Snap Jackson & The Knock On Wood Players will be honored at the Brookdale Bluegrass & Old Timey Festival At Costanoa this Friday, March 8 with the formal presentation of the award for 2013’s Best Northern California Bluegrass Band, an honor the KOWP shared with Bean Creek.

The award was originally announced during the Northern California Bluegrass Awards ceremony in Redwood City on January 26 following three rounds of nominations and voting by the members of the Northern California Bluegrass Society.

The Awards are held as part of the annual NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway Festival. Nominations from NCBS Members for the 2014 awards will be accepted beginning at the August 8-11, 2013 NCBS Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival in Tres Pinos.

Bluegrass On Broadway receives principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission, the Redwood City Public Library, and the Tapestry Church, with additional support from other Redwood City businesses and organizations.

National coverage of the Northern California Bluegrass Awards is on the Cybergrass and Bluegrass Today news websites today. The awards were part of the Sixth Annual NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway Festival in Redwood City.

In Other Northern California Bluegrass News:

The Anderson Marsh State Park Interpretative Association, which postponed the September 2012 Old Time Bluegrass Festival at the park during the state budget crisis until September 2013, has now permanently canceled the event (held 2006-2011) to focus volunteer efforts on keeping the Clearlake area park open for visitors. NCBS regrets the loss of this festival, which was held in an underserved area for bluegrass performances.

The deeply traditional Bean Creek (Santa Cruz) and the eclectic  Snap Jackson & The Knock On Wood Players (Stockton) tied for Best Bluegrass Band at the Northern California Bluegrass Awards held in Redwood City on January 26, 2013. The Awards were part of the Northern California Bluegrass Society’s Bluegrass On Broadway Festival.

John Kornhauser of San Francisco and A. J. Lee of Tracy were named Best Male and Female Vocalists, while the voters named San Francisco’s Yoseff Tucker as Best Guitar Player.

Other winners: Ed Neff of Petaluma, Best Mandolin Player; Jim Mintun of Santa Cruz, Best Dobro Player; and Lisa Burns of Mountain View, Best Bass Player. There were ties in both the Best Banjo and Best Fiddle categories, with Luke Abbott (Santa Cruz) and Larry Cohea (Oakland) sharing the banjo honors and Pete Hicks (Aromas) and Lee Anne Welch (Saratoga) sharing the fiddle honors.

Four Bay Area women bluegrass music pioneers, Kim Elking, Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick and Beth Weil, received Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Bluegrass On Broadway receives principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission, the Redwood City Public Library, and the Tapestry Church, with additional support from other Redwood City businesses and organizations.

All Bluegrass On Broadway Shows Are FREE and open to the public.

SATURDAY, January 26

Tapestry Church Main Hall, 1305 Middlefield Road, Redwood City

9:45am — Special Film Presentation: Generation Bluegrass: The Next Generation Of Bluegrass Musicians (Corey Smith, NC).

11:00am — Bean Creek

Noon – The Abbott Brothers

1:00pm – Sidesaddle & Co

2:00pm — The Central Valley Boys

3:00-5:00pm — Northern California Bluegrass Awards (with additional musical performances by Bean Creek, Eric Burman, Jean Butterfield, Dark Hollow, A. J. Lee, and Lee Anne Welch).

5:00-ish to (?) — Award Winners Jam (ALL Jammers and Listeners are welcome), Little India Restaurant, 917 Main Street, Redwood City. (Jam hosts: Larry Cohea, Kim Elking, Dave Gooding, John Kornhauser, Yoseff Tucker, Lee Anne Welch).

6:00pm-8:30pm — 27strings, Gourmet Haus Staudt, 2615 Broadway, Redwood City (the pub and restaurant entry is in the rear).

The Northern California Bluegrass Society’s January 25-27 Sixth Annual Bluegrass On Broadway Festival is held at various venues in Redwood City, and receives principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission, the Redwood City Public Library, and the Tapestry Church.

Time For Fun, Free Bluegrass Music In Redwood City:

The Sixth Annual Bluegrass On Broadway Festival, presented by the Northern California Bluegrass Society, will bring a weekend of FREE music and fun to Redwood City.

The January 25-27, 2013 weekend includes the Northern California Bluegrass Awards (Saturday) and the NCBS International Bluegrass Music Museum Film Festival (Sunday), plus many other events.

Here is all you need to know:

ALL PROGRAMS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. No tickets are needed.

