The Abingdon Fiddlers’ Convention, held this past three years in Washington County, VA in late June, has announced a new scholarship for young pickers in western Virginia, named for one such, Asher Hurley, who was killed in a terrible accident at only 12 years of age.
The Convention is set for their 4th annual running this year, and organizer Jennifer Blankenship tells us that that they had no idea what to expect at the first convention.
“When we thought about putting on a fiddlers’ convention, we didn’t know if we would have 5 or 500 people attend. Our first year, we were in awe of how many talented youth were in attendance to compete. It has been fun watching these same young people improve their skills over the past few years, and it is important to all of us to be able to give back to the future of bluegrass.”
For the record, they had 2,700 attendees for that first convention in 2021, with 120 folks registered to compete. This year’s event is scheduled for June 20-21 at the Washington County Fairgrounds, with proceeds going towards capital improvements of the property.
Asher Hurley was a very promising young musician, on both mandolin and guitar, whose favorite player was Billy Strings. His father, Keith, is a luthier who builds professional grade guitars and mandolins, surely why Asher gravitated to those instruments. On top of his passion for music, his life was marked by his love of learning and for beating the fastest time for solving the Rubik’s cube.
He died on December 23, 2020 when an old MK2 grenade from WWII that had been purchased from an antique dealer, and believed to have been inactive, exploded in his home. Tragic beyond imagining, and perhaps the worst experience a parent could experience.
Blankenship says that they had hoped to offer a scholarship with the Abingdon Fiddlers’ Convention right from the start, in support of young artists in the region, so when they met Keith Hurley, and he agreed to build and donate a guitar to fund a scholarship, it was obvious it should be named in Asher’s honor.
To be eligible for the Asher Hurley Scholarship, applicants must be 18 years old or under, and have been a previous contestant at the Abingdon Fiddlers’ Convention. The award will be based on need, with a preference for young students not yet accomplished on their instrument.
An application, to be returned to the convention, is available online, with full rules explained.
The amount of this first scholarship award is yet to be determined, based on a raffle to be held for another new Keith Hurley guitar at this year’s event.
Hats off to everyone involved, both for keeping the light of young Asher Hurley alive, and to keep it burning in other young musicians.
