Alan W. Tompkins

Alan Tompkins is the founder and president of the Foundation.  A native of western Kentucky, he’s an avid bluegrass fan and an established banjo and acoustic bass player.  His solo album, No Part of Nothin’, was released in 2012.  His love of music began at an early age, and he played southern gospel and country music before and during his college years.  With Gerald Jones, Alan co-founded the Frisco Bluegrass Festival (in Frisco, Texas; 2006-07) and Acoustic Music Camp, an annual instructional gathering for acoustic musicians.  In 2010, together with the City of Farmers Branch, Alan created the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival, the largest bluegrass event in north Texas, which was nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Bluegrass Event of the Year Award in 2014, 2017, 2019, and 2020.

Alan holds a bachelor’s degree in bluegrass music from Glenville State College as well as an associate degree in bluegrass and certificate in audio recording from the Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music.  He is a graduate of the IBMA Leadership Bluegrass class of 2009, served on the Leadership Bluegrass Planning Committee from 2010-2018, and served as Chair from 2011-2014.  Alan received the IBMA Momentum Award for Industry Involvement in 2015, is a four-time nominee for IBMA’s Bluegrass Broadcaster of the Year Award, and served on the IBMA board of directors from 2015-2019.  He presently serves on the board of directors of the IBMA Foundation and the Professional Advisory Committee of the Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music.  For more, see AlanTompkins.com.

Alan is Vice President & General Counsel of Unity Hunt, Inc. in Dallas where he manages legal matters for the Lamar Hunt family and affiliated entities.  He moved to Texas from Kentucky in 1983 to earn an MBA from SMU and later became licensed as both an attorney and CPA in Texas.  He has served on the boards of charitable organizations including the National Soccer Hall of Fame Museum, AFI-Dallas International Film Festival, USA Film Festival, FC Dallas Foundation, Pegasus Theatre, Dallas Christian Leadership, and For The Love Of The Lake Foundation.  Alan is a former chair of the State Bar of Texas Entertainment & Sports Law Section.