Foundation sponsors inaugural Great American Vintage BassFest,
a gathering for players and collectors of vintage upright basses
January 26, 2024
The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation was proud to help facilitate a friendly, educational gathering for players and collectors of vintage American upright basses such as Kay, American Standard, King, Alcoa, Gibson, and Epiphone at the annual SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America) Convention at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville on Friday Jan. 26, 2024. Alan Tompkins, Kyle Perkins, and James Condino worked together to coordinate the gathering, with generous assistance from SPBGMA.
While players of other bluegrass instruments easily carry their instruments (often more than one) to a festival or on a plane, bass players don’t have that luxury because of the large size of the instrument. The opportunity to play, examine, and compare great basses side-by-side was a rare treat.
Dozens of basses were on display around the Evergreen Room at the Sheraton all afternoon, including rare 1930s Alcoa aluminum basses from the collections of James Condino, John Fogleman, and Alan Tompkins (one polished, one with painted woodgrain finish, and one with original clear-coat finish).
Several excellent American Standards from the 1930s (including serial #23 from 1936) were available for inspection courtesy of players and collectors including Russell Rollo, Kyle Perkins, James Condino, Alan Tompkins, Wes Horton, and “Superman” Kent Blanton. The room was crowded all afternoon, with prominent musicians including Mike Bub, Mickey Harris, C. J. Lewandowski, Jasper Lorentzen, Clay Hess, Lenny Nichols, Liz Patton, Gerald Jones, and Zach McLamb stopping by to enjoy the glorious world of the bass clef.
Plans are in the works for a Second Inaugural Annual Great American Vintage BassFest at SPBGMA Nashville in Jan. 2025, so plan to join us. Pictures from Great American Vintage BassFest are in our gallery.
Foundation provides scholarships for young people to learn
more about banjo from Noam Pikelny and others through
the Vincent Memorial Scholarship Program
January 29, 2023
The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation was proud to use scholarship funds from the Johnny Lee Vincent Memorial Scholarship Program to send three young people to learn more about music and the art of banjo performance from world-renowned musician Noam Pikelny and others at the 2023 Hatfield Music Banjo Workshop held in Nashville, Tennessee in connection with the 2023 Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music Annual convention.
Pikelny, a nine-time GRAMMY Award nominee and 2019 GRAMMY Award winner, is the banjoist with the popular and critically-acclaimed Punch Brothers. He was joined in teaching the afternoon workshop by Ira Gitlin, a Winfield-winning national banjo champion, and well-known banjo teacher and author Jack Hatfield of 
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
The Johnny Lee Vincent Memorial Scholarship Program is named in memory of Mr. Johnny Vincent of Greentop, Missouri, a bluegrass pioneer and the father of the Foundation’s first Bluegrass Star Award® recipient, Rhonda Vincent, and bluegrass star Darrin Vincent. Johnny was known for his unique banjo style and founded the Sally Mountain Bluegrass Festival in Queen City, Missouri.
The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation appreciates the support of Mr. Vincent’s family and friends and our many donors and volunteers, all of whom helped make it possible for us to assist young people in making bluegrass happen.
Bluegrass Heritage Foundation provides the
Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music
with additional Play it Forward! instruments for students
January 28, 2023
Alan Tompkins, President of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation, today presented Dean Osborne of the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music with additional introductory-level instruments, including a banjo and guitar, for students to use while learning to play bluegrass music. The Kentucky School became a licensed affiliate of the Foundation’s Play It Forward!® Instrument Lending Program in 2022.
Last year, the eastern Kentucky area around the Kentucky School experienced devastating flooding, and ten mountain dulcimers used in a Kentucky School high school music program were lost. The Foundation, with help from the folks at the Banjo Ben Clark General Store, provided the school with a pair of high-quality mountain dulcimers and plans to provide more when they become available. “We are so thankful that our Foundation donors, friends, and volunteers have made it possible for the Foundation to continue providing assistance to young people who love this music and want to play at a higher level,” noted Tompkins. 
KSBTM offers a full range of musical education courses, history and background courses in bluegrass music, as well as individualized instruction in banjo, guitar, bass, fiddle, mandolin, dobro, harmony vocal singing, and songwriting. The school’s faculty includes the legendary Bobby Osborne, Dean Osborne, Scott Napier, and Virgil Bowlin.
