The Northern California Bluegrass Awards are presented annually during the Bluegrass on Broadway festiva.
The Northern California Bluegrass Awards will be held at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center Theatre in Redwood City on Saturday, January 26, 2019.
The awards will be a part of the FREE Bluegrass On Broadway Festival, presented by the Northern California Bluegrass Society with principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission.
The festival will be held on January 25-27, 2019 at various venues in Redwood City.
The 11th annual Northern California Bluegrass Society Bluegrass On Broadway Festival brought a fine weekend of music to Redwood City.
This event is only possible due to strong community support for the arts. Thanks to the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission, the Redwood City Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Services, the Veterans Memorial Senior Center, the Freewheel Brewing Company, John Dabney, and Debbie Weiner. Thanks also to all of the NCBS volunteers and bands, and to everyone who came out to support our area bluegrass musicians.
See you next year!
Although more experienced musicians won their share of honors at the 2018 Northern California Bluegrass Awards, young bluegrass performers had their year at the Saturday, January 27 ceremony in Redwood City. The 11th annual program was presented by the Northern California Bluegrass Society.
The hot young band AJ Lee & Blue Summit (Santa Cruz) was named Best Bluegrass Band. Band members took home individual honors in the female vocalist and mandolin categories (AJ Lee, Santa Cruz), and in the guitar category (Sullivan Tuttle, Palo Alto).
Meanwhile Stockton’s Snap Jackson won Best Male Vocalist and tied with Jesse Personeni (Fiddletown) as the top banjo players. The two are in young bands — Snap Jackson & The Knock On Wood Players and The Blue J’s.
Meanwhile longtime favorites Lee Anne Welch (fiddle, Saratoga), Jim Mintun (Dobro, Santa Cruz), and Paul Knight (bass, Marshall) were repeat winners on their instruments.
Lifetime Achievement honors went to five festival organizers who have brought top events to the Northern California area over many years. Mitch Third was honored for his extraordinary service as operations manager of the Strawberry Music Festivals, especially during a crisis period in which the festival lost its longtime home in a devastating fire. He is also a songwriter & performer. Fred Morris was honored for his pioneering work in creating indoor hotel-based bluegrass festivals in the Bay Area during the early 1990s, and also for other promotional, publishing, and retail service to the national bluegrass community.
Eric Burman founded both the Northern California Bluegrass Society’s Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival (now in its 25th year) and the Brookdale Bluegrass Festival, affiliated with NCBS and held several times a year since 1998 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He is also a past president of the Society and a bandleader and songwriter. Larry & Sondra Baker were honored for their high quality, entertaining bluegrass festivals held in California & Arizona. Northern California fans fondly remember the Bluegrassin’ In The Foothills gathering held in Plymouth that sadly ended with the couple’s recent retirement. They continue to produce the Bluegrass On The Beach Festival in Lake Havasu, AZ.
The Northern California Bluegrass Awards are presented by NCBS as part of the Bluegrass On Broadway Festival in Redwood City. The festival is supported by the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission and by other Redwood City-area businesses, agencies, and individuals. NCBS would like to thank these partners for their support of bluegrass music in Redwood City.
Winners — 2018 Northern California Bluegrass Awards
Band — AJ Lee & Blue Summit, Santa Cruz
Male Vocalist — Snap Jackson, Stockton
Female Vocalist — A. J. Lee, Santa Cruz
Guitar — Sullivan Tuttle, Palo Alto
Mandolin — A. J. Lee, Santa Cruz
Banjo — Jesse Personeni, Fiddletown & Snap Jackson, Stockton
Fiddle — Lee Anne Welch, Saratoga
Dobro — Jim Mintun, Santa Cruz
Bass — Paul Knight, Marshall
Lifetime Achievement Awards — Larry & Sondra Baker, Eric Burman, Fred Morris, & Mitch Third
SATURDAY, January 27
Northern California Bluegrass Awards Show & Concert
Veterans Memorial Senior Center Theatre, 1455 Madison Avenue, Redwood City
Free And Open To The Public
9:50am-5:00pm
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9:50am — Film: “Discover Bluegrass — Exploring American Roots Music,” International Bluegrass Music Association & The Foundation For Bluegrass Music (TN)
11:00am — The Wildcat Mountain Ramblers
Noon — Blue & Lonesome
1:00pm – The Brookdale Bluegrass Band
1:30 — Mitch Third
2:00 — The Blue Js
3:00-5:00 — Northern California Bluegrass Awards (with additional musical performances from AJ Lee & Blue Summit, The Blue Jays, Lee Anne Welch, Pete Hicks, The Brookdale Bluegrass band, and Dave Lucky Wilson)
The Bluegrass On Broadway Festival will conclude on Sunday, January 28. NCBS has presented the BOB each January since 2008 with principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission.
Congratulations to the honorees and finalists at the 11th Annual Northern California Bluegrass Awards in Redwood City on Saturday, January 27, 2018.
