Our friends over at Mandolin Cafe are running a contest for the next month where the winner will receive a new Eastman mandolin.

The prize in Eastman’s new 815V F-style mandolin, which is made with a carved, red spruce top, flamed maple back and sides, and finished with an oil varnish.

Entry registrations can be completed online, where you can also read all the rules and regs for this contest.

The winner will be drawn on September 15.

The folks at Acoustic Disc are offering free daily downloads from their web site. A different track will be available each day from one of their many fine audio recordings.

Acoustic Disc is the label owned by David Grisman, and tracks from his many fine releases will be among the mandocentric offerings provide as free downloads. These files are in the MP3 format and a new one will be posted around 2:00 a.m. (EST) each day.

HT: Mandolin Cafe

A Gibson F-5L mandolin has been donated by the manufacturer to benefit the Butch Baldassari Medical Fund, and is being offered for sale via Gruhn Guitars in Nashville.

All proceeds from the sale will go to Butch’s Medical Fund.

This is a “Fern” style mandolin, described on Gruhn’s site as follows:

This instrument (sn 70920020) was signed Sept. 20, 2007 by Dave Harvey. It features tone bar bracing, gold-plated hardware, hand-stained finish, rectangular hard case and full warranty. MSLP is $8443.

Bids are submitted by email, and will be accepted through Monday, December 3, at 2:00 p.m. (EST). Bidding details, and some additional photos, can be seen on the Gruhn Guitars web site.

Several other newly donated instruments will be offered for sale in a similar manner over the net few months, including a Collings MT, a Weber F-style and a Trinity College Celtic mandola.

With regard to Butch’s health, Mandolin Cafe has posted a very encouraging report from just before Thanksgiving.

It has been a very upbeat couple of weeks at the Baldassari household and once again, I am in the “pinching myself mode.” Butch awakened last Wednesday, sat up in bed and said, “My legs are back!” It was fantastic! He walked around fast and straight and didn’t miss a beat. That night he joined us at church supper where Blake and I go every (other) Wednesday alone. Many of our church family took note of, not only his presence but, the fact that Butch was doing laps, almost in sing-song rhythm, around Fellowship Hall!

Read the whole report at Mandolin Cafe.

Mandolin Cafe has details on another Butch Baldassari benefit concert, this time in Seattle on December 1 at Dusty Strings.

Regular readers of The Bluegrass Blog will recall that Butch was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor earlier this year, and has been undergoing rigorous and aggressive chemo and radiation therapy to arrest the growth of the tumor. His contributions to the mandolin, bluegrass and music industry communities are well-documented, as a performer, composer, band leader and record label owner.

The show will feature performances from John Reischman, John Miller, Orville Johnson, John Miller, Grant Dermody, Trisha Gagnon and Nick Hornbuckle. All proceeds from the $25 tickets will support the Baldassari Medical Fund.

If you are unable to attend the show, but would like to make a contribution to Butch’s Medical Fund, you can do so online. Mandolin Cafe has set up a PayPal account where online credit card or PayPal contributions are sent directly to Butch.

If you would prefer to send a donation by mail - or simply pass along notes of encouragement - the address is:

Butch Baldassari
125 43rd Ave. N.
Nashville, TN 37209

Our friends at MandolinCafe.com have teamed up with New Millennium Acoustic Design to give away a mandolin.

The prize is a Mix A5 model carbon fiber mandolin. Starting this morning, September 15, 2007, visitors of MandolinCafe.com will be able to register their name in the giveaway. Registration will only be open for one month. The winner will be announced on October 15, 2007.

Here’s some info about the instrument:

The giveaway instrument will feature an ebony fingerboard with a 12″ radius that is 1 3/32″ at the nut, Grover tuners, a Steve Smith adjustable ebony bridge, an engraved James tail-piece, an internally-mounted Schertler CDyn pickup for superb amplification and a TKL-style hardshell case.

The base price for this model is $3500 so this is a very nice prize.

Mandolin Cafe is handling the sale of a Gilchrist Model 1 mandolin, recently acquired through an anonymous donor, which be sold online to raise money for Butch Baldassari’s medical fund. Butch is undergoing treatment for an inoperable brain tumor, and was hospitalized again recently after experiencing sudden swelling in his brain.

This instrument was a custom commission built by Steve Gilchrist, an A style, oval hole mandolin. Additional images can be viewed at Mandolin Cafe.

Offers will be accepted over a two week period, with the mandolin going to the highest bid over $6000. The online sale will begin in the next few days, with an exact date to be announced later this week on the Mandolin Cafe front page.

Regular readers will recall us noting the unfortunate news that Butch Baldassari was diagnosed with cancer a month ago.

