Bill Birchfield of Roan Mountain Hilltoppers passes on 15 May 2015

The first I heard of Bill Birchfield"s passing was in my visit to "Bluegrass Today" a few hours ago. The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers were always a fixture every year at the Johnson County Old Time Fiddlers Convention held in Laurel Bloomery at the Old Mill Music Park. Except for the first scene in campground, the performance scenes here have not been previously published. This was Bill's last appearance on the Old Mill stage. My sympathy and prayers go out to Janice Birchfield and the Birchfield family.--- Jim 15 May 2015 Roan Mountain Hilltoppers compete as Old Time Band with "Fly Around My Daisy" (4:20) and "Walking In The Parlor" (6:30) followed by Bill in fiddle competition with "Sourwood Mountain"(8:55). Some related links: http://bluegrasstoday.com/bill-birchf... http://www.wcyb.com/news/Bill-Birchfi...   / roanmountainhilltoppers1     / theroanmountainhilltoppers   Johnson County Old-Time Fiddlers Convention (89th in 2014) Most folks now call this the "Laurel Bloomery Fiddlers Convention" since it has been held for the last twenty-three years at the Old Mill Music Park in Laurel Bloomery (Johnson County), Tennessee. The first fiddlers convention was held in the Johnson County High School auditorium in Mountain City in 1925 and there has been one held somewhere in the county every year since. The convention is hosted by Jackie Warden at her Old Mill Music Park and is produced and staffed by her many friends in the old-time music community from Watauga and Ashe County in North Carolina, Washington County in Virginia, Johnson and Carter County in Tennessee, and further afield in the surrounding southern Appalachians.