John McEuen, founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, instigator of Will the Circle Be Unbroken — which Rolling Stone called “The most important record to come out of Nashville” — and producer of Steve Martin’s 2010 Grammy Award-winning bluegrass album, The Crow, received a 2010 Best of the West award on Oct. 23, during the Folk Alliance Region-West (FAR-West) Conference in Santa Clara, California. Also honored with a Best of the West award was Cloud Moss, founder and director of both the Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival and the Sebastopol Celtic World Music Festival held in Northern California, who also has produced more than 30 other festivals during his career.

Videos of a conversation with McEuen and Moss currently may be viewed at www.far-west.org, along with footage of the awards luncheon.

FAR-West, the West Coast regional arm of Folk Alliance International, established the Best of the West Awards in 2005 to honor individuals who have maintained an enduring presence in the folk and acoustic music scene in the West, inspiring others by embodying folk values and traditions. The nonprofit organization’s board of directors selects the honorees in both a performer and an ambassador category after soliciting nominations from FAR-West’s membership each spring.

McEuen and Moss join a host of previous Best of the West honorees. In the performer category, these include Joe Craven (2009), The Kingston Trio (2008), Rosalie Sorrels (2007), Utah Phillips (2006) and Lowen & Navarro (2005). Past ambassador honorees include Bob Stone (2009), Mike McCormick (2008), Clark and Elaine Weissman (2007) Steve Baker (2006) and Roz and Howard Larman (2005).