Stars from the Bay Area bluegrass pantheon gather tonight to celebrate one of California's most beloved duos, Vern Williams and Ray Park. The red hot show features Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick, backed by Tom Rozum, Patrick Sauber, and Dan Booth, playing selections from the influential duo credited with helping introduce the west coast to bluegrass music.

Native Berkeleyite Laurie's songwriting, fiddling, and crystal-clear singing have brought her national recognition, a Grammy, and two International Bluegrass Music Association Awards for Female Vocalist of the Year. Through her many band and solo outings (including a year spent playing bass with Vern & Ray), Laurie has become a key figure in bluegrass, traditional, and folk music circles.

Sparkling songwriter and fabulous singer, Kathy has been leading traditional bluegrass bands on the West Coast since 1975, from the Good Ol' Persons to her current group, the Kathy Kallick Band. Her take on the classics, as well as her compelling originals, incorporates the unique perspective and refreshing musical sensibilities that won her a Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Bluegrass Association in 2001.

To this great duo of vocalists, Tom (the Right Hands) adds his mandolin, mandola, vocal talents and wry humor; Patrick (the Bladerunners, the Brombies, Richard Greene) joins in on banjo and guitar; and Dan (Red Level, 49 Special, Homespun Rowdy) provides bass.

Tenor singer and mandolinist, Vern Williams, and singer and fiddler, Ray Park, teamed up in the early 1960s to form one of the Bay Area's most influential bluegrass duos. Over a decade and a half, the two Arkansas natives won over many a Californian to bluegrass music with their hard-driving, rawboned sound and high lonesome vocal harmonies, topped by Vern's piercing tenor. (Jerry Garcia played banjo with Vern and Ray before he gained fame with the Grateful Dead, and other well-known alumni include Sandy Rothman, Herb Pedersen, Keith Little, Rick Shubb, Ed Neff, and Steve Pottier.) Vern passed away in 2006, the same year that Arhoolie Records released a live recording of one of their last shows, Vern and Ray With Herb Pedersen: San Francisco 1968.