On August 3, 2005, a tragic vehicle crash took the life of a promising young musician. 17 year old Jed Bulla, brother of noted fiddler Luke Bulla, was the victim of drunk driving when an automobile in which he was a passenger went out of control and flipped several times on I-65 just south of Nashville, TN.
The bluegrass community in Nashville has stepped up in support of the Bulla family, whose funeral and legal expenses have been substantial, and a concert to help raise some funds to allay these debts has been scheduled for Thursday, December 8 at the City Hall Entertainment Center. The benefit show will feature such prominent Nashville artists as Ricky Skaggs, Blue Merle (brother Luke’s band), Darrell Scott, The John Cowan Band, Jim Lauderdale, Wise Child and other special guests.
A silent auction will also be held at the show, with musical instruments and posters signed by the performers up for bid. Suggested donations for the show are only $20, and more details can be found on the Jed Bulla Memorial web site.
Jed’s father, Brad Bulla, himself a bluegrass banjo player, shared this poignant remembrance of his son:
“Jed had been playing fiddle since he was 6 years old and he was really taking off with his music. In fact, the last time I saw Jed, he was sitting at the computer with his fiddle and had just worked out Terry Morris’s version of Apple Blossom. He was getting ready for the Grand Masters Fiddle contest in Oct, and the National Fiddle Contest in Weiser was on his calendar for 2006. He was so proud of himself, and excited about the coming year. Just a few days before he died, Jed competed in a Flatpicking contest and a fiddle contest in Franklin, TN. He made the finals in open fiddle division. As a tribute to Jed, at his memorial service, about 20 plus fiddle players including Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, Tim O’Brien, Bryan Sutton Casey Driesen, Luke Bulla, and Stuart Duncan played Apple Blossom for Jed. It was very moving. This would have been Jed’s senior year and he died just a few weeks before his 18th birthday.”
Friends of the Bulla family, or anyone who would like to contribute to this effort but are unable to attend the concert, can make a donation via PayPal from the web site.
