Published in the Feb. 19 – March 4, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Mark Fenichel
Mark Fenichel
There are not too many people as well-rooted in the town of Morgan Hill as bluegrass music promoter/ banjo player/electrician Tim Edes. His English forefathers came to this country in the 1600s and his ancestor Benjamin Edes was involved in the Revolutionary War. (He was also printer of the Boston Gazette in the 1700s). His great-grandfather George settled in Morgan Hill in 1892 starting a small community newspaper The Morgan Hill Sun in 1894. His grandfather and father always seemed to have their hands in local business in Morgan Hill including the Edes Brothers store in the 1920s and the family hardware store that was in business from the early 1940s to the early 1960s.
But Tim did not follow the family pattern of retail business. Through his mother’s influence as a piano player, Tim took up a variety of brass instruments throughout his early school days. After high school he took a liking to music from the mountains and caught the bluegrass bug. He picked up the banjo and took lessons for a while, but gave it up to pursue his trade as an electrician. He put down the banjo until he was 45. In 1997 he decided to check out the Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley. His love for bluegrass grew and he started volunteering at the annual event. It was just a few years later that he was elected to the board of the California Bluegrass Association and is currently the chairman of the board.
Eleven years ago, Tim decided Morgan Hill would be a perfect place for a bluegrass concert. In his first year of producing bluegrass shows he met guitar picker Bill Meiners who was in the audience of the first show. Bill and Tim started jamming at Tim’s place and as time went on more and more bluegrass friends joined in. The group jam grew too large for the house so Tim decided to move the jam to the Grange Hall. The jam has been there ever since and you can find a host of bluegrass jammers gathering every Thursday from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The jam is open to all. This venue also seemed to be the perfect place for a bluegrass concert, so 11 years ago Tim started his annual show where they have been selling out consistently.
His next show is scheduled at the Morgan Hill Grange Hall Saturday Feb. 22 featuring The Quebe Sisters Band and The Central Valley Boys. Tickets are $27 for CBA members and $30 for non-members and although they are available at the time of this writing, Tim is confident as in years past they will sell out. For tickets call (408) 595-4882 or email [email protected]. Or visit www.cbaontheweb.org
An update from my last column: 88 Keys Cafe is now open with great food, full bar, local wines and live music. Stop in at 1295 E. Dunne Ave. #100, or find them at www.88keyscafe.com.
