After 7 years of offering 3 day multi-instrument bluegrass seminars, Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend is calling it quits. Jointly hosted since November of 2002 by mandolin legend Herschel Sizemore and our own John Lawless, RBW has fallen prey to the many demands of John’s work with AcuTab, and Herschel’s retirement interests.

The event got its start in 1998 as an an all-banjo event, The AcuTab Banjo Seminar, which John hosted on his own. In 2000, Dan Miller, publisher of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine joined as co-host, and they added mandolin and guitar to the mix. During that period, they welcomed such esteemed artists as Sammy Shelor, Wayne Benson, David Grier and Chris Thile as instructors.

When Dan pulled out after two years, Herschel and John teamed up to continue operating the event, adding fiddle as well as bass, dobro and voice at various times since 2002. They were proud to see legends like Kenny Baker, Bobby Hicks, Roland White, Allen Shelton and Eddie Adcock as members of their faculty, plus younger “impact players” like Ron Stewart, Aubrey Haynie, Rob Ickes, Kenny Smith, Tim Stafford, Adam Steffey and Don Rigsby – just to name a few.

There is a statement from Herschel and John on the RBW web site about the event’s demise.

In all things, there comes a time to say goodbye, and so it is with our Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend. We both find our time stretched thin, and are unwilling to continue with this event absent our full attention and concentration. It has not been an easy decision, but we feel that it would be unfair to hold the weekend with so little time to dedicate to making it beneficial for the registrants.

Ultimately, it has been the students who have attended that have had the biggest impact on RBW, and we thank you all most particularly for supporting this event over the years. Your suggestions and feedback helped us to shape and modify RBW from one year to the next, and it was seeing your exhausted but beaming faces as things came to a close each year that kept us going when the time commitment seemed too severe.

Please don’t blame The Bluegrass Blog! John says that it is his other commitments and plans that have him in a time bind.

Each year, the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend holds a faculty concert on the Saturday night of their three day instructional event. It is the only part of the weekend which is open to the general public (not registered to attend the 3 day workshop) and is always a highlight, both for the students and the local bluegrass community.

The concert will be held this year on Saturday, November 11 at 7:30 at the Holiday Inn Roanoke, the site for all the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend activities.

The format is a loose, relaxed jam-like setting, where the many artists are grouped in a variety of configurations – either solo, duo or in groups – with a good mix of vocal and instrumental music. Both the performers and the audience always enjoy the fun, “no pressure” environment as well as the chance to witness or be a part something as potentially spontaneous as this.

The musicians will sometimes not even choose the song they will perform until a few minutes before they go on stage, a sign both of their high level of skill and professionalism, and the sort of fun they have with this show.

Performing on the RBW faculty concert this year are Eddie Adcock, George Shuffler, Roland White, Craig Smith, Don Rigsby, BlueRidge, Jack Lawrence, Bull Harman, Herschel Sizemore, David McLaughlin, Acoustic Endeavors and many others – plus a number of unannounced surprise guests.

Maps and driving directions can be found on the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend web site.

The recipients of this year’s Charlie Derrington Memorial Scholarship to attend the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend have been announced. Four young musicians (aged 13-24) were selected, each of whom will attend the three day instructional weekend with their full tuition, accommodations and some travel costs paid by the scholarship.

The 2006 recipients are:

You can see photos of these young pickers, and hear audio samples from their scholarship applications on the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend web site. The recipients are chosen based on their playing ability, and on an essay which is part of the application process.

The Charlie Derrington Memorial Scholarship is sponsored by Gibson, who donates a new Gibson instrument each year to be offered in a raffle to fund the scholarship. It is named in honor of Charlie Derrington, a long-time Gibson employee who was tragically killed in an auto accident in August, 2006.

This year, a Gibson RB-250 banjo is being offered in the raffle, and the $10 tickets can be purchased online up until November 1, 2006.

Congratulations to these terrific young bluegrass musicians.

We have posted previously about the scholarships offered each year by the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend, sponsored by Gibson, and now renamed to honor the memory of Charlie Derrington. The scholarships will allow four young bluegrass musicians (aged 13-24) to attend the three-day instructional event at no cost – including meals, accomodations and some travel reimburesement.

These are merit-based scholarships, and recipients are chosen based on the abilities demonstrated in a scholarship application. The deadline for submissions is Friday, September 15 (extended from an earlier deadline), and all submissions must carry with a postmark of 9/15 or earlier to be considered.

Interested applicants can find all the scholarship deadlines, and a downloadable application form, on the RBW web site.

Though no further applications will be accepted after this week, sales of the raffle tickets (for a Gibson RB-250 banjo) that fund the scholarships wil continue until early November.