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.
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.
Bloomin’ Bluegrass nominated for
2019 IBMA Event of the Year Award
August 8, 2019
The Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival, now in its tenth year and presented by the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation and the City of Farmers Branch, Texas, has been nominated for the third time for the Bluegrass Event of the Year Award by the International Bluegrass Music Association. The award will be presented at the IBMA’s World of Bluegrass Luncheon on Thursday, September 26, 2019, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Alan Tompkins commented that “this nomination is a tribute to the commitment by the City of Farmers Branch Texas and all the people who have worked so hard for many years to make this a great event. We truly value and honor all the folks who come out to enjoy the music, jam, socialize, and enjoy each year at Bloomin’. We are again humbled by this nomination and express our appreciation to IBMA.”
According 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.
Bluegrass Heritage Foundation presents
Bluegrass Star Award® to Bobby Osborne
October 20, 2018
Bobby Osborne, a veteran bluegrass musician and a GRAMMY-nominated member of the Grand Ole Opry, was honored with the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation’s Bluegrass Star Award® on Saturday, October 20, 2018 at the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival in the Omni Dallas Hotel at Park West in Farmers Branch, Texas. Osborne was joined on stage by Del McCoury and Sierra Hull, both of whom have received the Bluegrass Star Award.
“In 2010, the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation began a tradition of honoring bluegrass artists who do an exemplary job of advancing the music and bringing it to new audiences while 
preserving its character and heritage,” said Alan Tompkins, founder of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation. Previous Bluegrass Star Awards have been presented to Rhonda Vincent, J. D. Crowe, Peter Rowan, Sierra Hull, Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury, and Jerry Douglas.
“Bobby Osborne has had an incredible career in bluegrass music spanning 70 years, which includes the time he spent serving his country as a United State Marine. He’s in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame not once but twice – both as a member of the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers and as a member of the Osborne Brothers – the group that he founded with his brother, Sonny Osborne.
Bobby is a member of the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame who now spends his time helping young musicians as a member of the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music, located in Hyden, Kentucky and directed by Dean Osborne.
Throughout his career, Bobby Osborne found new and innovative ways to make bluegrass music interesting for listeners all around the country. He’s brought bluegrass to thousands of new listeners during his career and is certainly deserving of our Bluegrass Heritage Foundation Bluegrass Star Award®.” For information about Bobby Osborne, visit his website or the Bobby Osborne page on Wikipedia.com. Video of the award presentation courtesy of David Seay Productions. Photos courtesy of Perry Callahan.
Kentucky Just Us Family Band awarded Scholarship to attend
Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music through
Foundation’s Vincent Memorial Scholarship Program
October 20, 2018
Kentucky Just Us, the O’Neal family bluegrass band from Greensburg, Kentucky, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation on Saturday, October 20, 2018 at the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival at the Omni Dallas Hotel at Park West in Farmers Branch, Texas. (The Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival, typically held in the Farmers Branch Historical Park, was held in the Omni for 2018 due to wet conditions in the park.) The scholarship was funded in part from donations to the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation’s Johnny Lee Vincent Memorial Scholarship Program. The band played a short set before the scholarship presentation and wowed the crowd at the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival.
Several members
of the Kentucky Just Us family band are enrolled in classes where they are studying bluegrass music at the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music in Hyden, Kentucky, which is a part of the Hazard Community and Technical College. Dean Osborne directs the bluegrass music program, and joined the band on stage for the scholarship presentation.
“We’re so excited to help this terrific young band develop their already-outstanding bluegrass musical skills, and we know they are in the good hands of Dean Osborne, Scott Napier, Virgil Bowlin, and – of course – Mr. Bobby Osborne at the Kentucky School of Bluegrass,” said 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 make it possible for us to assist young people in making bluegrass happen. The photos of Kentucky Just Us are courtesy of Perry Callahan.
