John Walter Tottle, known as Jack Tottle (born November 24, 1939), is an American bluegrass musician, singer, mandolin player, songwriter, music teacher and author.

Early life and education

Jack Tottle was on born November 24, 1939, in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He was educated at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of En ...

Career

In the early 1960s, he formed the Lonesome River Boys. The group released two albums: "Raise A Ruckus" in 1961 on

Riverside Records Riverside Records was an American jazz record company and label. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr, under his firm Bill Grauer Productions in 1953, the label played an important role in the jazz record industry for a decade. Riverside ...

Rosenberg 2005, p. 201. and "Bluegrass Hootenanny" on the small and obscure Battle label.Cohen, Cohen 2000, p. 131. In the early 1970s, he joined Don Stover and the White Oak Mountain Boys and about this time, he also settled in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

.Goldsmith 2004, p. 73. In 1975, his book "Bluegrass Mandolin" was published by Oak Publications.Cochran 1997, p. 123. The following year, he recorded a solo album "Back Road Mandolin" on Rounder Records. In 1976, he formed Tasty Licks, a progressive bluegrass group. One of the members of the group was an aspiring young banjo player, Bela Fleck. Tasty Licks released two albums ("Tasty Licks" and "Anchored to the Shore") on Rounder before being dissolved in July 1979. In 1999 Tottle released (on Copper Creek) "The Bluegrass Sound," 16 of his original compositions played by him and 13 other bluegrass luminaries. Tottle is also the founder (in 1982) and former director (now retired) of the Bluegrass, Oldtime and Country Music Program at

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an institutional Board of Tr ...

Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee. Joh ...

.Gayheart, Eley 2003 , p. 162.

Notes

References

* Cochran, Mickey, (1997), ''Mandolin Crosspicking Technique'', Mel Bay Publications * Cohen, Norm; Cohen, David (2000), ''Long Steel Rail: The Railroad In American Folksong'', University of Illinois Press * Gayheart, Willard; Eley, Donia S. (2003), ''Willard Gayheart: Appalachian Artist'', McFarland * Goldsmith, Thomas (2004), ''The Bluegrass Reader'', University of Illinois Press * Rosenberg, Neil V. (2005), ''Bluegrass: A History'', University of Illinois Press 1939 births Living people American bluegrass musicians American bluegrass mandolinists {{US-country-musician-stub