Four early leaders of the Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society will be honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards on March 13, 2010, as part of the 3rd Annual Northern California Bluegrass Awards. Each gave many years of dedicated service to the then-fledgling Society, now known as the Northern California Bluegrass Society. The awards ceremony is part of the NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway Festival in Redwood City.

Dick Dowell & Judy Dowell joined the Santa Cruz Bluegrass Society shortly after its founding in 1982. They assisted in all aspects of the organization’s activities, including helping host the SCBS Spring and Fall Campouts at Mt. Madonna County Park near Gilroy. They also helped organize many concerts and the first SCBS festival, and helped run the Society’s information booth at festivals.

Dick served many terms as SCBS treasurer, as vice-president, and as a long-time board member.  Judy served as editor of and a writer for the club magazine, Bluegrass By The Bay. For many years, she graciously hosted the organization’s board meetings in her kitchen.

Dick & Judy were also mainstays in the Country Roads Folk Music Camp, and are avid fans of bowling, airplane races, RVing, golf, and hosted a regular Monday Night Football gathering for bluegrass fans at their home in Saratoga for many years. They are now Davis residents.

Dick Clark & Joyce Clark came to the SCBS in its early days through their love of the band Sidesaddle. They recruited many of the new members of the growing Society by staffing the SCBS information booth at festivals. They also helped with most other Society events, including concerts, campouts, the first SCBS festival, and the Society’s support of local bands and bluegrass businesses. Dick served on the SCBS board and two terms as president.

Since moving from Santa Clara to Mountain Ranch, Dick & Joyce have volunteered for the California Bluegrass Association, hosted bluegrass jams and campouts at their home, and organized regular jams at the Mountain Ranch Cafe.

The Dowell & Clark RVs anchored the early Society encampments at Grass Valley and other Northern California bluegrass festivals, and provided a festival home for the organization’s musicians and other members. Breakfast at the “Two Dicks Cafe” was a Saturday morning ritual for SCBS campers, and evening jammers ran the gamut from Sidesaddle to the Del McCoury band. The camp was an important part of the early history of the organization.

The Northern California Bluegrass Awards ceremony will be held at 3:00pm on Saturday, March 13, 2010 at the Tapestry Church (formerly, the Peninsula Christian Center), 1305 Middlefield Road, Redwood City. The ceremony and all other March 11-14 Bluegrass On Broadway programs are FREE and open to the public..

The Northern California Bluegrass Society presents:

“An Evening of Bluegrass Dining” In Historic Downtown Redwood City

Friday evening is a  special time during the Bluegrass On Broadway Festival. Bluegrass fans enjoy good food and good friends while listening to excellent live bluegrass music. Make your reservations now to ensure a table for you and your friends by calling one of these fine restaurants

27 Strings (Bluegrass) – 8:00-11:00pm, Angelica’s Bistro (American), 863 Main Street, (650) 365-3226. This fun establishment does NOT have a cover charge, but for those patrons not eating dinner, a two drink minimum applies.

Loganville Acoustic (Bluegrass) – 7:00-9:00pm, Little India (Indian), 917 Main Street, (650) 361-8737. No cover.

Swing Tonic (Eclectic) – 7:00-9:0pm, Sweet Basil (Thai), 911 Main Street, (650) 257-7594. No cover.

The Third Annual Bluegrass On Broadway Festival is a FREE March 11-14, 2010 bluegrass festival in Redwood City.

Redwood City is a bluegrass-friendly city! NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway receives principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission, Redwood City Public Library, Redwood City Friends of the Library, and Tapestry Church, and from other area businesses and individuals.

The 3rd Annual NCBS International Bluegrass Music Museum Film Festival will present five films on Sunday, March 14 in Redwood City, including the new Yasha Aginsky documentary “The New Lost City Ramblers In Always Been A Rambler.” The film is presented by The Arhoolie Foundation. The film festival is part of the March 11-14 NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway Festival. All festival programming, including the film festival, is FREE.

San Francisco Filmmaker Yasha Aginsky

Filmmaker Yasha Aginsky and his wife Carrie will attend the BOB screening in person to talk with the audience and answer questions about the film.

The film festival will run Noon-5:00pm at the Redwood City Main Library Community Room, 1044 Middlefield Road. This film will be shown at approximately 1:00pm.

Other March 14 Festival Films:

The Crooked Jades: Old Time Is Not A Crime,

The Waltz To Westphalia: The Journey Of An American Fiddle Classic

Wade Mainer Concert Film

Dan Crary

The final day of Bluegrass On Broadway will be devoted to the NCBS International Bluegrass Music Museum Film Festival. The FREE program will present five films, including “The Waltz To Westphalia,” a 2010 film by longtime NCBS member Joe Weed of Los Gatos, which will premier at the NCBS festival on Sunday, four days before Weed presents the documentary at a film festival in Canada. Joe will appear at the BOB to discuss the film with the audience.

The NCBS IBMM Film Festival will be held on Sunday, March 14 from Noon-5:00pm at the Redwood City Main Library Community Room, 1044 Middlefield Road. For the film festival’s third year, the library has acquired new, state of the art equipment for comfortable 125 seat viewing room.

