West 45 Bluegrass

West 45 plays hard-driving contemporary bluegrass. Based in Norther California, this multi-generational band is more than the sum of its parts: fresh and experienced, fun and serious, open-minded and traditional. Mei Lin Heirendt (age 17) and Ida Winfree (age 18) front the band and serve as principal vocalists, playing fiddle and mandolin respectively. Both young women have served as the Youth Ambassador for the California Bluegrass Association. They are supported by Hal Horn on bajo and vocals, Bruce Lacey on bass, and Jason Winfree on guitar and vocals. The band has the honor of being a California Showcase act for the California Bluegrass Association’s 2023 Father’s Day Festival in Grass Valley.

Mei Lin Heirendt started playing classical violin at age seven. She was the 2017 Concertmaster for the Music in the Mountains Youth Orchestra. Since then, she has focused primarily on bluegrass. She also performs with the popular jamgrass band Broken Compass Bluegrass. Mei Lin has had the honor of sitting in with highly respected bluegrass bands The Grascals and The Kathy Kallick Band. Keep an eye out for singles from her solo recording project to be released this spring.

Ida Winfree started playing mandolin and guitar at age seven and was soon going to local jams and festivals with her dad. In 2017 she was a founding member of North Country Blue. The band recorded two albums: North Country Blue and Flight. She is inspired by women in bluegrass, starting with Rhonda Vincent, Kathy Kallick, Sharon Gilchrist, and A.J. Lee.

Hal Horn has been playing banjo and singing up and down California since the 80s. He played for seven years with California Quickstep, toured and recorded an album (Grandpa Loved the Carolina Mountains) with Ron Spears & Within Tradition, founded the F150s, and was a member of Rock Ridge for six years.

The bass has been a lifelong passion for Bruce Lacey, who started playing at age ten. His bluegrass journey started in 1980 in Southern California with the Rank Strangers and Blue Plate Special. Since moving to Northern California in the 90s, he has played with One Button Suit, Brilliant Bluegrass, and most recently Barwick & Siegfried (2015). No matter where or with whom he plays or whom he plays, the groove is the thing.

Jason Winfree started playing guitar and singing as a teenager in West Virginia. He later lived for ten years in Nashville, where he cultivated a love for bluegrass music. In 2009 he co-founded the Central Valley bluegrass band Red Dog Ash, with whom he still plays and writes songs. The group has recorded two albums: Red Dog Ash and Thin Red Line.