Bobby Hicks has been a fixture in the world of bluegrass and swing fiddle playing for quite some time. I wouldn’t have guessed that he was approaching his 75th birthday though!

Next Sunday, July 20, 2008, a surprise party will be held for him at Marshall High Studios. The studios are located in the old Marshall High school on the island in downtown Marshall, NC. The event is free and open to the public. If you plan to attend, you should be there no later than 2 PM. If you can’t make it by 2 PM and still want to attend, the organizers ask that you wait till after 3 PM before showing up. Bobby will be brought in sometime between 2 and 3 PM and they don’t want anyone spoiling the surprise.

The party will, of course, including some picking and fiddling so bring your stringing instrument with you if you decide to attend.

Cathy asked that we post this to announce it, knowing that Bobby doesn’t get online that often. She did request that no one mention anything to him, it is a surprise party after all!

We posted back in April that fiddle master Bobby Hicks had broken the ring finger of his left hand, and had undergone surgery to repair the damage.

Imagining how devastating such an injury could be to a musician, we were delighted to hear this week from Bobby’s daughter, Melissa Holland, that her dad was on the mend, and back to playing while continuing with twice weekly physical therapy.

Melissa says that Bobby taught last week at Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp last week, and did fine, though he still doesn’t feel like he is back in top form.

“I know Dad was worried about how much movement he would get back on that finger. Luckily, he knows how to make accommodations until it’s back at 100%.”

Look for Bobby back on stage doing shows with Earl Scruggs in July.

Whenever we learn of a hand injury to a musician, it’s always a matter of concern. When it’s a legend like Bobby Hicks, who not only helped establish what excellence in bluegrass fiddle is all about over his long career, but is also approaching 75 years of age, it is of even greater immediate gravity.

Bobby fell and broke the ring finger of his left hand badly enough to require surgery earlier this month, but says that he recovering nicely at home.

“I’m doing OK I guess. I’ll just have to refrain from playing double and triple stops for awhile.“

Let’s hope Bobby is back in top form soon!

The Transatlantic Bluegrass School, scheduled for May 7-11, 2008 in the Welsh town of Pembrokeshire, has announced the formation of a  scholarship program for young students, aged 16-25, based on financial need.

The scholarship awards will cover the full tuition costs, and are available for banjo, guitar, fiddle, mandolin or vocal. Applicants must submit essays describing their musical background, financial situation and their interests and aspirations in bluegrass music.

The management of the school describes the program as follows:

The purpose of these scholarships is to encourage the development and appreciation of bluegrass music and musicianship in the 16 to 25 year age group, and especially to facilitate participation in learning activities by those who without benefit of a scholarship would find it difficult to fund attendance personally.

Instructors at the ‘08 school will include Bobby Hicks on fiddle, Kenny Smith on guitar, Amanda Smith on vocals, Emory Lester on mandolin, Ross Nickerson on banjo, and Mike Bub on bass.

Applications must be received by March 21, 2008. Full details and necessary forms can be found online.

Spring 2008 will find a bevy of top American bluegrass musicians heading to Wales to serve as instructors at the Transatlantic Bluegrass School. The school will be held starting on May 7 in the scenic coastal village of Newport, Pembrokeshire and are designed for students who have passed the most beginning stages of learning to play their instruments.

The faculty includes Ross Nickerson on banjo, Mike Bub on bass, Bobby Hicks on fiddle, Kenny Smith on guitar, Emory Lester on mandolin and Amanda Smith on vocals.

Class sessions will be held both morning and afternoon from May 8-11. Only 20 students will be enrolled for each class, so anyone interested in participating is encouraged to register right away.

When the roll is called of the all-time greatest fiddlers in bluegrass, the name of Benny Martin will always be included. He was a member of the Flatt & Scruggs show for several years in the early 1950s, and also worked briefly for Bill Monroe. He played on The Grand Ole Opry as a solo performer, and had stints with country artists Johnny and Jack, Roy Acuff and Kitty Wells.

He was a flamboyant performer, and a favorite with fans in the 50s and 60s for his singing and fiddling, plus his huge smile and larger-than-life persona on stage. Benny passed away in 2001, but had been in ill health since the mid-’80s, so a great many younger bluegrass fans and fiddlers have only a passing acquaintance with his brilliant playing.

Thanks to CMH Records, one of his classic recordings is set to be reissued on CD. The Fiddle Collection, originally released as a 2 LP set in 1977, is set to hit the street on October 9 in a special CD edition. The tracks from the original vinyl have been remastered, and a number of bonus tracks are included as well, all of which feature John Hartford on banjo.

Among the 28 tracks are such favorites as Lee Highway Blues, Fiddlers Dream, Back Up And Push and Ragtime Annie, as well as bluegrass numbers like Flint Hill Special, Footprints In The Snow and Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

To get a feel for just how influential Martin was on the next generation of fiddlers, we asked a few of the current nominees for the IBMA Fiddle Player Of The Year Award for comment.

