Northern California Bluegrass Society

The 12th Annual Northern California Bluegrass Awards, held on January 26, 2019 in Redwood City, received local and national news coverage. The awards, part of the NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway Festival, are presented by the Northern California Bluegrass Society and receive principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission and other Redwood City area businesses, agencies, organizations, and individuals.

NCBS Website News Article

San Mateo Daily News Coverage

Bluegrass Today Coverage

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>.

 

Festival Fun: The Northern California Bluegrass Society’s FREE Bluegrass On Broadway Festival is this weekend, January 26 & 27, 2019, at various venues in Redwood City. Here is All You Need To Know to enjoy the 12th Annual event:

The Festival: Bluegrass On Broadway includes the Northern California Bluegrass Awards Show & Concert (Saturday) as well as other shows.

Tickets: NO tickets are needed. All shows are FREE and held in Redwood City.

Festival Schedule:

SATURDAY, January 26

Veterans Memorial Senior Center Theatre, 1455 Madison Avenue:

10:00am — Special Film Presentation: The Eventful Life Of Al Hawkes (Andrew Jawitz, Rockhouse Mountain Productions, NH), in memory of Allerton Hawkes (1930-2018)

11:00 — The Gilroy Drifters

Noon — The Wildcat Mountain Ramblers

1:00pm — Mission Blue

2:00 — Blue Summit

3:00-5:00 — Northern California Bluegrass Awards Show (with additional musical performances)

Freewheel Brewing Company, 3737 Florence Street:

8:00-11:00pm — The Stoney Mountain Ramblers

SUNDAY, January 27

The Hub, 2650 Broadway:

3:00pm — Welcome

3:10 — The Open Heart Strings

4:00 — Bear Grass Creek

5:00 — The Wildcat Mountain Ramblers

6:00 — 27strings

8:00pm — Concert Ends

Directions:

Bluegrass On Broadway is held at various venues in Redwood City (mid-Peninsula in the middle of the Bay Area), easily accessible from Freeways 101 and 280, via the Woodside Road exit.

Downtown Redwood City is about a half-mile north of Woodside Road via Middlefield Road. The Hub, 2650 Broadway, is located downtown near the intersection of Broadway and El Camino Real, not far from Sequoia High School.

The Veterans Memorial Senior Center, 1455 Madison Avenue, is about 2 miles west of downtown off of Jefferson Avenue. Turn left on St. Francis, which leads directly into the VMSC parking lot.

To reach the VMSC from I-280, exit at Farm Hill Blvd. and go east, Farm Hill becomes Jefferson Avenue. Go past the Alameda de Las Plugas, then right on St. Francis, which leads directly into the VMSC parking lot.

To reach the VMSC from Woodside Road, go north on Alameda de Las Plugas then right (east) on Jefferson Avenue. Turn right on St. Francis, which leads directly into the VMSC parking lot.

The Freewheel Brewing Company, 3736 Florence Street, is located in the Marsh Manor Shopping Center, not far from the Marsh Road exit off Highway 101 at the southern edge of Redwood City. From 101 go west a short distance, then right on Florence Street. The shopping center is on the left.

Redwood City Weather:

All festival events are INDOORS with close-in parking. High 72, Low 72.

SAT: Partly Sunny, High 64 Low 45. SUN: Partly Sunny, High 66, Low 46.

Community & Fun: Remember, All Of Your Friends Will Be There!

Since the very first festival in 2008, the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission has provided a base grant that enables the festival to be presented without charge to old and new bluegrass fans. Enjoy!