Local Bluegrass Legend Dies at 77

Jake Quesenberry, the charismatic co-founder of the renowned
California Bluegrass Association who lived in Morgan Hill for 22
years, died Tuesday afternoon of heart failure at the VA Hospital
in Palo Alto. He was 77.
Morgan Hill – Jake Quesenberry, the charismatic co-founder of the renowned California Bluegrass Association who lived in Morgan Hill for 22 years, died Tuesday afternoon of heart failure at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto. He was 77.

“His skill and passion for music was widely regarded, but it was eclipsed by his incredibly warm, make-you-feel-good personality,” said Matt Dudman, Quesenberry’s good friend and fellow musician in the MacRae Brothers, who recorded and played old-country music together at festivals and clubs in Northern California for the past 10 years.

Renowned as a California bluegrass pioneer, Quesenberry co-founded the California Bluegrass Association in 1974 with banjo player and friend Carl Pagter. Today, with more than 3,500 members, the organization is readily acknowledged as the largest fan-based bluegrass association in the world. It has been a leader in producing festivals considered by some as the best on the West Coast, and Quesenberry had a big hand in informing the family-friendly culture of those music events.

“He had a hand in shaping how the association would embrace California bluegrass musicians,” said Bob Thomas, operations director for the group. “Whether you were a big-time performer or a teenager just starting out, he would sit down with you (to talk or play music). I liked him. He was a great man. We all hopefully will encounter a ‘Jake Quesenberry,’ someone who can be a mentor, a teacher, and can lead by example.”

Quesenberry, a charming gentleman who never lost touch with his Kentucky roots, was interviewed last July for the prestigious Video Oral History Project being compiled by the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Ky. 

The film debuted June 25 following the annual two-day River of Music Party in Owensboro, where Quesenberry gave his final performance after being honored on stage.

“His doctor told him not to go, but he hadn’t seen his family and friends (in Kentucky) for years,” said Jeanette Lindner, Quesenberry’s granddaughter, who accompanied him on the pilgrimage, which she said her grandfather greatly enjoyed.

Quesenberry’s lifelong love of music began in Pikeville, Ky., deep in the heart of Cumberland Mountains – coal country – where he learned mandolin, guitar and singing at an early age. He grew up with his mother’s sister, who had 11 older children. Everyone sang and played music, Quesenberry would tell his friends and family.

At age 15, Quesenberry snuck into the U.S. Army, which led him to the Korean War and eventually to San Francisco where in 1950 he married Janet Pelle. The couple later settled in San Jose, and Quesenberry mustered a career selling and repairing outdoor power equipment out of San Martin. They raised four daughters.

“My dad always played music,” said Susan Quesenberry, who lives in Morgan Hill. “He had a regular job, but he always played. He was funny, always joking … he was a good father who was always there.”

Starting in the 1950s, Quesenberry became the charismatic front man for several Bay Area country and bluegrass bands, telling funny stories on stage and performing in his Sunday best. Then, in the 1970s, as Kentucky bluegrass music began to reach wider audiences, Quesenberry connected with younger musicians who were searching for an authentic American sound.

“I remember standing with a band that was four hippies and me in a three-piece suit,” he laughed during an interview with the Times last July.

In 1974, Quesenberry founded the nonprofit California Bluegrass Association with his good friend and banjo player Carl Pagter, a Walnut Creek attorney. The organization spawned dozens of bluegrass festivals since its inception, including its nationally renowned Grass Valley festival held every Father’s Day Weekend in June. 

After living in Kentucky from 1980 to 1985, Quesenberry and his wife moved to Morgan Hill, and Quesenberry purchased the A-1 Saw and Lawnmowers store in San Martin. He ran the store for about seven years before selling it in 1992, but he kept a saw-sharpening business on the premises until about five years ago.

Quesenberry made numerous appearances at regional festivals, in addition to regular gigs at Sam’s Bar-B-Que in San Jose and various other smaller gigs. 

Last Summer, he helped organize the first Brown Barn Festival at San Martin Country Park. The second-annual concert, now dedicated in Quesenberry’s memory, is planned for Sept. 8 and 9.

Funeral services were held for Quesenberry Monday at the South Valley Community Church in Gilroy. 

“He was an inspiration to us all,” said Morgan Hill resident Bernie Mulligan, who took guitar lessons from Quesenberry during the past five years and hosted at least two concerts for the legendary guitarist-singer at his home.

Quesenberry is survived by a sister, Christine Tolar; three daughters, Susan Quesenberry on Morgan Hill, Diane Henderson of Sacramento, and Annie Grau of San Jose; two sons-in-law, Tom Henderson and Mike Grau; eight grandchildren, Jeanette Lindner, Patrick Leach, Don Nunes, Jacob Nunes, Spencer Grau, Adam Grau, Cami Herrera and Randy Wrye; and eight great-grandchildren, Bethany and Megan Lindner, Jacob, Maggie, Desiree and Alissa Nunes, Antonio Herrera, and Isabella Leach.