Scholarship established in honor of Jack Tottle

Endowment will benefit students in Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies

JOHNSON CITY – A new scholarship named in honor of the founder of East Tennessee State University’s Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies program was recently endowed in the ETSU Foundation.

The Jack Tottle Scholarship Endowment will provide scholarship assistance to recruit promising students who will be enrolled in Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music in ETSU’s Department of Appalachian Studies. Eligible students must be new incoming or transfer students who display strong musical and academic potential and who are declared undergraduate majors or minors in Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies.

image for The leader of the band

The leader of the band

Jack Tottle (back row, center) pictured with an early 1980s lineup of the ETSU Bluegrass Band. Tottle's influence on countless musicians still runs strong nearly four decades later, as the program has grown to include numerous bands at the beginning, intermediate and advanced levels, including the premier ETSU Bluegrass Pride Band.

The scholarship is endowed by Lonette Seaton, a retired teacher, philanthropist, survivor and long-time supporter of Appalachian culture through her gifts to various institutions. In her name and in the name of her family, Seaton and her sister, the late Betty Donahue, have provided scholarships which, since the early 2000s, have supported students at ETSU.

Tottle, a native of Baltimore, is a multi-instrumental musician, singer, songwriter, educator and author. Educated at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, he founded the Lonesome River Boys in the early 1960s, and in the early 1970s, he joined Don Stover and the White Oak Mountain Boys. In 1976, he created the progressive bluegrass group Tasty Licks, and continues to create music and songs to this day.

Tottle’s 1975 book “Bluegrass Mandolin,” published by Oak Publications, remains the best-selling mandolin instruction book of all time. He is also the author of two other instruction books, “How to Play Mandolin” and “Guitar from the Beginning.” His recordings include his 1976 solo album, “Back Road Mandolin”; a self-titled debut album and “Anchored to the Shore” with Tasty Licks; and “The Bluegrass Sound” and “The Eagle,” which include his original compositions performed by Tottle himself and numerous bluegrass luminaries.

In 1982, Tottle founded the first comprehensive bluegrass music studies program at a four-year university at ETSU. Since that time, the program has drawn students from throughout the United States and around the world and developed the nation’s first baccalaureate degree in Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies. Numerous program alumni have gone on to achieve great success in the music industry as musicians, vocalists, songwriters, producers and more, with many earning Grammy, International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association awards.

Tottle retired as director of the ETSU program in 2007, and in 2020, the IBMA honored him with the organization’s Distinguished Achievement Award during its annual convention and awards ceremony.

Prospective students who wish to learn more about Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies at ETSU may visit etsu.edu/bluegrass.

To contribute to the Jack Tottle Scholarship Endowment, contact Karen Sullivan, director of development in ETSU University Advancement, at sullivan@etsu.edu or 423-439-6969.

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