Blue Highway Fest in Big Stone Gap, Virginia (recently named IBMA Bluegrass Event of the Year), is holding an on-site guitar raffle October 11-14 to benefit the IBMA Foundation.

Built by luthier Rufus Thames of Bristol, Virginia, the prize guitar is a replication of Blue Highway guitarist Tim Stafford’s 1934 D-18 Martin guitar. Check out a photo below of Tim’s old Martin, and also the video above of Tim playing the new Thames guitar.

Tickets will be sold at the festival, where the drawing will also be held. IBMA Foundation executive director Nancy Cardwell will be at the festival, so drop by and say hello when you pick up your raffle tickets!

“I know first-hand what great work the IBMA Foundation does because I was a board member for a number of years,” said Tim Stafford. “There’s not an organization anywhere that makes a bigger investment in the future of bluegrass music by supporting educational programs. That’s why I wanted to take the opportunity to offer this guitar for raffle to benefit the Foundation at Blue Highway Fest 2023 in Big Stone Gap, VA. Rufus Thames’s beautiful handcrafted guitars are among the best modern guitars available.”

Check out a video from Tim Stafford here: https://youtu.be/uy9zxMxt2Yw

RETURN to the October 2023 issue of The Cornerstone.