The National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) The NCTA is the nation’s oldest multicultural arts presenting organization. For over eight decades, through festivals, tours, symposia, exhibits, and media productions, the NCTA has showcased the very best of the myriad grassroots folk, tribal and ethnic cultures that comprise our diverse nation.
The NCTA was proud to support Three Bells, a recording of three generations of dobro masters, Rob Ickes, Jerry Douglas, and their mentor, the late Mike Auldridge. Three Bells garnered a 2014 GRAMMY award nomination for Best Folk Album.
Auldridge, who passed away in December 2012 shortly after the recording sessions were completed, was a Washington D.C. area native and founding member of the Seldom Scene. His artistry expanded the possibilities of the dobro and profoundly influenced subsequent generations of musicians. Douglas and Ickes, knowing that Auldridge was ill, felt that it was important that this collaborations happen, both to honor him and to keep his spirits up during this time. In this NPR interview, Douglas and Ickes discuss what it was like working on this album.
In September 2012, Auldridge was honored with a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship. Then in December 2012, past and present members of the Seldom Scene paid him tribute at the Maryland State Arts Council ALTA (Achievement in Living Traditions and Arts) Awards.
The NEA posted the 2012 National Heritage Fellowship Concert video on YouTube. For Nick Spitzer’s introduction, go to 45:36; for Auldridge’s performance, accompanied by Ickes and fellow 2012 National Heritage Fellowship recipient Andy Statman, go to 51:12.
