As many of us plan our summer vacations, I thought I would share some information about a new “hall of fame” that celebrates one of the richest musical traditions in our nation.

Wilkesboro, North Carolina (home to Merlefest) will be the home of the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame will be housed in the restored old Wilkes Courthouse in downtown Wilkesboro, NC.

The Blue Ridge Mountains, running from north Georgia to northern Virginia, has been the source of a rich musical heritage that includes some of our country’s treasured ballads, old-time, bluegrass, and gospel music.

“Benton Flippen is a living example of one obvious kind of inductee we expect to see in the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame, sooner or later” said Art Menius, chairperson of the Blue Ridge Music Hall fo Fame. “Wayne Henderson, the late Etta Baker and Tommy Jarrell are too. Better-known musicians like Doc Watson, Mac Wiseman, and Ralph Stanley are another kind. But we also envision the Hall honoring commercial recording artists like Ronnie Milsap or our own Bill “Oliver” Swofford, pioneers such as Skillet Lickers and OllaBelle Reed, revivalists like Alice Gerrard or Mike Seeger, and songwriters such as Billy Edd Wheeler, even international superstars like Nina Simone.”

The initial inductees, to be honored in a ceremony on June 9, will be Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, The Carter Family, Tommy Jarrell, Dolly Parton, David Johnson, Ralph Rinzler, Ralph Epperson, Wayne Henderson and Sam Love Queen, Sr.

Here is press release from the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame about one of this year’s inductees, Earl Scruggs:

WILKESBORO, NC: Old Wilkes, Inc. and The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame (BRMHoF) committee announced earlier this year that Earl Scruggs will be one of the charter inductees to be honored at the first annual Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony to be held at the Walker Center on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro on Friday, June 13, 2008.

The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame was created in 2006 to recognize and honor musicians and others who have contributed to the special heritage of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As this area became a “melting pot” of American Indian, Scotch Irish, African and other ethnic groups the musical heritage and traditions of the Blue Ridge became a major influence all over the world.

Both Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson were selected as inductees into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame as nationally known artists from the region for 2008. Earl Scruggs was born and raised near Shelby, North Carolina in Cleveland County—an area known for its strongholds of banjo enthusiasm.

Scruggs began playing the banjo using a two-finger style of picking at the age of four. Being basically self-taught since the family did not own a radio, by the age of ten his “Scruggs-Style Picking” a three-finger style had become to develop. Others played with various three-finger styles but because of “the dexterity and mastery with which Scruggs attacked his instrument in this three-finger pattern ,,, [making] the technique famous” according to Kim Ruehl. Throughout his youthful years, he continued to develop his own unique style by smoothing out the roles into a syncopated rhythm pattern, emphasizing melody lines with excellent timing and tone making the banjo a musical force largely reborn due to the talent and prominence of Earl Scruggs.

In December of 1945, Scruggs auditioned and was immediately asked to join Bill Monroe’s band. Adding Scruggs to Monroe’s band stunned the Grand Ole Opry audiences as well as those attending other shows during their touring schedule. Their recordings from 1946-47 created the standard for banjo players becoming known as bluegrass by the late 1950’s. While with Monroe, Scruggs met Lester Flatt who he teamed up with in March 1948 to form The Flatt and Scruggs Show. Their band consisted of Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Mac Wiseman on guitar, Jim Shumate on fiddle and Howard (Cedric Rainwater) Watts on bass and comedic routines.

By 1951, Scruggs had written “Earl’s Breakdown” but it was difficult to play so he invented the “Scruggs Tuners” making him an inventor in additional to an influential artist and songwriter. In 1953, the Martha White Food Company started sponsoring them so they moved to Nashville to perform on WSM sponsored by Martha White. Many times, Cohen Williams, President of Martha While, was quoted giving credit to Flatt and Scruggs for the success of the company. By 1955 they were doing television programs between them concert dates and Earl’s wife, Louise, began booking and managing them. She realized the possibilities music offered and booked them in facilities where they had not performed before.

In 1959, Albert Grossman invited them to appear at the first Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. Flatt did not accompany Scruggs so he performed with another band. The performance became an important moment in musical history by introducing Scruggs to a new generation of young music enthusiasts. The success of the performance paved the way for the Flatt and Scruggs Show to travel to Newport again in 1960 plus they appeared on a local live CBS network television show originating in New York called, “The Revlon Revue –Folk Sound U.S.A.” Here Scruggs met young folk artists such as Joan Baez, Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary and met King Curtis. During a break in the show, King Curtis on saxophone and Scruggs on banjo “picked” together. Although they did not get to make a proposed album due to the early death of Curtis, Scruggs had found playing with different instruments challenging and exciting.

In the early 60’s Flat and Scruggs had made frequent guest appearances on the popular television show, “Hootenanny” becoming one of the first country acts accepted by college and university students while also playing in venues such as Carnegie Hall and the renowned Avalon Ballroom where acts like Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin performed. In 1968 they performed at the Miami Pop Festival sharing the stage with acts such as John Lee Hooker and Joni Mitchell.

