Alternative Strings Archives

Doug Eyink passes

Doug Eyink, director of the Alternative Strings program in Centerville, OH, and a life long bluegrass banjo player, passed away on March 3 following an lengthy battle with colon cancer. He was 51 years of age.

Doug served as the orchestra teacher for both the Centerville High School and Watts Middle School in the Centerville City School District, just near Dayton, OH. A beloved member of that community, his Facebook page is today filled with testimonies from former and current students, faculty, staff, family, and friends. He was the teacher that former students stopped by to visit whenever they were in town, and brought their spouses and family to meet him. Most of us have memories of that teacher who really got through to us in school, in some cases changing the course of our lives, and for students in Centerville, it was Doug Eyink.

What set him most truly apart from his peers was his mentorship for middle and high school students through Alternative Strings, an after school program for string players interested in other forms of music, specifically bluegrass, Celtic, bebop, swing, funk, and rock music on orchestral instruments. In addition to exposing them to musical formats that the orchestra program never would, Doug had the idea to create arrangements for this group to accompany top bluegrass recording artists, and bringing them in for concerts with the Alternative Strings where they performed together called Bluegrass Blowouts.

Through Alternative Strings, Eyink met Joe Mullins who not only brought his Radio Ramblers in to perform with the students, the two became fast friends. Though Joe’s introductions Doug met and arranged collaborations with many bluegrass acts, including Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Nothin’ Fancy, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Special Consensus, Flatt Lonesome, Blue Highway, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Cherryholmes, Kenny & Amanda Smith, Mountain Faith, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, and Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper among them.

Doug even took the group to the Musicians Against Childhood Cancer Festival in Marengo, OH to perform with The Grascals, Band of Kellys, and the Bank of Ruhks.

And he helped develop up and coming grassers, like Heather Alley, currently fiddler and vocalist with Mountain Time, who was a student with Alternative strings. Here’s Heather singing, along with Doug’s children Ben and Molly Eyink, on Alternative Strings’ take on the Mountain Faith arrangement of There Is A God.

Eyink came by his love for bluegrass honestly, spending his own youth fascinated with the banjo, and playing in bands and at contests, often with his sister Jeanelle. The two played together for a time with a band called Foxtail Grass. Doug won and placed in a number of banjo competitions while he was still in high school, before heading off to college to study music.

Once Doug’s cancer was diagnosed and he announced that he would retire from teaching, Joe Mullins created The Doug Eyink Alternative Strings Scholarship which will benefit music students in the region. Fundraising has only begun for this scholarship, but Joe feels confident that it will be up and running soon.

Mullins had this to say when the scholarship was announced last fall.

When JMRR and Alternative Strings first partnered to perform and video record our song, Some Kind of War, Doug was fighting his first battle with colon cancer. It was an emotional time for his family, his students, alumni, and everyone who so enjoys working with this wonderful teacher. The fight has continued and Doug’s doctor recommended his retirement from teaching this year.

I want Doug’s impact and legacy to always be appreciated and represented in Ohio schools, so I contacted his dear friend Hillary Wagner, an Alternative Strings assistant and coordinator, and asked her to help launch the Doug Eyink Alternative Strings Scholarship. Doug, the Eyink family, and many Alternative Strings alums were thankful and eagerly approved of the effort. We have even received a matching grant from a former student of up to $5000!!

The loss to the Eyink family, to Centerville City Schools, to his many students, past and present, and to bluegrass music in general is incalculable.

No information on funeral arrangements have been announced.

R.I.P., Doug Eyink.

Joe Mullins announces the Doug Eyink Alternative Strings Scholarship

Joe Mullins has announced a new scholarship for music students in Ohio which has been named for his dear friend, Doug Eyink, a very special educator in Centerville, OH who we have covered several times at Bluegrass Today. Doug runs an after school program for middle and high school students in Centerville called Alternative Strings, which not only exposes them to bluegrass and other roots music forms, but also gives them the opportunity to perform and even record with top bluegrass artists.

Eyink is in a continuing battle with cancer, and is expected to retire from teaching after this school year. While Doug is personally irreplaceable, Mullins has started work to institute a scholarship in his name, which has been titled The Doug Eyink Alternative Strings Scholarship. Fundraising to endow the scholarship has just begun, with proceeds from a Fan Feast Breakfast at this weekend’s Industrial Strength Bluegrass Festival to be donated to the fund.

Let’s have Joe share his own thoughts about Doug and this effort in his name.

I met Doug Eyink nearly 15 years ago when he called me to help present and promote a Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver concert at Centerville High School. He said, “I’m a banjo player who teaches music and orchestra to over 600 students, and I want them to learn about bluegrass.” I was immediately excited!

Doug has now inspired hundreds of former students and families with his passion and skills. He began the Alternative Strings program to teach select orchestra students bluegrass, Celtic, jazz, and other music styles, and has showcased the students as performers in the bluegrass community extensively. Doug and his Alternative Strings students have hosted concerts and performed with The Radio Ramblers many times, as well as Sierra Hull, Special Consensus, Doyle Lawson, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Rhonda Vincent, Nothin’ Fancy and many others through the years.

