Scott Gates

About

Scott Gates is a product of the California Bluegrass Association. He grew up in Apple Valley, out in California's high desert, picked up the mandolin at seven, and that same year went to his first CBA Father's Day music camp in Grass Valley. He's kept that week blocked off on his calendar ever since.

He was playing professionally by ten, sharing stages with David Grisman, Mike Marshall and Chris Thile, and put out his first record, Legacy, at twelve. Fiddle and guitar came at eleven, upright bass at thirteen, banjo later on. Since then he's toured the U.S. and Europe with Jeff Scroggins & Colorado, played around Los Angeles with The Get Down Boys, busked the sidewalks of Santa Cruz and Santa Monica, and served as the CBA's Los Angeles Regional Director.

In 2026 the CBA brought it full circle and named Scott Artist in Residence at the 51st Father's Day Bluegrass Festival, sitting in with the headliners and leading workshops at the fairgrounds he's been coming to since he was a kid. He writes his own songs, teaches the next wave of California pickers, and this fall he's on the road with Jack Tuttle, opening for Tommy Emmanuel.