who’s feeling young now

Niko Quale, age 13, is a fiddler and vocalist from Alameda, CA. He began studying fiddle with Catherine Manning when he was 2-1/2 years old. He now studies with Chad Manning. Niko is also an avid contest fiddler and placed in the Top 10 of the 2019 Grand Masters Fiddle Championship Youth Division. He is a two-time CA State Fiddle Champion in the Peewee and Jr Jr divisions and the current CA Western Open Fiddle Champion, Jr Jr division. Niko has also played for IBMA’s Kids on Bluegrass in Raleigh, NC. Aside from bluegrass, Niko plays jazz violin with Oaktown Jazz and loves to sing Japanese animé songs. He is always up for a game of chess.

Lucy Khadder, age 15, is an instrumentalist who plays bass and sings in this band. Lucy began playing fiddle at age 5, bass at age 11, and enjoys dabbling in anything with strings. She has guest performed with a number of bluegrass and old-time musicians, including Dominick Leslie, Phoebe Hunt, and Caleb Klauder. In 2019, she performed with the Kids On Bluegrass program and was featured in a CBA showcase at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass Festival. She regularly plays fiddle and sings in her other band, Birches Bend.

Silas Jude, age 15, on banjo. Silas first encountered bluegrass at the Berkeley Farmer’s Market when he was four years old and was hooked. He took his first banjo lesson by the time he was eight. A sophomore at Berkeley High School, when Silas isn’t playing banjo or fiddle he can usually be found playing Magic the Gathering. He also performs with his other bands, Young and Up Too Late.

Teo Quale, age 15, is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, who delights audiences with his inventive and heavily grooved playing. Teo is also an accomplished contest fiddler and picker, having won several picking contests in California and nationally in fiddle. On mandolin, Teo holds 1st Place in the 2018 Open Division CA State Picking Contest. And, in 2019, he was a finalist in Freshgrass Festival’s Mandolin Contest. No slouch on the fiddle, Teo is a 2-time National Fiddle Champion in the Jr. Jr. division in Weiser, Idaho (2019, 2018) and placed in the Top 3 in the 2019 Youth Grand Master Fiddlers Championship in Nashville, TN. He is also the 2019 CA State Fiddle Contest Champion of the Jr. Jr. Division. Teo was also nominated for the 2021 IBMA Instrumentalist Momentum Award. Teo is also cofounder of the bands Jubilee and Crying Uncle. He hopes to become a professional basketball player.