While playing in a folk music club in Los Angeles, Paul Henning, creator, writer and producer of television shows attended their show. He asked them immediately to do the theme song for his new television show, “The Beverly Hillbillies” and three weeks after premiering on network television it was the #1 program in the nation. With Louise Scruggs as the driving force, they received prominent billing and made seven guest appearances. She arranged with Henning and Don Law, their record producer, to release the show’s theme calling it “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” and by December 8, 1962, they had the #1 hit on the Billboard Country Music Charts and had crossed over to the pop charts as well. A live version recorded at Carnegie Hall would become nominated for a Grammy Award and with the television show being a hit in seventy-six foreign countries, their popularity widened throughout the world.

In 1967, Warren Beatty invited Scruggs to write and perform the music for a move he was producing with plans to star in called “Bonnie And Clyde.” After many discussions, “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” was played throughout the movie since it reflected the time and era of the story. The recording won a Broadcast Media, Inc. award and a Grammy in 1968. At this time, Flatt and Scruggs decided to go their separate ways.

With the influence of artists such as The Byrds, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt, Tracy Nelson, Ravi Shankar, Arlo Guthrie, Rambling’ Jack Elliot and Maybelle Carter who often jammed in the Scruggs living room, Scruggs and his sons, Gary, Randy and Steve formed their own band known as the “Earl Scruggs Revue.” Their music could not be labeled as they played a mixture of musical styles sometimes combining them all into one single song. In 1969 they performed in front of the Washington Monument in Washington, DC with what was the largest audience in that venue until that time. The National Educational Television channel filmed a documentary titled “Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends” featuring artists such as Bob Dylan, Jooan Baez, The Byrds and Doc Watson. In 1974 Scruggs had a staring role in a movie with a number for his friends titled “Banjoman” filmed at Kansas Stat University. It premiered at The Kennedy Center in November 1975. The Revue continued touring together until the later part of the 1980’s and Scruggs has always said this was the most exciting time of his career.

Scruggs continued recording and touring during the nineties and made several guest appearances on other artist’s projects. In 2001 he released a project with guest artists such as Elton John, Sting, Melissa Etheridge, Dwight Yoakam and Billy Bob Thornton. One instrumental which was a new version of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” with special guests Steve Martin, Leon Russell, Vince Gill and Albert Lee becoming one of the few performances ever awarded a Grammy Award by the same artist for the same song. In 2005 he was voted in as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame with a special exhibit honoring not only Scruggs but also his wife, Louise, one of the first successful personal managers in Country Music.

He has been awarded a National Medal of Arts Award, seventeen Grammy nominations, a start in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, an Honorary Doctorate Degree of Music from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. In December of 2007 he performed at the Kennedy Center Honors to pay tribute to his friend Steve Martin. Today he is still active performing in concerts and festivals throughout the country.

The Wilkes Heritage Museum is located at 100 East Main Street, Wilkesboro, NC. Wilkesboro is located less than twenty miles from milepost 235, or the halfway point on the Blue Ridge Parkway, easily allowing a visit the Hall of Fame or Museum. Tickets for the June 13 concert and induction ceremony, to be emceed by Mike Cross, are on sale now and may be purchased from the Walker Center box office at http://www.walkercenteronline.org/ or by phone at 336-838-6260. Dinner will start at 6:00 pm and the Induction Ceremony at 8:00 pm. A limited number of dinner tickets are available with a cost of $75 that includes seats for the ceremony. Tickets for the Concert and Induction Ceremony are $25. For additional information or to inquire about Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame partnerships (sponsorships) or advertising, please contact Jennifer Furr at 336-667-3171.

Other performers and their families to be honored at the concert include: Doc Watson, The Carter Family, Tommy Jarrell, Dolly Parton, David Johnson, Ralph Rinzler, Ralph Epperson, Wayne Henderson and Sam Love Queen, Sr.

Partners involved with the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame are: MerleFest, the Walker Center, Cultural Arts Council of Wilkes, Town of Wilkesboro, David and Jean Deal, Wilkes Income Tax Service, Wachovia Foundation, Wilkes Community Foundation, N. C. Division of Tourism (Film and Sports Development), Nancy Watson, Wilkes Telecommunications, Wilkesboro Tourism Development Authority, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Community 1 Bank, Dwight & Anne Pardue, WKBC radio, Pumpkin Studio, Tyson Foods, Grassy Creek Winery, Town of North Wilkesboro, Hampton Inn, Venture Properties, SE Systems, and Tom Graves.Partners involved with the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame are: MerleFest, the Walker Center, Cultural Arts Council of Wilkes, Town of Wilkesboro, David and Jean Deal, Wilkes Income Tax Service, Wachovia Foundation, Wilkes Community Foundation, N. C. Division of Tourism (Film and Sports Development), Nancy Watson, Wilkes Telecommunications, Wilkesboro Tourism Development Authority, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Community 1 Bank, Dwight & Anne Pardue, WKBC radio, Pumpkin Studio, Tyson Foods, Grassy Creek Winery, Town of North Wilkesboro, Hampton Inn, Venture Properties, SE Systems, and Tom Graves.