Founder and Executive Director

Retired National Park Service, former radio host of bluegrass and Celtic programming with community radio station KDRT 95.7 FM in Davis CA. Broadcasting on KDRT radio brought him in contact with artists and promoters. With those relationships he booked and hosted bands for venues, private events and for the late but great McCloud Mountain Bluegrass Festival.

Upon moving full time to Siskiyou County, with the help of other music lovers, Dave initiated the McCloud River Music series and nonprofit Shasta Mountain Music. As a member of the California Bluegrass Association and International Bluegrass Music Association, Dave works within both organizations to bring great music to Siskiyou County. 

Secretary Treasurer

September recently retired from her career as a speech language pathologist helping individuals.  She worked passionately with infants and their parents, children of all ages and adults to find means for assisting them that helped to maximize their communication abilities.  She began her career work in the Boston area, formed a private practice while raising a family in New Jersey and later worked for a school districts in the Sacramento area.  September and her husband David Reynolds now live in Mt. Shasta City.  She manages the ticketing and bookkeeping for the McCloud River Music Series.

Board Member

Helen grew up in California, where she fell in love with bluegrass playing fiddle in the Kids on Bluegrass Program with Frank Solivan Sr. She now tour manages AJ Lee & Blue Summit on the road and books for Shelby Means, the John Hartford Fiddle Tunes Project, and Scroggins & Rose. Helen works with the talent teams for the CBA Father’s Day Festival and the Bayou Bluegrass Festival and serves on the Board of Directors of Bluegrass Ambassadors, the Delta Hayride Association, and the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). In 2024, she founded Wisteria Management LLC to support and strengthen bluegrass community through artist-centered initiatives. A Tulane University graduate, Helen lives in Nashville and enjoys hiking, yoga, and travel.

Board Member

A lifelong lover of live music, Keith was first struck by its power while seeing the Grateful Dead on their legendary fall 1989 and spring 1990 tours. A practicing Deadhead ever since, he has been chasing that feeling when the artist and audience connect and everything just clicks. His tastes span bluegrass, Americana, folk, rock and roll, and alt-country, and he loves nothing more than experiencing live music in all its forms.

Keith is the co-founder of Northbound Coffee Roasters, whose name draws inspiration from the folk song I Know You Rider. A Mount Shasta resident for more than 30 years, he is passionate about connecting artists with local audiences and helping curate live music experiences that bring the community together.

Board Member

Karen has taken an unusual path prior to becoming involved in our nonprofit and the business planning and promotion of music. 

She is a clinical genetic counselor by profession and a part-time farmer in Mt. Shasta, CA. As a lifelong lover of live music, dancing, and music events, she volunteered to support the McCloud River Music series. Karen shares our enthusiasm for “mountain music” and the unique community of talented artists and music lovers that come together in Siskiyou County. She has been a part-time resident of Mt. Shasta for 20 years and enjoys hiking, cross-country skiing, and growing specialty berries on her mountain farm.

Advisory Board Member

Linda Leavitt is a musician, writer, educator, and event producer. Linda is the co-founder of Cascade Bluegrass, the onsite coordinator for American Banjo Camp and a member of the 2024 IBMA Leadership Bluegrass Class. Linda teaches bluegrass singing and how-to-jam workshops at festivals, camps and at Nechville Banjos West, where she serves as creative director. For a decade, Linda was the singing instructor and event coordinator at Taborgrass and served on the board of the Oregon Bluegrass Association.  She has performed with Mountain Honey, Big Dickens, The John Montgomery Band and currently performs with banjoist Tom Nechville in The Lois & Clark Expedition.

Advisory Board Member

For over four decades, Laurie Lewis has gathered fans and honors for her powerful and emotive voice and her versatile, dynamic songwriting. She is a sought-after recording producer and an equally skilled teacher and mentor. She performs with her crack band, the Right Hands as well as in duo settings with Nina Gerber and others.

To ask how Laurie Lewis’s music is relevant in this day and age, in the broader folk, Americana, and bluegrass scenes as a whole, would be similar to asking how a brick in a home’s foundation is relevant to its structure. Her influence, her reach and her artistic intent are quiet stalwarts on which so much has been built.

Justin Hiltner, Bluegrass Situation

Advisory Board Member

As a banjo player and vocalist for the Slocan Ramblers, Frank Evans has established himself as an eminent professional with decades of experience as a performer, teacher, and recording artist.

Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Frank has also performed with some of the industry's biggest stars including Old Crow Medicine Show (Ryman Auditorium), Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway (United Supermarkets Arena), Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (Grand Ole Opry), Trey Hensley, and Jason Carter. As both a singer and instrumentalist, his knowledge, experience, and expertise have helped to define him as an indispensable leader of the newest generation of traditional music masters.

Advisory Board Member

Kenny Feinstein has over 20 years of experience in the music industry as the frontman, manager, and booker of the independent bluegrass band Water Tower. He has also worked as a busker, a session musician, a touring support musician, a producer, a music teacher, a booker & organizer for festivals.

He is the co-founder of Work Smarter Music Marketing, a consulting firm that helps artists, bands, venues, and festivals develop strategies for building their brands and developing social media marketing success. Kenny has a degree in Jazz from the University of Oregon and is based in Los Angeles, CA.