Alan Tompkins travels from Texas to Hyden

HCTC online student comes to Hyden to perform

          Alan Tompkins of Dallas, Texas enrolled in online classes with Hazard Community and Technical College at the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music (KSBTM). Dean Osborne, director at KSBTM, and faculty member J.P. Mathes suggested Tompkins participate in the spring ensemble performance on May 1 in Hyden. So Tompkins did.

            Tompkins flew from Texas to Kentucky and then drove to Hyden so he could perform bass with fellow students. After the show, he headed back to Texas.

He graduated from HCTC on May 6.

Tompkins is often found producing great bluegrass music events in the north Texas area through the non-profit Bluegrass Heritage Foundation and also putting great bluegrass music out on the airwaves in Dallas/Fort Worth at KHYI-FM 95.3.

            Tompkins appreciates his HCTC education.  “I’ve had a wonderful time gaining a stronger academic understanding of the music that I love. The courses are convenient and easy to use, and the faculty and staff are wonderfully helpful and accommodating,” he said.

Dean Osborne, director at the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music, noted, “Our online classes have been a perfect fit for Alan to be a part of KSBTM while living in Texas.”

            Tompkins is the founder and president of the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of bluegrass music.  He is an avid bluegrass fan and an established banjo and acoustic bass player whose solo album, No Part of Nothin’, was released in 2012.  He is Vice President & General Counsel of Unity Hunt, Inc., in Dallas where he manages legal matters for the Lamar Hunt family and their related entities.  Alan moved from western Kentucky to Texas in 1983 to earn an MBA, and then went on to become licensed as both an attorney and CPA in Texas.  He has served on the boards of several charitable organizations including AFI-Dallas International Film Festival, FC Dallas Foundation, Pegasus Theatre, Dallas Christian Leadership, and For The Love Of The Lake Foundation, and is a former chair of the State Bar of Texas Entertainment & Sports Law Section.