Critical Grass 2025

When we left off, Critical Grass had just been accepted to play on Vern’s Stage, at the 2025 California Bluegrass Association Father’s Day Festival. And, our guitar player, Jess Poteralski, who we loved, moved to Grass Valley. 

It’s a truism in the bluegrass world that there are a dozen guitarists for every player of any other instrument. You’d think that replacing our guitarist would be relatively straightforward. But you weren’t in a band that used to have Mike Thompson and Jess Poteralski on guitar – we were spoiled.

Finding the perfect guitar player

Eventually, I thought of my picking buddy Chris Quale. Chris was the first person to invite me to come pick in the dark days of the pandemic, right after Lisa and I got back to California from Nashville. I’d sit with him and Nick Khadder in one of their back yards in Alameda, and we’d play socially distanced trios. I know those tunes kept me sane when the world was anything but. Chris is also a lovely human being, which is a key requirement.

I approached Chris and asked if he’d be interested in having a first date with us. To my delight, he was willing to give us a shot. We had a gig in January 2025 coming up at O’Riley’s – a bar right off Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. We had one rehearsal in December, then hit the stage in San Francisco on the first Sunday of 2025.

As we were doing the sound check, Chris said, “I’ve never played on a real stage before.” This was more than a little ironic, since he has been on the stages of some of the biggest venues in the business, including the Grand Ole Opry. That’s because his sons, Miles and Teo, are half of the Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band. It was high time Chris was on a stage holding a guitar, and we were delighted to be the vehicle for that. 

We all had an absolute blast, and the audience seemed to dig it, too. I distinctly remember playing an ascending bass line on a chord change, just as Chris played a descending line on the guitar. We looked at each other, and both of us giggled. Critical Grass had a guitar player.

Live at KALW

Before we got to Vern’s Stage, we had an opportunity to play live on KALW radio in San Francisco. Leah got us that gig through her connections to Peter Thompson, who is the host of a bluegrass show on KALW. Also, Peter is married to Kathy Kallick, a California bluegrass legend. One of our showcase pieces is Call Me a Taxi, which Kathy wrote and recorded. 

We closed the radio show with Taxi. What we didn’t know was that Kathy Kallick and her band were standing right outside the studio waiting to go on next. As we walked out, every one of us got a cheer and hug from her. That was… that was a moment. Not only did we get hugs from Kathy Kallick, we got a pretty cool video of the show. It’s always hard to get decent audio at a live show, but this time Peter and his engineer gave us a recording off the mixing board – the best sound you can ask for. I sync’d that to a phone video I made and voila. 

Vern’s Stage

Just three weeks later, we played Vern’s Stage at the CBA Father’s Day Festival. It was everything we had hoped for, and more. Yeah, there were a few butterflies before we got up on the stage. But the moment we kicked into I Feel the Blues Moving In, it was blissful. The time flew by, and we finished with the John Hartford classic Steam Powered Aeroplane. Half of me was playing the music, the other half was taking it all in, and wishing it didn’t have to end. 

Fortunately Ted Silverman, aka TedToob, got a sweet video, so we can relive the moment. I put some more reflections and pictures on my personal blog site.

This is also a good time to tell any band that is considering auditioning for Vern’s Stage: DO IT! It is the most fun you can have as a musician, and the audience support is insane. 

Auditioning for California Showcase

On the CBA ladder, the next step up from Vern’s Stage is California Showcase. California Showcase bands get two sets at the festival: one on the Pioneer Stage, behind the concession area, and one… one set on the main stage of the CBA Father’s Day festival.

I don’t know if any of us thought that the California Showcase was a reachable goal, but there was only one way to find out. Fortunately, the audition process is identical to that for Vern’s Stage, so we were comfortable with the format. We just knew that the stakes were higher. 

We rehearsed a couple of times, then did our three-song recording. Sent it in, and waited. The video was due at the end of September, and we wouldn’t hear until mid-December. 

Birthday party

In the meantime, there was more music to be played, and we had a special celebration coming up – two years as a band (“That’s like twelve in human years” said Chris). Armistice Brewing in Richmond, California was kind enough to host it for us.

Leah had suggested that we use the party to raise money for a good cause. When we were planning the show, SNAP payments had been suspended because of a government shutdown. SNAP is the program that provides food for local income individuals and families. We all thought that was a dynamite idea, and made that the theme of the party.

Friends, family, and music lovers packed the place out. We polished off seven giant pizzas, two large cakes, and some unknown quantity of Armistice’s excellent craft beer. And we raised $650 for the Contra Costa/Solano food bank.

A bunch of our friends came up to pick with us, which is always a good time. I didn’t anticipate this, but Laurie Lewis came up to sing Kate Wolf’s Like a River. Laurie is a legend in the bluegrass world, and I’d never had the honor of sharing a stage with her. I remember standing next to John saying, “Is this real life?”

It would have been the perfect ending to the year, but the year wasn’t quite over. Just a week or two after the Armistice party, we got the email that we had been accepted to be part of the California Showcase at the Father’s Day Festival. And this time, our guitar player wasn’t moving out of town. 

2025 ended on the highest note possible, and 2026 was looking awesome.