Play It Forward!® Instruments Presented to
Fiddle & Pick, the Musical Heritage Center of Middle Tennessee
January 26, 2023
Foundation Vice President Gerald Jones today presented several additional entry-level instruments to the Fiddle & Pick Musical Heritage Center of Middle Tennessee as part of the Foundation’s Play It Forward!® Instrument Lending Program. Fiddle & Pick, located in Pegram, Tennessee, was founded by Gretchen Priest-May and her husband Tim May. Fiddle & Pick has been an affiliate of the Play It Forward!® program for more than ten years and has done remarkable work in making musical education available to the young people of the rural Pegram community. Their efforts have been richly rewarding. “We are proud to continue to help Gretchen, Tim, and the other folks at Fiddle & Pick who have given so much to these young people who want to learn more about traditional music,” commented Jones.
City of Farmers Branch wins statewide award
for Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival
March 1, 2022
We’re thrilled for our friends at the City of Farmers Branch who won the statewide 2022 Promotions and Marketing Excellence Award from Texas Recreation & Park Society!
The award recognizes parks and recreation agencies that provide exemplary sponsorship and creativity in park and recreation events and programs. We think our friends at the City deserve this award for their incredible 13-year (and counting!) run of support of the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival!
Accepting the award for the City were (L-R) Varsha Sareen, Sandy Carter, Meagan Bernard, Geoff Fairchild, and Mayor Robert C. Dye, with Alan Tompkins (back) representing the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation. Congratulations and thanks to the City of Farmers Branch!
Bluegrass Heritage Foundation appoints the
Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music
as affiliate of the Play it Forward! Instrument Lending Program
January 29, 2022
The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation today announced that the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music, a part of the Hazard Community & Technical College and the University of Kentucky Community College system, became a licensed affiliate of the Foundation’s Play It Forward!® Instrument Lending Program. The arrangement allows the school to use the trademarked “Play It Forward!” program name in connection with its musical instrument lending activities and to receive donations of instruments from the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation to support young people who want to learn more about bluegrass and traditional music.
The affiliation agreement was signed in Nashville, where both KSBTM Program Director Dean Osborne and Foundation President Alan Tompkins were in attendance at the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music’s annual convention. Tompkins presented Dean Osborne with a number of introductory-level instruments, including a fiddle, banjo, and guitar, that students can use to begin their study of bluegrass music.
The KSBTM Professional Studio Artist program offers a full range of musical education courses, history and background courses in bluegrass music, as well as individualized instruction in banjo, guitar, bass, fiddle, mandolin, dobro, harmony vocal singing, and songwriting. The school’s faculty includes Bobby Osborne of the world-famous Osborne Brothers, Dean Osborne, Scott Napier, and Virgil Bowlin. Alan Tompkins commented that “we’re excited to join forces with Dean Osborne and his faculty at the Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music to help make music education a reality for more young people who want to learn and play.”
Bluegrass Heritage Foundation presents
Bluegrass Star Award® to Dan Tyminski
October 16, 2021
GRAMMY-winning bluegrass music veteran Dan Tyminski was honored with the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation’s Bluegrass Star Award® on Saturday, October 16, 2021 at the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival in the Farmers Branch Historical Park in Farmers Branch, Texas. Tyminski was joined on stage by Del McCoury, who received the Bluegrass Star Award in 2015.
Alan Tompkins, founder of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation, began the presentation by explaining that the Foundation had created the Bluegrass Star Award in 2010 as a way to honor artists who respected the traditions of bluegrass music and preserved its character while doing an exemplary job of bringing the music to new audiences. Previous Bluegrass Star Awards have been presented to Rhonda Vincent, J. D. Crowe, Peter Rowan, Sierra Hull, Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury, Jerry Douglas, and Bobby Osborne.
Tompkins noted that Dan Tyminski has had a highly successful career as a bluegrass musician, singer, and songwriter that included time as an early member of the popular Lonesome River Band, a run spanning two decades with supergroup Alison Krauss & Union Station, a solo career that featured the release of the award-winning album Wheels, and his voiceover work on the song Man of Constant Sorrow in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, released by the Coen Brothers in 2000. Dan’s interpretation of Man of Constant Sorrow won him both a GRAMMY award and a CMA Award for Best Single in 2001 and served as the anthem for the superstar Soggy Bottom Boys touring band. Dan has won 14 GRAMMY Awards and numerous other honors for his solo work and his collaborations with other musicians.
