The young Santa Cruz-based bluegrass band Blue Summit ruled at the 2019 Northern California Bluegrass Awards held in Redwood City on January 26th. The popular group was voted Best Bluegrass Band, with individual awards going to members AJ Lee (Best Female Vocalist, Best Mandolin Player) and Sullivan Tuttle (Best Male Vocalist, Best Guitar Player). Lee lives in San Jose and Tuttle in Palo Alto.
The 12th annual awards program was presented by the Northern California Bluegrass Society as a part of the Bluegrass On Broadway Festival.
Other winners included Sonia Shell (San Jose), Best Banjo Player, and Lisa Burns (Mountain View), Best Bass Player, both of the hot new women’s band, The Goat Hill Girls. Burns also performs with Sidesaddle & Co and Pick-A-Boo.
Paul Knight (Marshall) tied with Burns for the bass award. He is a popular bluegrass soundman who performs frequently with the Peter Rowan Band and with others at an eclectic, invitation-only music series he books and hosts in Point Reyes Station.
Pete Hicks (Aromas), of the Central Valley Boys and Bean Creek, tied with Mark Wardenburg (Palo Alto) of the Wildcat Mountain Ramblers, Dark Hollow, and the Pigs Foot String Band, for the Best Fiddle Player honor.
Jim Mintun continued his long run as Northern California’s Best Dobro Player. He is from Santa Cruz, and plays with High Country, Slide Road, and the Abbott Family Band.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Awards honored the Unsung Heroes of the Northern California bluegrass community. Heartfelt thanks went to festival sound master Colleen Conley (Marshall), longtime bluegrass recordings reviewer and relentless volunteer leader Brenda Hough (San Jose), bluegrass association leader, volunteer, and jammer Mike Fisher (Ben Lomond), plus hard-working Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival volunteers Darlene Janine Walker and Linzey Hill, both from Turlock.
Also honored was Debbie Weiner (Redwood City) for her years of service to the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival and to the Bluegrass On Broadway Festival, along with Cere’s Randy Weisendanger, appreciated for his longtime work on heavy facilities set-up at numerous area festivals in Northern California and for his contributions to the evening camp jams.
The NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway Festival is free to the public due to principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission, and from Redwood City area organizations, businesses, and individuals. The festival will conclude on Sunday, January 27 with a free afternoon and evening program at The Hub, host of the new weekly bluegrass music series in Redwood City. More information is on the NCBS website <www.ncbs.us>.