Funeral services for Butch Baldassari will be held this Saturday (1/17) at St. Francis of Assissi church in Scranton, PA. The family will greet visitors at 10:00 a.m. followed by a Funeral Mass at 11:00.

According to the obituary published in the Scranton Times-Tribune, the family has requested that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the church: 634 Genet St., Scranton, PA 18505.

In addition, a college fund has been established for Butch and Sinclair’s son, Blake. Tax-deductible contributions may be sent to:

Mandolin Cafe has a good roundup of news about Butch, including the note sent by Sinclair Baldassari earlier this week to all Butch’s friends in the mandolin world.

If you would like to see all the various tributes his fellow mandolinists and musical friends have left here on The Bluegrass Blog, just click on the Butch Baldassari tag below the title of this post.

Noted mandolinist Mike Compton has also sent along his reflections on the death of Butch Baldassari, who passed away after a lengthy battle with brain cancer on January 10, 2009.

Butch’s passing has sort of caught me off-guard really. He seemed like he was actually going to just outlast the situation and come on back around. I meant to get over and see him again. Well, I put that off too long too. The last thing Butch said to me was that he wanted for me and David Grier to come over and play, me and Grier and ‘a bass,’ as he put it. Now I feel like a heel for not making it over and fulfilling his request. Can’t undo that now.

I met Butch back around the time Nashville Bluegrass Band got together. We crossed paths with the Weary Hearts ever so often and I was introduced to him then, seems like. I thought Butch was about as spit and polished as they came and I really didn’t get to know him very well for a long time. I so remember giving Butch a lot of grief about his hair, mainly because he had a good head of it and I didn’t. I heard he had played in Vegas, ran a pinball company back in Pennsylvania. A multi-faceted man all around.

Butch really got my attention when he started giving mandolin seminars in Nashville. He even let me audit one so that I could take notes on how to go about putting points across. I remember saying something about learning to read music again and he gave me a book called ‘I Can Read Music.’ It has notes in it the size of a butterbean. Then he gave me an entire Cristafaro Method book. The point is, he helped me a lot and went about it right away and asked for nothing in return. And then, there was the night I took in the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble. I’ve wanted to be in that group ever since. (more…)

We got a note last night from Chris Jones with a remembrance of his friend and former band mate, Butch Baldassari, prompted by Butch’s untimely passing on Saturday (1/10).

Chris is not only an accomplished bluegrass singer, songwriter and bandleader, but also a popular radio host. His weekday show on Sirius-XM runs from 3:00-9:00 p.m. on Bluegrass Junction (XM 14 and Sirius 65).

Jones will open today’s show (1/13) with a musical tribute to Butch.

“I’d never heard of Butch when he called me out of the blue one day in 1988 and asked me if I was interested in joining a band in the southwest called Weary Hearts. I did, and that band changed the direction of my life and career, and I’d say that’s probably true for the other members at the time, Mike Bub and Ron Block. Butch’s mandolin style and tone helped define the band sound, and it was his business sense and discipline that helped us grow and eventually move to Nashville together.

Butch managed to combine a dedication to the business side of music with a love and understanding of the art of music that’s rare in a single individual. I’ll miss not only Butch’s music, but also his unique perspective and humor. There have been many times since Weary Hearts were together when I’ve thought to myself, ‘what would Butch say in a situation like this?,’ and it’s likely he would have said something insightful and funny. He had very little use for the cliches and standard assumptions of the business, instead creating his own ‘conventional wisdom’ (or maybe ‘Baldo’s Wisdom’), which often enabled him to see things more clearly and pinpoint  the heart of the situation.

I feel privileged to have known him and played music with him.”

Ronnie McCoury has sent along a note remembering his friend, Butch Baldassari. He was on vacation with his family when he first learned of Butch’s passing, and just now had a chance to share his thoughts.

Butch was someone I admired and respected. What he did in his short, sweet life amazed me! He was always working on something or was trying to “get something going.”

From the first time we met, when I was just a teenager, until the last time I saw him, I felt he was always trying to help me in any way that he could. I listened to his opinions and suggestions and I used them and still do! I’ll miss his phone calls asking “What’s going on? What’s happening?”

He played and presented the mandolin with tone, taste and class. He was a true Master of the mandolin and mentor. From one PA boy to another…until we pick again! Rest in Peace!

Your ole friend, Ronnie

p.s. I’m still working on that “mailbox money,” Butchy!