Karen Batten - Secretary
Doug Gerdon - Treasurer
Doug has gleefully accepted the Office of Treasurer. In his reallife he
runs a family wholesale distribution business started wayback in ‘56.
Doug is orginally from Indiana but now lives in Estero with his wife
Anita. They have 5 children and 6 grandchildren.
He has also served as Treasurer and held other leadership and
board positions for Habitat for Humanity, Kiwanis, Patoka Lake Sailing
Cluband other organizations. Doug also spent time volunteering with the
International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, KY.
To quote Doug, “Musically I began playing organ and piano in grade
school. I played keyboards and guitar and sang in rock bands through
high school, college and briefly afterwards. Took a break from music
for about 25 years and got interested in bluegrass and the mandolin
about 2004.”
Doug and Anita love this area of Florida and especially the people that
make up the acoustic music community.
Thanks Doug for becoming our “bean counter.”
Officers and Directors
President - Bob Shea
Vice President - Dick Spottswood
Treasurer - Doug Gerdon
Secretary - Karen Batten
Membership Chair - Linda Teelon
Advisory Board Members
Scott Ritter
Everett Alsbrook
Keith Bass
Gene Vaccaro
Darlene Bass
Herb Washburn – SWFBA
Dave Walker
Elaine Brewster
Joyce Beecroft
Becky Cole
Steve Cox
Gail Keel
Our President
Bob Shea was born in Brooklyn at a very early age, and raised in
rural New Hampshire, where he learned to fish, hunt, and drive like a
hillbilly. He's lived in southwest Florida since 1985, where he
initially worked in the field called Resort Hospitality, supervising
hospitality at the Registry Resort (Naples) and other tourist
accommodations.
He later worked in emergeny medicine and acquired a BSN degree in
Nursing in 1999. Today he is a school Nurse in Lee County Florida.
After Bob discovered bluegrass at the Flamingo Island Flea Market in
Bonita Springs, there was no turning back. He learned to play guitar in
2001 and has featured prominently in area music ever since. Until last
year, he was a member and lead singer with the Fleas, and has since
created the Bug Tussle Ramblers with Karen Batten, Doug Yaehrling and
Doug Gerdon.
He became President of the Acoustic Music Society in 2008, where he
continues to serve.
Bob Shea President: Acoustic Music Society of Southwest Florida
www.acousticmusicsociety.org
PO Box 367401 Bonita Springs Fl. 34136
239-248-8906
About Dick Spottswood - Vice President
Scholar, writer and editor Dick Spottswood hosted WAMU’s first ever bluegrass show, a half-hour experimental program which launched in July 1967 and which broadcast for seven years. He began his current program, The Dick Spottswood Show, in 1985.
“A Washington native, Spottswood earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and a Master’s degree in Library Science from Catholic University. He began his career as a librarian for the Montgomery County Public Library system.
Spottswood was one of the founders of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine in 1966, and is currently a contributing editor. He has written for that publication and many others over the years. He has also edited and annotated numerous recordings, including the 15-record set Folk Music in America for the Library of Congress, and served as a consultant to Time-Life Records.
Spottswood compiled the seven-volume Ethnic Music on Records: A Discography of Ethnic Recordings Produced in the United States, 1893 to 1942. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, this was the first major discography produced in America that systematically examined the vast body of recordings made by immigrant groups. The set was published in 1990 by the University of Illinois Press, which is currently preparing a second edition of the work.
Country Music Sources, a book begun by Gus Meade was completed by Spottswood after Meade died in 1991 without finishing the work. Spottswood produces compact discs for several companies in the United States and England, as well.
Spottswood’s lifelong interest in ethnic music is evident to all who hear his program, which explores the aesthetic convergence of music from many traditions. “Since I have yet to develop a potent radio personality, I’m fortunate to have some great music to do the job,” Spottswood says. “The Dick Spottswood Show focuses on the era between the world wars, when a lot of music was still relatively unindustrialized, and sounded on record much as it did in homes, churches, small dance halls and village squares.”