“Dan’s talents have brought bluegrass music to many thousands of new listeners over the course of his career, and he is a worthy recipient of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation Bluegrass Star Award®.” For information about Dan Tyminski, visit his website or the Dan Tyminski page on Wikipedia.com. Video of the award presentation courtesy of David Seay Productions. Photos courtesy of Nate Dalzell.
Alan Tompkins nominated for IBMA Broadcaster of the Year Award
August 10, 2020
Alan W. Tompkins, President and founder of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation, has been nominated, for a fourth time, by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) for the Bluegrass Broadcaster of the Year Award based on his work on the Bluegrass Heritage Radio Show. The winner will be announced during the IBMA’s virtual World of Bluegrass to be held in September 2020.
The IBMA Bluegrass Broadcaster of the Year Award recognizes outstanding service to bluegrass music in the field of broadcasting. Recipients are judged on their contributions to the field of endeavor, professionalism (including their work in their community), and their ability to foster the image of bluegrass music. Starting with IBMA member recommendations, nominees are chosen by committees of respected musicians and industry leaders.
Alan said that he was “sincerely honored to be nominated again for this prestigious award. All the nominees are terrific bluegrass broadcasters, and I am proud to be on this list. I owe thanks to everyone who helps me in making the Bluegrass Heritage Radio Show happen – including the crew at KHYI-FM 95.3 The Range in Dallas and my wife Julie and daughter Jessica Lynn for their support and patience. As always, I owe a great debt to the folks who listen to KHYI-FM 95.3.”
Bloomin’ Bluegrass nominated for
2020 IBMA Event of the Year Award
August 10, 2020
The Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival, in its eleventh year and presented by the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation and the City of Farmers Branch, Texas, has been nominated for the fourth time for the Bluegrass Event of the Year Award by the International Bluegrass Music Association. The award will be presented at the IBMA’s virtual World of Bluegrass event happening next month.
Alan Tompkins commented that “this nomination is yet another tribute to the City of Farmers Branch Texas and all the people who have worked so hard to make this a great event. We sincerely appreciate all the people who come out every year to enjoy the music, jam, and socialize at Bloomin’. We are again humbled by this nomination and express our appreciation to IBMA.”
The award recognizes events (festivals, concerts, event series, or other live performance productions) for their outstanding accomplishment and service to bluegrass music in the field of event production. The event is judged by its ability to further bluegrass music in its region or area of service; production quality in terms of presentation and organization; environment; and overall audience experience.
Texas Banjo Champion Riley Gilbreath awarded Scholarship
to Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music through
Foundation’s Vincent Memorial Scholarship Program
August 19, 2019
Reigning Texas State Banjo Champion Riley Gilbreath, age 15, was today awarded a first-semester scholarship by the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation. The scholarship was funded in part from donations to the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation’s Johnny Lee Vincent Memorial Scholarship Program.
Although still a sophomore in high school (in Texas), Riley enrolled in online classes in audio recording technology and bluegrass music history at the Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music in Hyden, Kentucky, a part of the Hazard Community and Technical College and University of Kentucky system. Dean Osborne directs the bluegrass music program and personally welcomed Riley to the growing ranks of online students at the school.
Riley is an accomplished banjoist, having won the Texas championship in May 2019 after winning the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival banjo championship in 2018. He is a Bluegrass Heritage Foundation Youth Showcase Artist and plays the Huber Workhorse banjo that was bestowed in connection with that honor. Riley will be competing at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas later this month for the national banjo championship title.
“We’re all thrilled to see how quickly Riley has developed his considerable musical talents, and even more excited that he wants to include the study of bluegrass music in his collegiate career. Riley will be in good company at the Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music, which includes Bobby Osborne, Dean Osborne, Scott Napier, and Virgil Bowlin among its faculty,” noted Foundation president Alan Tompkins.
The 
Johnny Lee Vincent Memorial Scholarship Program is named in memory of Mr. Johnny Vincent of Greentop, Missouri, a bluegrass pioneer and the father of the Foundation’s first Bluegrass Star Award® recipient, Rhonda Vincent, and bluegrass star Darrin Vincent. Johnny was known for his unique banjo style and founded the Sally Mountain Bluegrass Festival in Queen City, Missouri.
The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation appreciates the support of Mr. Vincent’s family and friends and our many donors and volunteers, all of whom helped make it possible for us to assist young people in making bluegrass happen.
