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2022 SPECIAL SESSION I


HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 654
Commending Lynn Morris.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, June 1, 2022

 

WHEREAS, Lynn Morris, a renowned banjoist and vocalist and cherished member of the Winchester community, was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame during an event at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2021; and

WHEREAS, a native of Lamesa, Texas, Lynn Morris attended a performing arts boarding school in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the late 1960s, where she studied classical guitar and cultivated an interest in folk music; and

WHEREAS, Lynn Morris discovered bluegrass music while earning a bachelor’s degree in art at Colorado College, deciding then to dedicate herself to bluegrass music by learning to play the banjo; and

WHEREAS, after graduating from college in 1972, Lynn Morris settled in Denver and co-founded the City Limits Bluegrass Band, which would become a popular act in the Rocky Mountain region over the next several years; and

WHEREAS, Lynn Morris made history in 1974 as the first woman to win the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, and in 1981 as the first person to win the contest twice; and

WHEREAS, Lynn Morris later decided to move east to be closer to the epicenter of bluegrass music, performing with the Pennsylvania-based group Whetstone Run until the group disbanded in 1986; and

WHEREAS, in 1988, Lynn Morris and her husband, Marshall Wilborn, formed the Lynn Morris Band, which would produce several critically acclaimed albums on the Nashville-based independent label Rounder Records between 1990 and 2003; and

WHEREAS, as a testament to her popularity at the height of her career, the International Bluegrass Music Association named Lynn Morris its Female Vocalist of the Year in 1996, 1998, and 1999 and named the title track from her solo album, “Mama’s Hand,” its Song of the Year in 1996; and

WHEREAS, Lynn Morris’ legacy as a trailblazing banjoist, vocalist, and band leader has inspired musicians for many years while bringing great joy and happiness to bluegrass music fans the world over; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Lynn Morris hereby be commended for being named a 2021 inductee to the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Lynn Morris as an expression of the House of Delegates’ admiration for her contributions to the rich history of bluegrass music in the Commonwealth.