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.”