt the impact. In the ’80s, the Grateful Dead performed at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. “What a pretty venue, framed by pine trees,” recalled one attendee. In 1984, Crosby, Stills & Nash performed at the fairgrounds.

In the ’90s, California WorldFest launched at the fairgrounds, drawing inspiration from the Vancouver Folk Festival, Strawberry Music Festival and others.

Now the region’s reputation for drawing world-class musical talent is experiencing its biggest boom yet, thanks largely to The Center for the Arts in Grass Valley. The Center has presented Joan Baez, Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis and Judy Collins, among others.

This winter The Center hosts musician-actor Jeff Bridges on January 23, the Taj Mahal Trio on February 22 and singer-songwriter Amy Grant on February 26. In a bold move, The Center recently bought the iconic California WorldFest from its founders. “We’re very excited about The Center taking over WorldFest,” co-founder Dan DeWayne told us. “It’s going to be a really good match.”

“WorldFest fits perfectly into The Center’s capabilities and mission,” says Executive Director Julie Baker. The Center now presents more than 150 events per year. WorldFest is July 16-19 at the fairgrounds.

In addition, the Nevada County Fairgrounds is hosting the Spring Strawberry Music Festival on Memorial Day weekend—May 21-24—with talent including blues singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt.

Janis Ian
Famed singer-songwriter Janis Ian is performing in Grass Valley on April 24, thanks to The Center for the Arts. She has won two Grammy Awards, the first in 1975 for her song “At Seventeen.” She will perform with Tom Paxton, who was at Janis’ first show, at New York’s famed Village Gate.

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