Benny Sims
Benny Sims Scholarship
The Benny Sims Scholarship is endowed through the support of the family of Leon Kiser, the Appalachian Cultural Music Association, the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance, and numerous private donors. It is awarded yearly to a student enrolled in Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies.
Any student enrolled in Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies is eligible for this scholarship. The requirements are as follows:
• A cassette tape or CD with three songs featuring the student’s playing and/or singing.
• A one-page summary of the student’s experience with bluegrass, old time, or country music, and what he/she would like to achieve musically in the future.
• Deadline for submission of new applications for the Fall 2011 semester is March 15, 2011.
Applications may be mailed to:
Benny Sims Scholarship Application
ETSU Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies
PO Box 70435
Johnson City, TN 37614
Benny Sims left an indelible mark on the bluegrass music world during his time with Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys from 1949- 50. Sims fiddled on the first recordings of such classics as "Pike County Breakdown," "Little Girl In Tennessee," and "Foggy Mountain Breakdown." And it was Sims' singing that helped make "Old Salty Dog Blues" the classic that it is today. Sims left the group to become a staff musician on the WNOX "Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round" and "Tennessee Barn Dance" in Knoxville, Tenn. He played with Jack & Curly Shelton in the late 1940's. In 1954 he joined the BonnyLou and Buster Moore program on WJHL-TV in Johnson City, Tenn., and stayed with them for almost nine years. Sims retired from music in the 1960's and went on to become an insurance salesman in the Johnson City-area as well as a formidable fiddle teacher, producing several instructional books for Joe Morrell Music Distributors. Sims taught young Hunter Berry -- currently fiddler for Rhonda Vincent & The Rage how to play. Although he passed away in 1996, Sims still inspires young bluegrass musicians through a scholarship sponsored by the BCMA in his name.