For this "Concert of a Lifetime", as the event is billed, Scruggs & Sons will be joined by Dobro virtuoso Jerry Douglas, country star and respected instrumentalist Marty Stuart on mandolin, and fiddler Glen Duncan.

Although Earl has made a few TV appearances with Randy and Gary, they have not appeared on a concert stage together since the last performance of the Earl Scruggs Review in late 1980, featuring Randy on guitar and Gary on bass. Randy is now an established songwriter, producer and studio owner in Nashville; Gary is also a songwriter and producer.

The festival lineup includes many of blugrass music's premier artists, including The Tony Rice Unit, Del McCoury Band, the Osborne Brothers, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Dudley Connell, Tim O'Brien, Blue Highway, and the Seldom Scene.

Gibson's Original Acoustic Instruments, (OAI), Gibson Montana (the acoustic guitar division), Epiphone Guitars, and Gibson Strings & Accessories are major sponsors of the event. OAI's Todd Wright will be manning the Gibson/Epi booth, which will be well-stocked with bluegrass instruments set up and ready for jam sessions. Gibson will raffle off an Earl Scruggs Standard banjo to benefit the youth camp where the concert is held.

Snuffy Smith will also be on hand at the Gibson booth to lead a banjo setup workshop. All Gibson banjos (except the RB-250) are now fitted with Snuffy Smith bridges.

Earl Scruggs, as everyone knows, revolutionized the five-string banjo with his driving, three-fingered style, making the banjo the signature sound of bluegrass music.

From Gibson's point of view, Earl Scruggs is the reason we make banjos today. When the world heard his innovative style -- first with the Bluegrass Boys in the mid-1940s and then with Flatt & Scruggs -- the banjo was nearly a forgotten instrument. Earl revived interest in the banjo and spawned thousands of disciples through the years.

From his first banjo, a Gibson RB-11 (a cheap model with an an expensive-looking pearloid fingerboard), to his current Gibson line of five distinct models, he's always played a Gibson. It's no coincidence that almost all of the current Gibson models are fitted with the flat-top tone ring just like Earl's famous Gibson Granada. Banjo players wouldn't have it any other way.

Gibson Musical Instruments will be well-represented on the Bluegrass Classic stage. Look for Marty Stuart with an F-5L mandolin, Randy Scruggs with an Advanced Jumbo flat top, Gary Scruggs with a Tobias bass and Jerry Douglas with his signature Dobro model.

For more information call 614-548-4199, e mail to bgclassic@aol.com or link to http://members.aol.com/bgclassic.