In addition to net proceeds from the Fan Feast tomorrow at the festival, all tips and donations solicited during the meal will go into the scholarship fund. They will also be raffling off a new Frank Howard guitar during the festival, and soliciting further donations at a booth on site all weekend. Any donation of $5 or more earns a chance in the raffle.

If you will be attending Industrial Strength Bluegrass this weekend, please consider a donation of any size to the Doug Eyink Alternative Strings Scholarship. We presume that after the festival is concluded, Joe will share other ways you can donate to this great cause.

Here’s video from 2013 of Doug leading Alternative Strings performing his arrangement for Some Kind of War with Joe and The Radio Ramblers.

All Dressed Up video with Alternative Strings

Earlier this year, Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers did a performance with Alternative Strings, a group of middle and high school students in Centerville, OH who meet after school to learn string music, including traditional mountain tunes.

Their director, Doug Eyink, makes a pastime of creating arrangements for the group to match recordings by top bluegrass acts, teaching them to his students, and then playing them with the bands on stage when they perform in the area.

Here’s video of them with Mullins & Co., on their award-winning song, All Dressed Up.

Joe Mullins shares the love

Joe Mullins had found a unique way to help promote Sacred Memories, his latest album with The Radio Ramblers for Rebel Records.

Starting on Mothers Day, he launched a campaign called Shared The Link, Share The Love where he agreed to make a cash donation to World Vision for every view of their video of Will The Circle Be Unbroken, recorded with The Isaacs in the studio. It was a different arrangement of the song than most of us expect to hear, which Mullins said was closer to the way it was commonly performed before it became a country classic following The Carter Family recordings.

When Joe took a tally of YouTube views over the Father’s Day weekend he found it just over 9,000 views so it rounded it up to 10K and made a donation of $.10 for each view, resulting in a $1000 gift to World Vision which is already at work helping children and their families in need across the globe.

Well done Joe!

On June 19, The Ramblers performed in Centerville, OH with Alternative Strings, an extra-curricular string orchestra with Centerville school system, Mullins announced the donation before the band performed their #1 hit, All Dressed Up.

Daniel Mullins captured the set in a live Facebook event which you can watch below.

New video, single from Radio Ramblers

Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers are proud to announce the single release of Some Kind Of War from their highly successful project They’re Playing My Song on Rebel Records.

Written just over a year ago by Country Music Hall Of Fame member Bill Anderson, Some Kind of War speaks of the very relative topic that everyone is fighting some kind of personal battle. During their performances, Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, the IBMA’s Emerging Artist of the Year in 2012, began to see that this particular song was affecting people in a very positive way and together with Mark Freeman of Rebel Records, decided it should be the next single from They’re Playing My Song.

Soon after, Doug Eyink, the director of Alternative Strings, asked Mullins and the band to perform for the program’s annual fundraiser and suggested they come up with a song for the youth orchestra to perform with the band. Some Kind Of War was a natural fit, turning an already poignant song into a beautiful work of art by combining bluegrass instrumentation and vocals with the 45-piece youth orchestra. During the video production, Joe Mullins sat down with Eyink to discuss the process of song selection and arrangement of Some Kind Of War.

Here Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers with Alternative Strings perform Some Kind of War ….

While with Alternative Strings Joe Mullins interviewed Doug Eyink ……

“It is so exciting to see audiences respond to Some Kind of War“, enthused Joe Mullins……..

“Bill Anderson’s memorable lyrics allow the listener to get inside the song, immediately. We are grateful that his words and our music remind us all to remember the Golden Rule. And what a thrill to have such a talented orchestra of young people present an arrangement that takes this song where it needs to go – right to the heart! The positive energy in the auditorium when we performed with Alternative Strings was surreal. It’s our hope the Some Kind of War video of our performance will hit home for everyone.”

Some Kind Of War was released to radio programmers yesterday, April 9, via AirplayDirect and is the second single from They’re Playing My Song.

You can read our interviews with Joe and Doug which ran last month here.

For more information on Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers including upcoming performances, visit the band’s website. www.radioramblers.com.

Radio Ramblers with Alternative Strings

This weekend in Centerville, OH, Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers will be performing at a special event, one that is very close to Joe’s heart. They are on a twin bill Saturday with Alternative Strings, an extra-curricular music program for students in the Centerville school system, grades 8-12.

The program is the brainchild of Doug Eyink, who directs the orchestra at Centerville High. Doug is also a banjo player, who has been finding and creating arrangements for young string players who want an experience outside of classical music. It has been running now for 17 years, and has been recently generating a good bit of attention.

Each year they hold a benefit concert, billed as Bluegrass Blowout at Centerville’s Performing Arts Center, with proceeds going to fund Alternative Strings. A small stipend for the program is provided from the school system each year, but it won’t cover expenses like purchasing instruments or travel to festivals and shows.

