2012 Industry Award Winners

2012 Musican Award Winners

The Crooker Family
Bringing National Bluegrass Artists to
Brunswick, Maine for Over 30 Years

In 1979, Pati Crooker presented the first Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival over Labor Day weekend at Thomas Point Beach Park—the seaside recreation area outside of Brunswick, Maine that her parents purchased in 1956. Through 2008, Pati hosted 28 editions of the Thomas Point festival, each featuring a range of established and upcoming talent in a relaxing beachside atmosphere, with ample camping and ‘round the clock jamming. Taking only two years off (she skipped year 13 for good luck, then took time another year to care for her elderly father), Crooker decided to conclude the festival’s run in 2008. She sealed a selection of memorabilia—along with all of her festivalrelated contact information and mailing lists—into a time capsule, to be opened and appreciated by some future generation.

After spending two years fundraising for the American Red Cross and caring for her ailing mother, Crooker felt the need to resurrect the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival—this time in tribute to the memory of her now departed parents. “My parents loved this festival,” she told Bluegrass Unlimited magazine. “They were a huge part of it.” With all of her contacts inaccessibly locked in the time capsule, she started again from scratch, with the aid of her son Michael Mulligan. Despite having lost much of their prior information, the 2011 Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival featured their biggest pre-sales ever: A stunning affirmation of the Crooker family’s tireless dedication to presenting bluegrass music to New England audiences for over three decades. The festival continues its proud return in 2012.

click here for the 2012 press release...

Bill Keith & Jim Rooney
Pioneering Boston-Based Bluegrass Performers

Having grown up in Massachusetts—Bill Keith in Brockton,Jim Rooney in Dedham—this pair of visionary performers saw a place for bluegrass music amidst the urban folk music revival that swept Boston in the early 1960s.

Having met while both were undergraduate students at Amherst College, Bill Keith and Jim Rooney began in earnest as performers in 1962, when Keith was stationed at the Boston Army Base and Rooney was a graduate student at Harvard University. Entranced by the bluegrass they heard on records and by the area performances of the Lily Brothers and Don Stover, they started playing regularly at Cambridge’s Club 47 (later Passim).

Rooney was the congenial frontman and vocalist, while the quiet, focused Keith was a dedicated student of Earl Scruggs’s banjo style. Their shows helped to galvanize the nascent New England bluegrass scene, and their classic Prestige LP Livin’ on the Mountain—which celebrates the 50th anniversary of its release this year—is a timeless document of New England bluegrass and features Joe Val on mandolin, Herb Applin on guitar, Herb Hooven on fiddle and Fritz Richmond on bass.

Beyond New England, Keith revolutionized bluegrass on an international scale, as he developed a remarkable new melodic banjo style that enabled banjo players to play fiddle tones note-for-note and subsequently inspired such groundbreaking banjo mavericks as Tony Trischka and Béla Fleck. When the two went their separate ways, they continued to contribute to the spread of bluegrass and roots music.

Keith hit the road as featured banjoist with Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music, and demonstrated his technique to larger and larger audiences, before leaving to work as a solo artist, sideman, author, teacher, and builder (he designed and constructed the self-contained locking tuners favored by banjo players for quick changes of tuning). Rooney managed influential roots music venue Club 47 for a two and a half years, and continued to work as a solo artist, but eventually discovered his gifts were best suited to producing other artists. He has since helmed influential and acclaimed projects by such artists as Nanci Griffith, John Prine, Bonnie Raitt, Townes Van Zandt, Hal Ketchum, Iris DeMent, and more.

click here for the 2012 press release...

2011 Industry Award Winners

2011 Musican Award Winners

WHRB’s Hillbilly at Harvard, Radio Show Educates Generations of Listeners - Unlikely as it may seem, Bluegrass and Country music have had home a on the radio at Harvard University for over sixty years. First launched in 1948 by “Pappy Ben” Minnich, listeners have tuned to WHRB (95.3 FM) each Saturday morning for the region’s longest running and most respected Country music radio shows.

Longtime hosts “Cousin Lynn” Joiner and "Ol' Sinc" Brian Sinclair have created generations of music fans with their knowledge and deep love for the genre. They have shared this with the listeners through a wide ranging song selection, pithy commentary, and a who’s who of guest artists for live in-studio performances.

While "Ol' Sinc" passed away in 2002, “Cousin Lynn” and a cast of “Fillbillies” continue the tradition for Boston area listener and now for listeners around the globe. Likely, there would not be a Rounder Records or a Boston Bluegrass Union if it were not for Hillbilly at Harvard.

"It's time to remind you that you're listening to the very best in that good old-time, down-to-earth country music, right here on hillbilly radio for eastern New England, WHRB, Cambridge Country."

Glen Huffer, longtime Connecticut Bluegrass Concert Producer and MC – In 1980, Glenn formed the Connecticut Friends of Bluegrass with Brian and Linda Fitzpatrick and others, presenting concerts for over twenty years. His work helped foster and create a vibrant bluegrass scene in Connecticut, and helped introduce many new bands to area fans. Bands he presented over the years included Del McCoury and the Dixie Pals, Jim and Jesse, The Osborn Brothers, Joe Val, Ralph Stanley, The Country Gentlemen, Nashville Bluegrass Band, The Seldom Scene, The Dry Branch Fire Squad, the Johnson Mountain Boys, as well as countless regional bands.