The completely FREE NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway Festival runs March 11-14, featuring concerts, jams, films, and the Northern California Bluegrass Awards.

The Northern California Bluegrass Awards Concert will be held on Saturday, March 13, 2010 at the Tapestry Church (formerly, the Peninsula Christian Center), 1305 Middlefield Road, Redwood City. The FREE concert is part of the March 11-14 NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway Festival.

10:30am – Special Film Presentation: Yodeling Lady Lolita, by Bruce Bellagio

11:00 – Common Cents

Noon – Nell Robinson & Friends

1:00pm – Loganville Acoustic

2:00 – High Country

3:00-5:00pm – Northern California Bluegrass Awards (with additional performances).

5:15pm-ish to whenever – Award Winners Jam hosted by Bean Creek (All jammers and listeners are welcome), Little India, 917 Main Street, Redwood City. FREE.

Great bluegrass throughout California and the West beckon NCBS members over the next three weekends. Find an event you like and join in!

February 25-28 – Wintergrass Festival, Bellevue, WA. The great Northwest bluegrass event has a new home east of Seattle.

March 5-7 – NCBS  Boulder Creek Bluegrass & Old Timey Festival, Boulder Creek. Eric & Barbra Burman bring the music to the small mountain community not far from the ol’ Brookdale Lodge location.

March 5-7 – Bluegrass On The Beach, Lake Havasu, AZ. The former Parker festival has moved up the Colorado River to a nice new venue in a nice new town.

March 6 – NCBS-Sponsored RBA Concert, Dry Branch Fire Squad, Mountain View. One of our favorite touring bands hits town for a Saturday evening concert.

March 11-14 – NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway Festival, Redwood City. The 3rd Annual FREE festival has concerts, bluegrass films, jams, bluegrass dining, and the Northern California Bluegrass Awards in beautiful historic downtown Redwood City.

March 13 – CBA Sonoma County Bluegrass Festival, Sebastopol. One-day festival brings a day of bluegrass to the Wine Country.

The 3rd Annual Northern California Bluegrass Society Bluegrass On Broadway Festival will open with the best of bluegrass traditions — an informal jam session — on Thursday evening, March 11, 2010. The jam will be hosted by Mark Huisman and is FREE to all players and listeners.

The jam will be held from 7:00-10:00pm, at Caffé Sportivo, 965 Brewster Ave., in downtown Redwood City.  (650) 365-3500. This is a pleasant coffeehouse with plenty of room, food and drink, and a bluegrass friendly staff. Convenient free parking is available and the cafe is close to the Redwood City Caltrain Station, adding both bluegrass atmosphere and easy transit access.

This jam is a new regular weekly feature of the Peninsula bluegrass community, so there is no reason to wait until the festival rolls around in a few weeks to check it out…the Peninsula Bluegrass Crossing jam is in session every Thursday evening. The March 11 gathering will give BOB festival-goers a chance to relax and pick a bit (or listen) before the weekend festivities begin in earnest. See you there!

The 3rd Annual Northern California Bluegrass Society Bluegrass On Broadway Festival will be held in historic downtown Redwood City, March 11-14, 2010. The schedule for the FREE festival has been announced:

THURSDAY, March 11

Opening Night Jam – 7:00-10:00pm, Café Sportino, 965 Brewster Ave. (650) 365-3500.

FRIDAY, March 12

An Evening of Bluegrass Dining in Downtown Redwood City:

27 Strings (Bluegrass) – 8:00-11:00pm, Angelica’s Bistro, 863 Main Street, (650) 365-3226.

Loganville Acoustic (Bluegrass) – 7:00-9:00pm, Little India, 917 Main Street, (650) 361-8737.

Swing Tonic (Eclectic) – 7:00-9:0pm, Sweet Basil, 911 Main Street, (650) 257-7594.

SATURDAY, March 13

Northern California Bluegrass Awards & Concert:

Tapestry Church (formerly, the Peninsula Christian Center), 1305 Middlefield Road.

10:30am – Special Film Presentation: Yodeling Lady Lolita, by Bruce Bellagio

11:00 – Common Cents

Noon – Nell Robinson & Friends

1:00pm – Loganville Acoustic

2:00 – High Country

3:00-5:00pm – Northern California Bluegrass Awards (with additional performances).

5:15pm-ish to whenever – Award Winners Jam hosted by Bean Creek (All jammers are welcome), Little India.

SUNDAY, March 14

NCBS International Bluegrass Music Museum Film Festival:

Noon-5:00pm, Community Room, Redwood City Main Library, 1044 Middlefield Road.

The Crooked Jades: Old Time Is Not A Crime, by Jim Swenson & Doug Williford

The New Lost City Ramblers In Always Been A Rambler, by Yasha Aginsky, presented by The Arhoolie Foundation

The Waltz To Westphalia: The Journey Of An American Fiddle Classic, by Joe Weed

Wade Mainer Concert Film, IBMM

Dan Crary, IBMM

Bluegrass On Broadway is a FREE festival.

NCBS Bluegrass On Broadway receives principal financial support from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission, Redwood City Public Library, Redwood City Friends of the Library, and Tapestry Church, and from other area businesses and individuals.