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Lifetime Achievement: Larry & Sondra Baker, Eric Burman, Fred Morris, and Mitch Third
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
Male Vocalist: Snap Jackson, Billy Pitrone, Chris Smith, Yoseff Tucker, Sullivan Tuttle
Female Vocalist: Kathy Barwick, Sarah Eblen, AJ Lee, Louise Mintun, Carolyn Sills
Guitar: Kathy Barwick, Jim Nunally, Steve Pottier, Yoseff Tucker, Sullivan Tuttle
Mandolin: Tom Bekeny, Josh Gooding, Pete Hicks, AJ Lee, Ed Neff, Butch Waller
Banjo: Larry Chung, Larry Cohea, Snap Jackson, Jesse Personeni, Max Schwartz
Fiddle: Pete Hicks, Chad Manning, Ed Neff, Paul Shelasky, Lee Anne Welch
Dobro: Leslie Abbott, Kathy Barwick, Tomas Enguidanos, Avram Frankel, Jim Mintun
Bass: Lisa Burns, Isaac Cornelius, Sarah Eblen, Dave Gooding, Paul Knight
The event is part of the Northern California Bluegrass Society’s Bluegrass on Broadway Festival, a free event made possible by principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission.
The FREE program will be held at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center Theatre, 1455 Madison Avenue, Redwood City. The awards show and concert will begin with a bluegrass film at 9:50am and the awards show proper, with additional musical performances, will run 3:00-5:00pm.
Eight bands are finalists for the 2018 Best Bluegrass Band honor at the 11th annual Northern California Bluegrass Awards, set for Saturday, January 27 at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center Theatre, 1455 Madison Avenue, Redwood City. The awards show and concert will begin with a bluegrass film at 9:50am and the awards show proper, with additional musical performances, will run 3:00-5:00pm. The program is FREE and open to the public.
Complete List Of Finalists In All Categories
Awards Show & Concert Schedule
The event is part of the Northern California Bluegrass Society’s Bluegrass on Broadway Festival, a free event made possible by a base grant from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission. The finalists are:
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AJ Lee & Blue Summit (Santa Cruz):
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Bean Creek (Santa Cruz):
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Blue & Lonesome (Petaluma):
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The Blue J’s (Dixon):
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Central Valley Boys (Fresno):
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High Country (Berkeley):
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Snap Jackson & The Knock On Wood Players (Stockton):
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Windy Hill (Portola Valley):
The Northern California Bluegrass Society has announced the performance schedule for the FREE Northern California Bluegrass Awards Show & Concert on January 27, 2018 in Redwood City.
SATURDAY, January 27
Veterans Memorial Senior Center Theatre, 1455 Madison Avenue
9:50am — Film: “Discover Bluegrass — Exploring American Roots Music,” International Bluegrass Music Association & The Foundation For Bluegrass Music (TN)
11:00am — The Wildcat Mountain Ramblers
Noon — Blue & Lonesome
1:00pm – The Brookdale Bluegrass Band
1:30 — Mitch Third
2:00 — The Blue Js
3:00-5:00 — Northern California Bluegrass Awards (with additional musical performances)
This program is free and open to the public as part of the Bluegrass On Broadway Festival. NCBS has presented the BOB each January since 2008 with principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission and from other Redwood City area businesses, agencies and individuals.
Longtime bluegrass festival organizers Larry & Sondra Baker, Eric Burman, Fred Morris and Mitch Third will be honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards in a ceremony set for Saturday, January 27, 2018 in Redwood City. The Northern California Bluegrass Awards will be part of the FREE Bluegrass On Broadway Festival.
Larry & Sondra Baker have produced numerous bluegrass festivals in California & Arizona in addition to other contributions to the bluegrass music community. The couple continues to run the Bluegrass On The Beach Festival in Lake Havasu, AZ. They are best known to California bluegrass fans as the hosts of the long-running Bluegrassin’ In The Foothills Festival (commonly called the “Plymouth Bluegrass Festival”) in Amador County.
Eric Burman has organized the twice-yearly Brookdale Bluegrass Festivals in the Santa Cruz Mountains since 1998. He is past president and a longtime board member of the Northern California Bluegrass Society, a songwriter, and the leader of the Brookdale Bluegrass Band. He founded the NCBS Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival in 1994 and continues to serve as Festival Director.
Fred Morris brought indoor hotel-based festivals, including Fallgrass and The Winter Bluegrass Festival, to the Bay Area in the 1990s and organized many other festivals and music events around the country. He ran the nationwide mail-order bluegrass retailer National Entertainment Network.
Mitch Third was the longtime Operations Manager of the Strawberry Music Festivals at Camp Mather (Yosemite), Grass Valley & Tuolumne until his recent retirement. He played a key role in the bluegrass bookings for that event. He is also a songwriter & performer.
The Northern California Bluegrass Society has presented Bluegrass On Broadway since 2008 with principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission.
The Northern California Bluegrass Awards Show & Concert will be held at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center Theatre, 1455 Madison Avenue from 10:00am-5:00pm, with the awards show proper running from 3:00-5:00pm.
One Day Reminder: Final Ballots for the 2018 Northern California Bluegrass Awards are due on Saturday, January 20, 2018.
The 2018 Northern California Bluegrass Awards Show & Concert will be held at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center Theatre, 1455 Madison Avenue in Redwood City.
The show will run 10:00am-5:00pm on Saturday, January 27.
The FREE program will be part of a musical weekend in Redwood City. The Northern California Bluegrass Society has presented the annual Bluegrass On Broadway Festival each January since 2008 with principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission.
