The Northern California Bluegrass Society has announced the finalists for the 2018 Northern California Bluegrass Awards:
1. Bluegrass Band
AJ Lee & Blue Summit
Bean Creek
Blue & Lonesome
Blue J’s
Central Valley Boys
High Country
Snap Jackson & The Knock On Wood Players
Windy Hill
2. Male Vocalist
Snap Jackson
Billy Pitrone
Chris Smith
Yoseff Tucker
Sullivan Tuttle
3. Female Vocalist
Kathy Barwick
Sarah Eblen
AJ Lee
Louise Mintun
Carolyn Sills
4. Guitar
Kathy Barwick
Jim Nunally
Steve Pottier
Yoseff Tucker
Sullivan Tuttle
5. Mandolin
Tom Bekeny
Josh Gooding
Pete Hicks
AJ Lee
Ed Neff
Butch Waller
6. Banjo
Larry Chung
Larry Cohea
Snap Jackson
Jesse Personeni
Max Schwartz
7. Fiddle
Pete Hicks
Chad Manning
Ed Neff
Paul Shelasky
Lee Anne Welch
8. Dobro
Leslie Abbott
Kathy Barwick
Tomas Enguidanos
Avram Frankel
Jim Mintun
9. Bass
Lisa Burns
Isaac Cornelius
Sarah Eblen
Dave Gooding
Paul Knight
NOTE: There are more than 5 finalists in some categories due to ties.