Doug tells us that Alternative Strings has been a rewarding experience for both his students and himself.

“It’s allowed me to do something that a lot of orchestra teachers would be afraid to do – incorporate my love of bluegrass and Celtic music into our student orchestra. Band programs cover all different types of music, but not so much for orchestra kids. I’m just trying to offer more options to my kids in southwestern Ohio.

When we started back in 1993, I didn’t know how we would make it work. I started by envisioning the four string sections (violins, viola, cello and bass), and viewing them as guitar, mandolin, dobro and bass in a bluegrass rhythm section. We think like a backup orchestra.”

So far Doug’s kids have performed in that function with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, Sierra Hull & Highway 111 and Cherryholmes, both at previous Bluegrass Blowout shows, and at nearby festivals.

“I always dreamed about playing banjo with Doyle Lawson, and it was absolutely surreal to get to have the kids perform with him at the MACC.

Seeing the kids get a positive impression of bluegrass music, and the people who play it, is a thrill for me. They were charmed by Doyle and Rhonda, but they really responded when we had Cherryholmes and Sierra, since they were so much closer to the kids’ age.”

Joe Mullins has been involved since the first Alternative Strings fundraiser in 2008. Doug was familiar with Mullins from his many years playing banjo, and from Joe’s radio presence in southern Ohio. Joe said he got an interesting call from Eyink that piqued his curiosity.

“Doug hit me with an appeal that grabbed me right away. He said something like, ‘I, myself, am a burned out banjo player, but have been in music education for years. We are going to start an annual concert at our Performing Arts Center, and I want you to come MC, and we’ll advertise on your show. Doyle is coming early to do a workshop and, for these kids, their only experience with bluegrass is from their orchestra teacher. Will you come moderate the workshop?’

That first show really opened my eyes. Doug Eyink wrote a score for some grass tunes, and they came out on stage and played them on the show. It simply destroyed the crowd.

When they played at my festival, Darrell Adkins saw them and invited them to his Musicians Against Childhood Cancer festival to do a set with Doyle.”

This weekend’s Bluegrass Blowout show takes on a special meaning for both Mullins and Eyink. As is always the case, Alternative Strings will perform a set, followed by a set by the Radio Ramblers. But when the two groups combine for a few songs with band and string orchestra, a crew will be shooting video, which hopefully will turn into a music video for one of the songs on the latest Ramblers CD, They’re Playing My Song.

“The song is Some Kind of War from Bill Anderson, which is the single from the new album – maybe the most contemporary song we have recorded.

We picked this song because Doug knew it would work for an orchestral performance, and because he had just found out he had colon cancer when we started discussing the video. He’s been through several surgeries and treatments, but has recently been declared cancer-free.

My mom was dying from breast cancer at the same time last Fall, and the song just resonates so much between what I went through and what he was going through.”

When Doug received his diagnosis, it was for a stage 3 cancer in his large intestine. He was treated at the Cleveland Clinic, where a great deal of research had been conducted on intestinal cancer.

Though his therapies were eventually successful, he felt initially blindsided by the news. He was a relatively young man, with a wife and five children. But as he was heading into treatment, Doug readily agreed with the choice of a song to collaborate on with Mullins.

“Even though the song never really comes out and takes the cancer angle, it is not a far stretch. I think the first verse will catch most people… I know my school kids understood that situation all too well and were very taken aback by it.

I think, for all of us, we live in this crazy fast-paced world that leaves very little time for understanding, sympathy and kindness.

There are still a few people out there that ‘get it.’ I think it is songs like this that remind us to take a step back, or just take a minute, or even a little more time to reason out why someone might be doing something that seams to be offensive or out of the norm. You never know when this kind of situation, ‘Some Kind of War,’ might impact you and change your behavior or even your life! It has certainly changed mine!”

This year’s Bluegrass Blowout will take place on Saturday, March 9, at 7:00 p.m. in the Centerville Performing Arts Center. Doug shared a few words about how the funds are used.

“The Bluegrass Blowout is fundraiser for our program. We get support from the school system (auditorium, security, etc), but we have to cover our bills and show a profit to get anything from the concert. Everything we make goes right back to the kids.

It took us years to pay for a PA, and charter buses for shows. We save our money to buy instruments, and have applied for grants whenever we could. We’ve been able to purchase two mandolins and a dobro so far, and I let the kids use my banjo.

We do get a minor stipend from the school system, but I end up putting a lot of my own money in each year.”

Folks outside of southern Ohio who would like to offer financial support to Alternative Strings, can send a check to:

Alternative Strings
c/o Doug Eyink
500 East Franklin Street
Centerville, OH 45459
937-439-3500 (ext. 3619)

Doug and his wife, who is also a music teacher, are currently setting up a private music program, The School Of Strings, LLC, for middle school students, as their local school system has dropped strings for those grades.

Hats off to Doug Eyink for his tireless work to provide educational options for young people – especially for exposiing them to the joys of bluegrass music!