Since first hitting the scene in the early 1980’s, Alan has made a name for himself as one of the most technically gifted mandolinist in bluegrass and acoustic music. He was an original member of such ground-breaking bands as The New Quicksilver, IIIrd Time Out, BlueRidge and, for the last 12 years, Alan Bibey & Grasstowne. He has been voted Mandolin Performer Of The Year five times, including 2018 and 2019 by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPBGMA). Alan Most recently won 2019 IBMA Mandolin Player Of The Year as well as previously for Instrumental Album Of The Year, Album Of The Year and Recorded Event Of The Year, just to name a few. Alan Bibey & Grasstowne have had over ten #1 Bluegrass songs including four from their latest Bluegrass project, Grasstowne “4”. Their Bluegrass Gospel single “Gonna Rise & Shine” has been #1 twelve times and in the top ten for 34 weeks and their latest single “When Jesus Swings The Wrecking Ball” has been in the top ten for the last 40 weeks! Alan’s BlueRidge project “Side By Side”, for which Alan wrote the title track, was nominated for a Grammy. He was included in the Mel Bay book, “Greatest Mandolin Players Of The Twentieth Century”, and in 2004, the Gibson Company put into production the Alan Bibey Signature line of mandolins, reaffirming his status as one of the most influential mandolin players in Bluegrass and acoustic music history.  Alan will be leading our “PLAY IT FORWARD” classes-using traditional bluegrass musical ideas to play contemporary sounds.