The 13th Annual Northern California Bluegrass Awards Show & Concert will be held on Saturday, January 25, 2020 at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center Theatre, 1455 Madison Avenue in Redwood City. The event is presented by the Northern California Bluegrass Society.
The special historic film presentation will begin the program at 10:00am, with the concert running 11:00am-3:00pm and the awards show proper set for 3:00-5:00pm. The Redwood City Arts Commission provides principal financial support, making it possible for the day-long concert to be FREE and open to the public.
There are 6 finalists in one category due to a tie. The Northern California Bluegrass Society will present the FREE Northern California Bluegrass Awards Show on January 25, 2020 at 3:00pm at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center Theatre in Redwood City.
The Spring Brookdale Bluegrass Festival will be presented by Brookdale Bluegrass and welcomed by the Northern California Bluegrass Society. The indoor April 17-19, 2020 festival at the San Benito County Historical Park in Tres Pinos will offer onsite camping.
The FREE Bluegrass On Broadway Festival in Redwood City, made possible by a grant from the Redwood City Arts Commission, is presented by the Northern California Bluegrass Society. The 13th annual festival will be held January 24-25, 2020.
Please join us in a celebration of life in loving memory of David Gillett. Memorial to be held on Saturday, January 25 at The Bear Creek Country Club, 15685 Forest Hill Road, Boulder Creek, 2:00pm-5:00pm. Please BYOB and a dish to contribute to the potluck. As we all know, music was by far the most important part of Damdave’s life, so we welcome and encourage you all to bring an instrument to join in on the jam to honor him.
By Julie Horner with Tiffany Gillett, Jessica Gullo, Jennifer Thompson, Elicia Burton, and Eric Burman
The phone rang the morning of November 27, the day before Thanksgiving. The voice on the other end of the line was gravelly, fondly familiar, but the words were uncharacteristically hesitant and choked with emotion. It was Damdave. Childrenâs laughter could be heard in the background; family and friends from near and far were gathering in Hilo for the holiday. In a watery voice, Damdave said that he wasnât going to make it. They couldnât kill the tumor on his lung after all. Months of treatment and pain, hope, humor, and boundless heart, but nothing more could be done. He said, âThey say it could be a day, or it could be a year.â His voice trailed off. The musical timbre of grandkids running amok filled the silence. I told him, âI love you so much.â
There had been quite a bit of optimism in August. Dave had been living in Hilo, Hawaii with his daughter Tiphany while undergoing treatment. Dave worked diligently over the summer to regain his health, enough so that doctors would allow him to fly home to Boulder Creek to visit his friends and to attend the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival, of which he had been a part for many years. It was a rich time spent playing music and sharing memories and laughter. The memories linger still, warm and sweet like the summer sun.
David Gillett, Boulder Creek singer-songwriter, local legend, dad, grandpa, and dearest friend, passed away surrounded by his loved ones on Wednesday, December 4th, 2019.
Daughters Tiphany Gillett, Jessica Gullo, and Jennifer Thompson and their families were by his side to read aloud well wishes sent from beloved friends. Bandmate âMandoâ Mike Reynolds joined the family to bid his compadre farewell.
Damdave Gillett
Just a couple of years ago, heads close together in comfortable familiarity in the late afternoon light, Dave Gillett and I sipped our âusualâ and went to town reminiscing about spirited times in old haunts around the San Lorenzo Valley. Known affectionately as âDamdave,â he was the front-man singer-songwriter and guitar player for the Boulder Creek-based Americana group, Damdave and the Left-Hand Band.
I asked how he got the name âDamdave.â He explained how he had moved to Brookdale and started a folk jam at the Brookdale Lodge. âI didnât drink at the time,â he said, but he wound up âearning his PhDâ hanging out in the bar. At one point someone asked his name. When he said, âDavid,â someone at the far end of the bar shouted, âNot another damn Dave!â
Damdave and the Left-Hand Band
Tuesday nights at the Brookdale Lodge were the slowest. âYou had a couple of guys from the bar and we formed Damdaveâs Odd-Ass Instrument Jam on Tuesday nights from â98-ish to 2008 or so,â Dave said. The popular Tuesday night jam became the forerunner of the Brookdale Bluegrass Festival. Eric Burman remembers coming to Daveâs jams and they decided after a time, ââHey this would be a great place for a festivalââŠand it took off.â Burman recalled, âWeâd all get together and come up with crazy things…like the underwater banjo contest. One of the girls asked if it was important to have a costume…when we said no, she jumped in the pool, and the only thing she had on was a tattoo. People forgot that she actually had a banjo. Damdave was definitely one of the judges that day.â
Eric Burman with Damdave Gillett
Burman also remembers one of the most fun things that the two of them would do together was take common songs and rewrite all of the words. âThey were all awful,â he joked. He notes that âthe biggest thing that Dave did was have that jam at the Brookdale Lodge on Tuesday nights. Thatâs where we formed our bands, thatâs where we wrote our songs, thatâs where we jammed with all the musicians from all over. Because we were working so closely with the Brookdale, that was because of Dave. He was instrumental in forming the Brookdale Bluegrass Festival and ran the âtweener stage at the Good Old Fashioned.â
Damdave at Don Quixote’s in Felton, CA
