Jack Tottle is an American bluegrass musician, singer, mandolin player, songwriter, music teacher and author.

Biography

Tottle was educated at Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

 in Hanover, New Hampshire

Hanover, New Hampshire

Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007....

. In the early 1960s, he formed the Lonesome River Boys. The group released two albums: "Raise A Ruckus" in 1961 on Riverside Records

Riverside Records

Riverside Records was a United States record label specializing in jazz. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer under his firm Bill Grauer Productions, Inc. in 1953, the label was a major presence in the jazz record industry for a decade...

 and "Bluegrass Hootenanny" on the small and obscure Battle label. In the early 1970s, he joined Don Stover and the White Oak Mountain Boys and about this time, he also settled in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

. In 1975, his book "Bluegrass Mandolin" was published by Oak Publications. The following year, he recorded a solo album "Back Road Mandolin" on Rounder Records

Rounder Records

Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...

. In 1976, he formed Tasty Licks, a progressive bluegrass group. One of the members of the group was an aspiring young banjo player, Bela Fleck

Béla Fleck

Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...

. Tasty Licks released two albums ("Tasty Licks" and "Anchored to the Shore") on Rounder before being dissolved in July 1979. In 1999 Tottle released (on Copper Creek) "The Bluegrass Sound," 16 of his original compositions played by him and 13 other bluegrass luminaries.

Tottle is also the founder (in 1982) and former director (now retired) of the Bluegrass, Oldtime and Country Music Program at East Tennessee State University

East Tennessee State University

East Tennessee State University is an accredited American university located in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents system of colleges and universities, the nation's sixth largest system of public education, and is the fourth largest university in the state...

 in Johnson City, Tennessee

Johnson City, Tennessee

Johnson City is a city in Carter, Sullivan, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with most of the city being in Washington County...

.