Glen also has and continues to serve the bluegrass community as an MC at regional bluegrass festivals including Winterhawk, CT River, Hebron, and thirty-two years as the lead MC at Strawberry Park.

click here for the 2011 press release...

2010 Industry Award Winners

2010 Musican Award Winners

The Founders of Rounder Records - Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy and Bill Nowlin

In 1970, three Boston-area students – armed with a passion for traditional music and little else – embarked on an odyssey that now spans forty years and over 3,000 albums. Celebrating its fourth decade in 2010, Rounder Records has remained a bastion of independence in the increasingly corporate music industry. Along the way, they have released a staggering number of classic bluegrass, folk, and stringband albums, bringing American roots music to an audience that spans both dedicated enthusiasts and curious newcomers. In doing so, they have helped to insure the music’s survival and continued growth. In their first decade alone, Rounder issued influential recordings by the likes of J.D. Crowe, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerard, Tony Rice, Norman Blake, Tony Trischka, David Grisman, New England’s own Joe Val, and many, many others, alongside essential archival releases. In 1987 they issued the debut album by Alison Krauss, then a humble young fiddler from Illinois, who eventually became the genre’s most popular and decorated act. The past decade has seen Rounder survive industry-wide turmoil to become not only the leading roots music outlet in America, but the premier independent label across the board, dealing in an eclectic array of sounds and styles, from contemporary pop to traditional music from around the world. They have been home to an astonishing percentage of today’s top bluegrass stars, including Krauss, Dan Tyminski, Claire Lynch, Rhonda Vincent, the Grascals, Blue Highway, IIIrd Tyme Out, NewFound Road, and Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, and Rounder tirelessly continues to scout out and develop new talent, such as Michael Cleveland, Dailey and Vincent, Sierra Hull, Danny Paisley, and the Steeldrivers.

click here for the 2010 press release..

2009 Industry Award Winners

2009 Musican Award Winners

Al Hawkes: Musician, entertainer, record label owner, and collector Al Hawkes has contributed to bluegrass and country music in nearly every possible capacity. In 1956 in Westbrook, Maine, he founded Event Records and released early recordings by such key artists as The Lilly Brothers and Don Stover, Charlie Bailey (of the Bailey Brothers), Dick Curless, and many more. Born in 1930, Hawkes formed his first band in high school, singing and playing an array of stringed instruments. To this day, he continues to be an active performer, and has received over 25 awards. In addition to releasing a number of important recordings on Event, Hawkes is one of the foremost record collectors in New England, whose archive includes over 40,000 45s, 78s, and LPs.

Sandy Sheehan: Since 1970, Sandy’s Music and its proprietor Sandy Sheehan have been essential lynchpins in the Boston area’s traditional music scene. First captivated by folk, old-time, Celtic, blues, and bluegrass music in the 1960s, Sheehan established Sandy’s as a one-stop shop where one could peruse (and pick) a diverse range of stringed instruments, browse through new and old traditional music LPs and CDs, have instrument repairs done, take a music lesson, and get advice from the laconic, chain-smoking, banjo-picking owner. Sandy’s quickly became a hub for the traditional music community, with Sheehan hosting (and continuing to host) weekly Monday-night jams at the store and occasional old-time nights at Johnny D.’s. Since 1986, Sheehan has also hosted the popular Traditional Folk program on WUMB.

click here for the 2009 press release..

2008 Industry Award Winners

2008 Musican Award Winners

George Hauenstein has been the affable host of "Sunday Morning Country" for the past twenty-nine years and a welcome visitor to homes across the region each and every Sunday Morning. He's been an ardent supporter of the local and national scene, providing on-air performance opportunities for local bands, and fitting i concert announcements between a great selection of bluegrass and country music. At the close of 2007 George announced he was stepping down as host and has accepted a new job at WILL the NPR affiliate at
the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Thanks George for your many years of service to the community and we wish you all the best. Sunday Morning Country will xontinue on the airwaves as Kate Walker has stepped in to cover the controls and spin the disks.

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2007 Industry Award Winners

2007 Musican Award Winners

The Joe Val Bluegrass Festival is pleased to honor legendary radio announcer Dick Pleasants with The Boston Bluegrass Union's Heritage Award for 2007.

He's been a fixture in the folk music scene, with longtime positions at area stations including WCIB in Falmouth, WCAS in Cambridge, and presently as the morning announcer on Boston's WUMB. While Dick has recently stepped away from the mike at WGBH in Boston, his S a t u r d a y a f t e r n o on show, The Folk Heritage, was a favorite of New England audiences for twenty-five years.

His support for the music extends beyond radio as he's founded folk music clubs, societies and established and directs WUMB's Summer Acoustic Music Camp, now in its 11th year. Dick has been a long time supporter of bluegrass music and a dear friend of the BBU. His career in broadcasting and his dedication to folk music has arguably earned Dick Pleasants the title of the Dean of Folk Music in New England.

2006 Industry Award Winners

2006 Musican Award Winners