ABOUT | MT Rockies Bluegrass Association

What We Do

Jams - MRBA host monthly jams in the winter. Free and open to the public.

Festivals - Join us in April for the spring festival in Victor. Bands play all day, good food, and raffles. MRBA also is a sponsor for the HardTimes Festival (July) and Top of the Swan Festival (Sept.)

Newsletter - Six newsletters a year with a calendar of events, articles, interviews, and information about bluegrass happenings in the area. Newsletter mailed or emailed to you directly with membership.

Scholarship - MRBA sponsors a youth scholarship to help with costs of attending a bluegrass camp or festival. Scholarships are for ages 5-18 for residents of Idaho and Montana. Accepting applications from March 1 through May 31. Click on Link to apply:

MRBA Scholarship Application Form

MEET OUR BOARD

Founded in 1999 by Raynae Redman.

Whether you are a picker or a listener, the MRBA is meant for you.

Founder

RAYNAE REDMAN

I started the MRBA because I could see that there were many fellow musicians in our area who were wanting to sing and play bluegrass music, but our only opportunity at the time was to join the Montana Old Time Fiddlers. I wanted an Association that catered to Bluegrass and I wanted to provide a way to organize activities and get the word out to everyone who I knew would be interested. I wanted it’s name to reflect where we are located but I didn’t want to use Rocky Mountain Bluegrass Association because it’s over used in our area so I flipped the words and named it the Montana Rockies Bluegrass Association.

President

MIKE CONROY

I agreed to be President for the last bunch of years because they promised me I could be first in the pot-luck lines.

Vice President

DALLAS OLSON

I love all kinds of music, but Bluegrass is my favorite. I have worked and supported MRBA since It was founded by Raynae Redman. I have been the President and was the Merchandise handler for 13 years. I love to M.C. and try to encourage anyone that comes into our fold. I'm so grateful we have a great Bluegrass family here in the Bitterroot Valley. My hero is Ralph Stanley and the real old-time music that we stand for.

Secretary/Treasurer

ANNE MERRIFIELD

I’ve been a bluegrass music fan since about 1971, when I wandered into a neighborhood bar called Paul’s Saloon that was just starting to feature bluegrass bands. One of the first groups I heard was The Phantoms of the Opry, with Pat Enright, Robbie MacDonald, Paul Shelasky, Chuck Wiley, and Brantley Kearns. I was hooked from the first note, then I got a job as a bartender there and worked a couple of nights a week for 12 years - bluegrass heaven. I became a “professional listener” and made lots of friends who picked. When I moved to Montana many years ago, I decided to learn to play the mandolin and have been taking lessons from Mike Conroy ever since. I’ll never be a pro, but I’m happy to be part of Montana’s incredible bluegrass family and have made my dream of “pickin’ with friends” a reality.

Board Member

TARI CONROY

I started playing music shortly after marrying Mike and we've played together ever since. Our love is Bluegrass. Bluegrass music is unique, as it draws the most fun and caring people you will ever meet.

Board Member

KATE MCMAHON

I am a three-finger picking – Scruggs style banjo player. I have been a board member and the newsletter editor for the MRBA for 12-years and have performed in several bluegrass bands. I enjoy sharing my love of bluegrass music by organizing jams, writing articles for the newsletter and playing at local nursing homes.

Board Member

RANDY DOLLAR

I came to bluegrass in 1998 when the late multi-instrumentalist Brian Hall grabbed me and said, " Come on, you're gonna learn to play the guitar." You can blame him for everything that happened afterwards. It has been one of the great joys of my life to experience the profound talent and heart of Montana's musicians and their friends.

Board Member

JEFF CAMPFIELD

When Bluegrass is your favorite hobby, it only seemed natural to join the MRBA, to keep in contact with all of my fellow pickers, and it’s been a blast.

Board Member

ARLENE WOLF

Born and raised in Coloado, I would sing all the way to the mountains in a truck without a radio. I learned music off my folk’s 45rpms and when babysitting raided every piano bench & copied all the music. By 11yo, I had a lime green notebook filled with songs. With a ukulele I learned how to read chord charts & strum. My folks bought me a chord organ at 12yo, and my gramma showed me how to make major & minor chords on an antique pump organ. At 16yo, an uncle strung up an old beat-up guitar. Oh boy!! Peter, Paul & Mary, Hank Williams, Buffy St-Marie, Emmylou Harris, and the CIRCLE album…wow. In 1980, I got my first mandolin (because United Airlines broke my guitar) and I joined my first bluegrass band in Billings, the Blaze Trailer Rangers. Lived in several places in MT for 15 years, but nothing matches the bluegrass world of western MT and Salmon, ID. My hours spent in jam circles, band practices, performances, around campfires, inside, outside, hot, cold, late, early…. I never have had a bad hour of picking. Have met the best people EVER, happily raised my kids in the bluegrass world, and am so very happy and proud to be a part of this bluegrass family. Pick on!!!

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