As we also mentioned in our previous post, the folks at Mandolin Cafe have set up a page where donations for Butch’s many expenses can be made. It’s a quick and easy process, using secure, PayPal processing.

He recently provided this hopeful update:

As some of you may know, I’ve been taking radiation and a pill-based form of chemo 5 days a week as of June 6. Last Wednesday, June 27 marked the halfway point… three weeks down, three weeks to go. Overall, I’ve been feeling quite good. My energy level was up and down for two weeks or so, but this week I felt very up in terms of energy. I’m also taking energy balancing treatment twice a week at an Integrative Health Care Center here in Nashville and got in another acupuncture session last Friday. When my treatment ends on July 18 I will be taking a closer look at some Alternative/Complementary therapies/treatments, which will may include high doses of Vitamin C in IV format, along with a prescribed round of focused supplements, along with more acupuncture and Chinese herbs. My outlook is that there are a lot of cancer survivors out there, and I plan on becoming one of them.

Butch has given those of us in the bluegrass and mandolin community a great deal over the years. If you have enjoyed his music, perhaps this is a fine chance to offer something in return.

Maske a donation online here.

Butch Baldassari, a good friend to The Bluegrass Blog - and to everyone who loves bluegrass and mandolin music - has recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor. He starts chemo and radiation treatments this week, and we send him our most sincere best wishes and hopes for a full recovery.

Mandolin Cafe has established a support fund for Butch, to help with both medical and living expenses while he is down for treatment. We urge anyone who is in a position to make even a small donation to please do so.

The fund web site is configured to accept Visa or Mastercard donations online. Donations by check and cards/well wishes can be sent by mail to:

Find the Butch Baldassari Medical Fund web site online.

Folks, it always bothers me when I hear that someone’s instrument has been stolen, but it’s especially troubling when it happens in your own area.

Last week in Blacksburg, VA a 1994 Randy Wood F model mandolin with varnish finish, fern inlay, and the fancy pearl tuners was stolen. The serial number of the instrument is 11294.

The owner is offering a reward for the return of the instrument and may be contacted via an online form on the Mandolin Cafe.

If you are a mandolin player, or lover, here is a great opportunity for you. SoundArt Recordings is giving away several Apple iPods along with your choice of five CDs of mandolin music from the SoundArt Catalog as part of a giveaway hosted by the Mandolin Cafe.

SoundArt Recordings is the mandolin focused recording label of Butch Baldassari in Nashville, TN. Butch and Mandolin Cafe are giving away one iPod each to three lucky winners, including a 4GB iPod nano (retail $199.00, pictured here) and two iPod Shuffles (retail $75.00 each).

Starting February 1, 2007 visitors to the Mandolin Cafe will be able to sign up for a chance to win. The winning entries will be selected randomly on February 15, 2007. No purchase is necessary to register.

Butch says the idea for the give away originated with Mandolin Cafe’s owner Scott Tichenor.

The i-pod idea was Scott Tichenor’s….we gave away cd’s last year….so this year it’s something different.

Butch added that he didn’t have much experience with the iPod, but had thought about the device and had several significant questions about it.

I wonder how many mandolin notes it would take to fill up an iPod?

Do they make a BlueGrass iPod…..you know, one that only plays songs in B? (that’s what i hear walking the halls @ RBW)

Or maybe a DAWG iPod….only plays tunes in a Minor Key….back in the day i used to tell some of my old girlfriends that my car radio only picked-up Country Music…..some of them believed me!!!

Hmm…maybe we should suggest these things to Apple!

Our friends at Mandolin Cafe have a unique item in their online store sure to please mandolinists on your holiday gift list.

It’s a coffee mug with a mandolin chord chart printed around the cup surface - it’s two gifts in one!

See larger images on their Cafe Press store site.

Mandolin Cafe is directing attention to a post in their forum, that was started last September. The post contains a whole bunch of vintage photos from bluegrass festivals. It’s great for scrolling through and saying things like “Wow!”, “Oh My!”, etc. I’ve only made it through the first couple of pages so far, but it’s incredible. There are pictures of everyone, including Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Herschel Sizemore, and the list keeps going. If they were at a festival in 1967 - 1970 or so, there is probably a picture of them. Very cool.

Check it out here.

Mandolin Cafe is reporting that Rigel Mandolins has ceased production and is going out of business. Rigel was noted for unorthodox design and construction techniques, and their instruments were championed by a number of mando-enthusiasts who embraced the sometimes radical Rigel way.

Rigel’s President Pete Langdell didn’t offer much in the way of detail in his announcement of their closure (reported by Mandolin Cafe), and we will pass along any other information we are able to obtain.