Inspired by our recent coverage of several music scholarships for young students of bluegrass music, we heard last week from Terry Mandell, wife of the late Steve Mandell of Dueling Banjos fame, with an update on the similar fund that awards grants in his honor.
The Steve Mandell Memorial Music Scholarship has been in existence since 2020, following the celebrated musician’s passing in 2018 at 77 years of age. Most people know his name primarily for being the guitarist playing with banjo playerEric Weisberg on the theme for the film Deliverance in 1972, namely the aforementioned Dueling Banjos. The tune burrowed its way deeply into the cultural consciousness of the United States, and much of the world that year, through the movie, as actors in the film were actually depicted playing it on screen in a pivotal moment.
But Steve did much more in his music career, living at the end near Baltimore, MD where he was active in the local music scene. He had been part of the fabled Washington Square folk music community in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City in the 1960s, where he met David Grisman and other pioneers of that time. Steve continued to work in New York, in the orchestra pits of Broadway, and with many top artists of the time like John Denver and Theodore Bickel, and with Weisberg in other settings.
The Scholarship is administered by the Maryland Folklife Center at Common Ground on the Hill. Awards are not specifically for young people, but for anyone who is interested in learning to play folk, bluegrass, old-timey and other acoustic Americana styles. These grants of between $500 – $1,000 are given based on need and a brief essay explaining how the funds would be used to further the applicant’s musical education.
These are given throughout the year as applications are considered, and not limited to any specific instrument, even though Steve was primarily a guitarist. Terry’s update indicated the following distribution of awards:
- Hammered dulcimer 2
- Bass 3
- Mandolin 8
- Banjo 11
- Fiddle 24
- Guitar 11
- Dobro 1
Funding for the scholarships is by contributions from the general public, and are accepted at any time. Such donations are tax deductible.
To help publicize the Steve Mandell Memorial Music Scholarship, teams travel to multiple festivals each summer, to meet with people and explain the reason for the fund, to solicit applications from interested players, and to fulfill the mission to keep Steve’s memory alive.
You can find them this year at the following events:
- May 29-31 at Graves Mountain Music Festival in Syria, VA
- June 14 at Upperco Jam Camp Festival in Upperco, MD
- June 25-29 at Remington Ryde Bluegrass Festival in Centre Hall, PA
- July 4-5 at No Bull Just Bluegrass Festival in Harrisonburg, VA
- July 16-19 at West Virginia’s Branch Mountain Bluegrass Festival in Moorefield, WV
- July 26 at Seven Mountains Bluegrass Assn Picnic in Felton, PA
- July 29-August 2 at Pickin in Parsons in Parsons, WV
- August 7-10 at Podunk Bluegrass Festival in Goshen, CT
- August 29-31 at Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival in Woodstown, NJ
- September 4-6 at Watermelon Pickers Festival in Berryville, VA
- September 17-20 at Upperco Music Festival in Upperco, MD
Terry and the staff at Common Ground on the Hill invite everyone to come over and see them at any of those festivals, and help spread the word about the scholarship opportunities that exist.
Applications for these awards can be found online.