Performance Schedule:

FRIDAY, January 25

An Evening Of Bluegrass Dining In Downtown Redwood City — Reservations Are Recommended:

A. J. Lee & Friends – 7:00-9:00pm, Little India (Indian), 917 Main Street, Redwood City, (650) 361-8737.

Jean Butterfield — 7:00-9:00pm, Buri Tara (Thai), 911 Main Street, Redwood City, (650) 257-7594.

SATURDAY, January 26

Tapestry Church Main Hall, 1305 Middlefield Road, Redwood City

9:45am — Special Film Presentation: Generation Bluegrass: The Next Generation Of Bluegrass Musicians (Corey Smith, NC).

11:00am — Bean Creek

Noon – The Abbott Brothers

1:00pm – Sidesaddle & Co

2:00pm — The Central Valley Boys

3:00-5:00pm — Northern California Bluegrass Awards (with additional musical performances by Bean Creek, Eric Burman, Jean Butterfield, Dark Hollow, A. J. Lee, and Lee Anne Welch).

5:00-ish to (?) — Award Winners Jam (ALL Jammers and Listeners are welcome), Little India Restaurant, 917 Main Street, Redwood City. (Jam hosts: Larry Cohea, Kim Elking, Dave Gooding, John Kornhauser, Yoseff Tucker, Lee Anne Welch).

6:00pm-8:30pm — 27strings, Gourmet Haus Staudt,  2615 Broadway, Redwood City (the pub and restaurant entry is in the rear).

SUNDAY, January 27

NCBS International Bluegrass Music Museum Film Festival, Noon-5:00pm, Community Room, Redwood City Main Library, 1044 Middlefield Road, Redwood City. Host: Carl Pagter, IBMM Trustee.

The Porchlight Sessions (Anna Schwaber, TN)

The Mountain Music Project (Tara Linhardt & Jacob Penchansky, VA)

Child Of Troubled Times (Paula & Dwayne Lane and Dave Richardson, CA) Special appearance by Paula & Dwayne Lane.

Bill Evans: Distance Between Two Points (Sarah Fisher, Blue Lotus Films, CA)

Bill Bollick Of The Blue Sky Boys (International Bluegrass Music Museum, KY)

Rollin’ On (James Reams, Redbird Mountain Music, AZ)  Special appearance by James Reams.

6:30-8:00pm — Bluegrass Gospel and Spirituals Concert with Dark Hollow, Woodside Road Youth Choir, Woodside Road United Methodist Church, 2000 Woodside Road, Redwood City.

Directions:

Bluegrass On Broadway is held at various venues in downtown 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. All festival events (except for the Sunday Evening Closing Concert) are within easy walking distance of each other and of the Redwood City Caltrain Station.

To get to the Sunday evening concert, go about two miles west of Middlefield Road on Woodside Road. The Woodside Road United Methodist Church is on the right.

Redwood City Weather:

Partly Cloudy, FRI: High 64 Low 46, SAT: High 56 Low 39, SUN:  High 55 Low 38.

Northern California Bluegrass Awards Finalists:

1. Bluegrass Band

Bean Creek

Blue & Lonesome

Central Valley Boys

Dark Hollow

Snap Jackson & The Knock On Wood Players

Windy Hill

2. Male Vocalist

Luke Abbott

Pete Hicks

John Kornhauser

Billy Pitrone

Yoseff Tucker

3. Female Vocalist

Pam Brandon aka Belle Monroe

Sarah Eblen

Kim Elking

A. J. Lee

4. Guitar

Billy Pitrone

David Thom

Yoseff Tucker

Yvonne Walbroehl

Mike Wilhoyte

5. Mandolin

Ed Cirimele

Kim Elking

Pete Hicks

Ed Neff

Nate Schwartz

Roger Siminoff

6. Banjo

Luke Abbott

Larry Cohea

Rob Horgan

Snap Jackson

Victor Skidanenko

7. Fiddle

Pete Hicks

Paul Lee

Ed Neff

Mark Wardenburg

Lee Anne Welch

8. Dobro

Lisa Berman

Will Forte

Rachel Franklin

Jim Mintun

Charlie Wallace

9. Bass

Lisa Burns

Dave Gooding

Jennifer Kitchen

Linda Maki

Louise Mintun

Suzanne Suwanda

Lifetime Achievement Awards will honor four pioneering women of the Bay Area bluegrass community: Kim Elking, Kathy Kallick, Laurie Lewis & Beth Weil.

Strong Support From The Redwood City Community:

The Northern California Bluegrass Society’s Bluegrass On Broadway Festival receives principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission, the Redwood City Public Library, and the Tapestry Church.

And remember…all of your friends will be there!

BOB Film Festival Coverage In Bluegrass Today