First up is Mountain Heart’s Jim Van Cleve:

“Big Tige (Benny Martin) was the quintessential bluegrass fiddle player…Unbelievably rich tone, especially considering the recording technology of the time, an incredible awareness of the vocal and an inventiveness for where he needed be in context to it. It was so natural for him. Ultimately, he played a huge part in defining for a lot of players, myself included, what types of things were appropriate for the bluegrass fiddler. It’s not unlike what Tony Rice eventually did for bluegrass guitar. His signature fire and enthusiasm just underlined the fact that what he was playing and creating was perfect!”

Ron Stewart, fiddling with JD Crowe & The New South added these words: (more…)

Last January, both Brance and I had the chance to attend the Pickin’ at the Paramount all star concert in Bristol, TN. The show was an offshoot of one that I helped organize in 2000 (reprised in 2001) to celebrate the release of Knee Deep In Bluegrass - The AcuTab Sessions. You can read my report on last year’s show here.

The show has been scheduled again this year, and will be held next weekend (1/20/07) at The Paramount Center on historic State Street in Bristol.

The format of the current show is similar to the one we started in 2000, and reminiscent of the old “package tour” shows popular in the 1950s and 60s. An all star cast of prominent bluegrass pickers and singers will rotate on and off the stage in a variety of configurations, generally performing material outside of what you might normally hear them doing.

This year’s lineup includes Bobby Hicks, Ronnie Bowman, Mike Bub, David Talbot, Larry Cordle, Rob McCoury, Don Rigsby, Kim Fox, Darrell Webb, Steve Gulley, Jason Carter, Barry Bales, Paul Williams, Kenny & Amanda Smith and David Grier.

There will be two shows on January 20, at 3:00 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets and show details can be found at the Pickin’ at the Paramount site, or the Paramount Center site.

We also heard last week from Fred Carpenter, who runs The Violin Shop in Nashville. He shared some of his plans for IBMA week later this month, which will include their participation during the Grand Masters Fiddle Contest (9/28-29), and a special concert at the shop that Monday.

The show on September 25 will feature Tim O’Brien and Stuart Duncan, with support from Bryan Sutton and Dennis Crouch. There will be two shows that evening, at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m., with both shows taped for Volume II of their live Violin Shop concerts on DVD.

We posted about the first volume when it was released earlier this summer. That concert DVD features Andy Leftwich, Bruce Molsky, Aubrey Haynie, Jim Van Cleve and Bobby Hicks on fiddles, with contributions from Ronnie Bowman, Ron Stewart, Alan Bibey and several other fine pickers and singers.

Fred says that he really has no set release date for the Duncan/O’Brien concert DVD, but expects it will be in the first half of 2007. Details will surely appear on The Violin Shop site as they are clarified.

Fiddlers, and fans of fiddle music in the Nashville area, have made a point to catch the occasional concerts held at The Violin Shop on Old Hickory Boulevard. The shows are always intimate, performed with no amplification in a 60 seat music room, and dependably spontaneous and improvisational.

A collection of these concert performances have now been assembled on DVD, featuring some of bluegrass music’s finest fiddlers. Andy Leftwich, Jim VanCleve, Aubrey Haynie and Bruce Molsky are showcased on The Violin Shop Concert Series, Vol. 1. Guests and supporting players on the DVD include veteran fiddler Bobby Hicks, as well as Ronnie Bowman, Byron House, Cody Kilby, Wyatt Rice, Charlie Cushman, Alan Bibey, Kent Blanton, Adam Steffey, Clay Jones, Ron Stewart, Jason Moore, and Steve Gulley.

The Violin Shop is run by Fred Carpenter, and is both a favored repair facility for Nashville fiddlers, and their local meeting place as well. Carpenter spent several years as a member of The Tony Rice Unit while also serving a violin building apprenticeship in California. He moved to Nashville in 1987, and opened The Violin Shop while also touring with Emmy Lou Harris. His repair and restoration staff at the shop has grown over the years, and Fred now focuses on buying and selling fine violins. He remains active as a player touring with Kathy Mattea.

Carpenter said that there was never an intention to either record these live shows, or release them on DVD.

“My intention with the concerts was just to build a room where we could have some fun shows. Jeff Wyatt Wilson, a Nashville filmmaker, happened to come to the Violin Shop the day before our first show, looking for 3 seconds of fiddle playing for a documentary he was working on. We got to talking, one thing led to another, and this project just became what it is as the discussions evolved.”

The DVDs can be purchased on The Violin Shop web site.

Episode #18 of The GrassCast features an interview with fiddle legend Bobby Hicks. John and Bobby discuss his storied career in both bluegrass and country music - starting with Bill Monroe while still his teens, through The Bluegrass Album Band and Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.

This GrassCast is 12 minutes in length and the file download size is 11MB.

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Direct Download: ep18_bobby_hicks.mp3
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