Dave later became a Boulder Creek townie. âItâs a nice little town. Iâve written five songs about this town, I Love These Mountains, Bear Creek RoadâŠthere are more.â Heâs also written three Brookdale songs, among them, Brookdaleâs Burning and Highway 9, a takeoff on the old song Highway 55 co-written with Eric Burman. âShe always walks alone, neither flesh and neither bone, ooooo!! Thereâs some really good lyrics. Eric always made it a 20-minute long instrumental thing with audience participation.â
Damdave at the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival
For a while he was Damdave and the Hot Damn Band. The name change reflects the distinction that Dave plays left-handed. Along with Graham MacFarlane (standup bass), âMandoâ Mike Reynolds (vocals, mandolin), and occasionally âJoebroâ Adams (any of whom may or may not also play left-handed), the guys could entertain you with âa mix of dysfunctional bluegrass, country, blues, soul, and a healthy dose of Damdave originals.â
Heâd said at the time, âIâm not bluegrass, I donât want a bluegrass band.â His sound was Americana tending toward the bluesy. âIâve always been a blues kind of guy.â He was raised in Ann Arbor, between Detroit and Chicago. âMy voice is kind of gravelly, I grew up with Bob Seger. I like Gregg AllmanâŠI like all kinds of music. I was thinking about this not too long ago. When I listen to people singing, when I listen to blues or Motown, the way they sing a song, the emphasis is on the words and music together. I want to develop my voice and my songs to be able to express the parts of the music I want to expressâŠwith an honesty in my voice.â
Damdave as Festival Security for the Brookdale Bluegrass Festival
âDave was the kind of guy who could ramble, talk, talk talk, and talk, without any particular point or reason, no punchlines, just thinking out loud,â said fellow musician, Elicia Burton. âI remember playing with Damdave at Don Quixoteâs where we featured him and his music. I loved playing the tune Tennessee Whiskey on my fiddle, backing him up. He was always a standard and was great help at the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival signing folks up for the âtweener stage. I also loved his song âBlue Day,â his gruff vocals on that, his backward guitar playing – as you know he was a lefty. And the song about growing up in Kalamazoo was a really great, real American song. I am missing him now.â
âHe had a huge sweet side to him, he totally loved his family, his girls were always the apple of his eye.â – Elicia Burton
Damdave with His Graddaughters
âDaddy, Dampa, DamDave. The community lost a one-of-a-kind man. Your silly light-hearted disposition will be missed. I thank you for your artistic, musical nature that you shared with your children, grandchildren, and friends. While I myself have no musical talent inherited, I will forever sing your original song you wrote about our special town, âI Love These Mountains.â Jam on Dam dadâ – Jenny
David Gillett with Daughter Jenny Thompson
âDear Naddy (Daddy). I’m so relieved you are no longer in pain and are free to jam, jam, jam until the end of time. You fought hard, stayed positive, continued to play music, and kept a sense of humor to the very end, even when you were in unimaginable pain – qualities that will never fail to amaze me. I am honored to have gone through this journey with you and grateful we were all together during your final days. I envision you surrounded by love, light, music, and hopefully the finest of tequilas! Somehow, it feels appropriate to complete the circle and send you off onto your new journey with the words you wrote on my birth announcement, âpeaceloveandkeeponkeepin’free.â I love you forever.â – Ninny (Tiphany)
âRest in peace damn dad. I know you’re up there jamming, free of pain. You are loved and missed more than I have words for. I am so grateful you were surrounded by family and your BFF. I am so grateful for our time together. I’m so grateful I was able to fly out to spend these last few days with you. I will cherish the memories. Thank you for teaching me to not take life so seriously. Your humor through your suffering was admirable. Aloha, Daddyâ – Jessica Gullo
David Gillett with His Daughters
âLove and hugs to our man, Damdave, The Tom Waits of Boulder Creek Bluegrass. Your wonderful family and great songs will carry your name into the future…Iâm teaching them to everybody. Enjoy the ride Brother, wink and smile with that twinkle in your eyes as you make that left hand turn.â – Joe Adams
David “Damdave” Gillett
A memorial for island locals was held on Sunday, November 8 at his favorite spot, the Makuu Cliffs. A memorial for mainlanders will be held on January 25. With the help of Barry Tanner and Bruce Bellochio, a commemorative collection of Damdaveâs music will be made available soon. For more information, send email to Barry: bcmusicworks@gmail.com. Online: www.facebook.com/damdave.gillett
(c) December 2019 Julie Horner for the San Lorenzo Valley Post. Used by permission.
Three Day Reminder:Northern California Bluegrass Awards Ballots are due from Northern California Bluegrass Society Members this Friday, January 17, 2020.
The Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival, a benefit for the Northern California Bluegrass Society, will be held August 6-9, 2020 at the San Benito County Historical Park in Tres Pinos.
The FREE Northern California Bluegrass Society Bluegrass On Broadway Festival will open with a performance by the Stoney Mountain Ramblers at the Freewheel Brewing Company, 3736 Florence Street, Redwood City, on Friday, January 24, 2020, 8:00-10:00pm. Good food and drink will be served.
The FREE Bluegrass On Broadway Festival in Redwood City, made possible by a grant from the Redwood City Arts Commission, is presented by the Northern California Bluegrass Society. The 13th annual festival will be held January 24-25, 2020.
