Our series of stellar Sierragrass Sessions continues! This time, we’re resuming the celebration of California bluegrass with Yoseff Tucker & the Bow Ties. Based in the Bay Area, Tucker and the Bow Ties are staples of local festivals, community jams, regular appearances at neighborhood venues, and within the Northern California Bluegrass Society. They’re also close, longtime pickin’ friends of Sierragrass hosts and presenters, AJ Lee & Blue Summit.
So, of course we had to kick off their session with “The Best of Friends.” Sounding like it could have been written and conceived directly beneath the ponderosa pines of Grass Valley, California – where there’s a nearly 100% chance of running into the Bow Ties circled up and jamming with members of Blue Summit (and many more bluegrass pals) at CBA’s Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival. The song reminds listeners from all across the country, and even around the world, that California isn’t just a hot bed for jamgrass and the more psychedelic string band strains. No, these West Coast pickers can be just as traditional, virtuosic, and timeless as their Southeastern counterparts. Especially with the bright tenor of Tucker as a keystone and that hard-pulling, driving banjo and slippery, languid fiddle.
For their second performance, the group offers “I’m Not Gone.” Slow and shuffling, the song is archetypically contemplative and existential with an ultimately hopeful message. Punctuated by dramatic mandolin tremolos, Tucker’s lamenting lead vocal, and tender three-part harmonies, “I’m Not Gone” may remind of classic J.D. Crowe & the New South or of Larry Sparks – especially with the ear-turning major 3 chord. It’s a lovely track that could exist as comfortably on a honky-tonk stage as it would in the sanctuary of a church.
Conceived, curated, and hosted by AJ Lee & Blue Summit, the inaugural Sierragrass was held May 9-11 at Sierra Meadows Resort in Ahwahnee, California, tucked into the shadow of the Sierra Nevada just across the Central Valley from Blue Summit’s home turf of Santa Cruz. For a debut, band-founded festival, the event was a smashing success. Our friends, the incredible team at I Know We Should, were on hand for this first edition of Sierragrass to capture live performance videos of artists from across the festival roster.
Yoseff Tucker & the Bow Ties are perfect examples of the vibrant community of artists, musicians, and creators in California who deserve such an excellent festival home as Sierragrass. Give them a follow on social media, and stay tuned for more sessions by artists from the Sierragrass lineup coming right here on BGS every other week.
Video Credit: I Know We Should, Brad Wagner, Juan Soria, and Charlie Peterson.
