Roland White Herschel Sizemore

Nashville, Tenn. — Count Big Joe’s Guitarworks among the Nashville business community sector that’s hopping on the bandwagon for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass convention in October.

The store, at 854 Madison Square, will host a mandolin workshop with Roland White from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 2 when the IBMA convention is in full swing.

A day later, the store will hold two mandolin workshops with Herschel Sizemore. An early Oct. 3 session will be held from 10 a.m. to noon and a second session will run from 2 to 4 p.m.

Each session will be $65 per student and is limited to 20 students per session. Advance reservations are strongly recommended as early sell-outs are anticipated.

White has played in some of the genre’s most influential and popular groups, including a stint with his late brother, flat-picking legend Clarence White, in the Kentucky Colonels. He also performed with Bill Monroe and with Lester Flatt’s Nashville Bluegrass Band.

Sizemore has also performed and recorded with some of bluegrass music’s finest during his career, including Jimmy Martin, Del McCoury, Vassar Clements, Bill Monroe, Allen Bibey, Curly Seckler, The Dixie Gentlemen, and The Bluegrass Cardinals.

Owned and operated by Big Joe Vest, Big Joe’s Guitarworks is a Music City repair and retail music store specializing in mandolins and guitars.

In addition to being an instrument repair facility, the store specializes in the sale and trade of quality new and used musical products including mandolins, vintage guitars and amplifiers and other items of interest to the amateur or professional musician.

For further information or to register for the workshops, people can contact: Big Joe Vest at (615) 865-8797 or by email at bigjoev@bellsouth.net. At the time of this posting, the store’s Web site was down for construction.

The instructors’ Web sites are http://www.herschelsizemore.com and http://www.rolandwhite.com/

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Pickers in the Northwest might be interested in honing their mandolin and guitar skills in May when Roland White, Diane Bouska and Mike Compton present workshops and a concert at The Humane Society of Redmond Event Center in Redmond, Ore.

White will present a beginning mandolin class and his wife, Bouska, will teach a class on playing bluegrass rhythm guitar. Compton will give mandolin instruction for intermediate to advanced players.

The workshop leaders will present a concert on May 2 and lead the workshops on May 3 and 4.

The workshops will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. The student fee of $135 does not include lodging, but lunch and dinner will be provided on Saturday.

The workshop is limited to 20 students (confirmation with receipt of check). Early reservations are strongly encouraged. Workshop sponsors Dennis Fehling and Pam Bigoni can be contacted at (541) 504-0838.

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Roland White

Roland White is holding his annual Bill Monroe Appreciation Nights Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at the famous Station Inn in downtown Nashville, Tenn.

Kathy Chiavola with an all star band will perform the Kentucky Waltz with Nashville Bluegrass Band staple Pat Enright.

Other first-night performers include The Roland White Band, Barbara Lamb & Megan Lynch, Mike Compton & David Long, The Steel Drivers, J.T. Gray and Paul Gray, and Missy Raines & The New Hip.

The “All Star Band” includes Enright, Chiavola, Compton, Aubrey Haynie, Ben Surratt, Raines, Shad Cobb, Diane Bouska, Mike Bub, Richard Bailey, David Grier, Billy Ray Lathum and Robert Gately.

Featured on the second night are Patty Mitchell, David Lege & Friends, Kathy Chiavola and friends, Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, James Monroe, The Roland White Band /w Amber Burks on hammered dulcimer and a similar “All Star Band” as the first night.

The event will include drawings for Bill Monroe CDs donated by John Rumble of The Country Music Hall of Fame, and for pen and ink drawings of Bill Monroe by Raymond Hunt.

Hosts for the tribute are Rick Burks and Sam Jackson.

Admission is $12 and, as is standard practice at the Station Inn, Nashville’s premiere bluegrass nightclub, no reservations will be accepted.

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Roland White

Mandolin pickers in the Midwest may want to head to Bloomington, Ind., where Roland White will present a mandolin camp at the Grant Street Inn Bed & Breakfast on Dec. 7 and 8.The camp opens Friday evening with a pickin’ party and meet-and-greet session. A workshop will be given from 12:30 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, followed by another evening picking party.

Cost of the camp is $75, with prepaid registration required. The Grant Street Inn is offering attendees a special half-price rate of $69 plus tax per night for those who wish to lodge there.

Attendees are not required to stay at the inn, although it is highly encouraged to get the full experience. Those attending the camp but not staying at the inn are still encouraged to come to Friday’s informal gathering.

Workshop topics will include right- and left-hand technique, chord shapes and how they work together, playing breaks to songs, double stops, back-up, mandolin set-up, tremolo, acquiring speed, ensemble playing, and more, depending on the students’ preferences and needs.

White will spend some time with each student individually and provide chord diagrams and tablature handouts. The workshop is designed to be equally beneficial to players of all skill levels.

In his distinguished career in bluegrass, White has played in some of the most influential and popular groups in the genre’s history. He began playing professionally at the age of 14 after his family moved from their native Maine to Burbank, Calif.

He led his brothers in their first band, The Country Boys, later known as The Kentucky Colonels, was a member of Lester Flatt’s Nashville Grass, Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, the progressive bluegrass band Country Gazette, The Nashville Bluegrass Band, which won two Grammies, and The Roland White Band, which earned a 2003 Grammy nomination for the CD “Jelly on my Tofu”.

White is widely praised as a teacher, having taught mandolin and guitar privately and in workshops for many years. He loves to teach beginners and has boundless enthusiasm for the music, which rubs off those around him. He has published a critically and popularly acclaimed mandolin method, “Roland White’s Approach to Bluegrass Mandolin” and “Roland White’s Mandolin Christmas.”

Registration for the camp can be made by contacting Jim Richter at 812-825-5514 or at http://richterdigitalarts.net/RolandWhite.

Reservations for a room at the bed and breakfast can be made by calling (800) 328-4350. Callers should tell inn keepers they intend to attend the mandolin workshop, which will qualify them for the special half-price rate. Details about the inn are available at http://www.grantstreetinn.com

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