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Herschel is proud to work with the Virginia Foundation for Humanities (VFH) Virginia Folk life Apprenticeship program. The Master-Apprenticeship teams have a nine-month learning period in which the master artist is matched with an eager apprentice. This year's apprentice, Spencer Blankenship (a three year student of Herschel's) has become a good friend and is a very talented young man.

Nashville, Tenn. — Big Joe's Guitarworks is proud to host two mandolin workshops with bluegrass legend Herschel Sizemore during IBMA. Both workshops will be held at the store's 854 Madison Square location on October 3, 2008.

An early session will be held from 10:00 a.m. to Noon and a second session from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Each session will be $65.00 per student and is limited to 20 students per session. Advance reservations are strongly recommended as an early sell-out is anticipated.

I'd like to invite you to join me at the Herschel Sizemore Mandolin Workshop on Saturday, October 25th, 2008 at the Holiday Inn in Roanoke Virginia. I'll be teaching subjects such as learning to play melody, how to play with good tone, tune introductions & endings, "Less is More", and much more. The workshop will be a single-day class, beginning at 9 AM and running until 5 PM. There will be a morning session from 9 AM until noon, with a mid-morning break of 15-20 minutes, then we'll break for lunch from 12 PM until 2 PM. The afternoon session will run from 2 PM to 5 PM, again with a mid-session break of around 15-20 minutes. Coffee, water, and light pastries will be served at both sessions. We will not be serving lunch; however, less than one mile from the Holiday Inn is the Valley View Mall complex, which is home to more than 30 restaurants.

The Holiday Inn is located at 3315 Ordway Drive, Roanoke, Virginia 24012 (the same location as the former Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend) and is offering all workshop attendees a special rate reservation price for overnight rooms @ $89 per night. You may call them direct at 540-362-4500, and be sure to ask for the discounted rate for our workshop. Enrollment fee for the workshop is $150 per person, and must be paid in advance by check or money order. Payment for the workshop (separate charge from room reservation) should be made payable to Herschel Sizemore Mandolin Workshop and mailed to 5720 Barns Ave. NW, Roanoke, Virginia 24019. Questions about the workshop may be directed to this email, herschelsizemore@aol.com and we'll try to answer them as quickly as possible. Space is limited, so I encourage you to reserve early.

Come spend the day with us, and be sure to bring a recording device for later reference.