Northern California Bluegrass Society

A Photo Essay of the tenth annual NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway Festival is now available online. The BOB includes the Northern California Bluegrass Awards Show & Concert and the NCBS Bluegrass Film Festival.

Bluegrass On Broadway Photo Essay

The essay was produced by Donna Pacini-Christensen and Tim Christensen of A Starry Night Productions. The festival was held in Redwood City on January 27, 28 & 30, 2017.

The BOB Festival is presented by the Northern California Bluegrass Society with grant support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission and additional support from other Redwood City area organizations, agencies, businesses and individuals.

In a historic first, the video podcast “En Extremena En Silicon Valley“ gave the January 28, 2017 Northern California Bluegrass Awards Show & Concert its first known Spanish-Language Coverage.

Video: Una Extremeña En Silicon Valley: Redwood City (10:16)

The first festival segment begins at 2:55.

Host Carmen Del Solar Valdés previously reported about the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco.

The concert was part of the weekend-long 10th Annual Bluegrass On Broadway Festival in Redwood City, January 27-28 and January 30, presented by the Northern California Bluegrass Society.

The video podcast covers several Redwood City & Palo Alto-area topics while Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon Of Kentucky” plays softly in the background.

The two segments about the bluegrass concert include performances by Bean Creek, The Blue Js, The Wildcat Mountain Ramblers, and 35 Years Of Trouble.

Saturday evening offered an opportunity for everyone to relax after an all-day bluegrass concert and awards show. 27strings did the early show in the local German beer hall and then the Edgewood Mountain Boys closed out the evening at a local craft brewery. Everyone had a great time! We get Sunday off (due to a venue scheduling snafu) and then we close out the festival with an all-California bluegrass film festival on Monday night. It will be fun!

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In the midst of the Northern California Bluegrass Awards Show yesterday in Redwood City, I was the recipient of a surprise Lifetime Achievement Award that was presented by Joe Weed. I am deeply honored by this award, and want to thank Joe and his co-conspirators for their efforts.

My first reaction was “Hey, I’m the one who gives out the awards around here!” I didn’t really say everything that needed to be said yesterday — especially that absolutely everything that I have done for bluegrass has been done as part of a team of dedicated volunteers. Working together, I think we have made a difference for the music in our area and beyond. We can all be proud of that.

It is very nice to be thanked, and I am still enjoying the moment. Thank you!

— Michael Hall

Video by Chip Curry

Bluegrass Traditionalists Bean Creek of Santa Cruz repeated as Best Bluegrass Band at the Tenth Annual Northern California Bluegrass Awards, held on January 28, 2017 in Redwood City, California. Meanwhile, younger and older musicians split the individual honors at the ceremony.

Two college students from Santa Cruz took the vocalist honors. Sullivan Tuttle was named Best Male Vocalist, while A. J. Lee was named Best Female Vocalist. The two were longtime bandmates in The Tuttles With A. J. Lee and are now in the newly-organized Blue Summit.

Sullivan Tuttle also won Best Guitar Player, while his younger brother Michael Tuttle, also a college student, won Best Mandolin Player. Santa Cruz’s Luke Abbott was named Best Banjo Player.

More mature musicians were also tapped by the voters. Jim Mintun added to his burgeoning collection of Dobro awards, while family patriarch Jack Tuttle won for Best Fiddle Player. Bassist Paul Knight was named the top player on that instrument.

Knight was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He was joined by fellow bluegrass sound specialists Dave Nielsen, Mike Russell, & Joe Weed. All have made many other contributions to the bluegrass world.

In the midst of the scheduled program, NCBS president and awards program organizer Michael Hall was surprised with a special Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Joe Weed.

The Northern California Bluegrass Awards are presented by the Northern California Bluegrass Society 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, organizations and individuals. NCBS would like to thank these partners for their steady support of bluegrass music in Redwood City over the initial decade of the BOB venture.

The BOB festival also includes the NCBS Bluegrass Film Festival. That event will conclude this year’s festival on January 30, ending a fun weekend of free bluegrass music all around Redwood City.

Winners — 2017 Northern California Bluegrass Awards

Band — Bean Creek, Santa Cruz

Male Vocalist — Sullivan Tuttle, Santa Cruz

Female Vocalist — A. J. Lee, Santa Cruz

Guitar — Sullivan Tuttle, Santa Cruz

Mandolin — Michael Tuttle, San Luis Obispo

Banjo — Luke Abbott, Santa Cruz

Fiddle — Jack Tuttle, Palo Alto

Dobro — Jim Mintun, Santa Cruz

Bass — Paul Knight, Marshall

Lifetime Achievement Awards:

Paul Knight, Marshall

David Nielsen, Gilroy

Mike Russell, San Mateo

Joe Weed, Los Gatos

Michael Hall, Redwood City

National Press Coverage — Bluegrass Today

Spanish Language Video Coverage of Bluegrass On Broadway

BOB Festival Photo Essay