JOHNSON CITY – Jack Tottle, a legendary musician who founded what is now Bluegrass,
Old-Time and Roots Music Studies at East Tennessee State University, will be honored
with an honorary doctorate this Friday.
The university will make the presentation during the program’s 40th anniversary concert
on Friday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. at the ETSU Martin Center for the Arts.
Tottle will be joined at the concert by world-famous alumni.
The concert will feature a reunion of alumni bands from the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s,
along with current ETSU faculty and students.
Tottle, who is traveling from Hawaii, founded the program 40 years ago in 1982.
“The influence ETSU has had on American music over the last four decades is truly
astonishing,” said program director and ETSU alumnus Dan Boner. “Jack Tottle had a
lot to do with that.”
Concert tickets are $40 for adults and $15 for ETSU students with a valid ID. Children
12 and under are admitted free.
For more information visit etsu.edu/cas/das/bluegrass-40-anniversary.php or contact the Martin Center box office at (423) 439-2787 or tickets@etsumartincenter.org.