ResoGat 2018 -- Home Page

Who are we? We are a loosely knit group of individuals drawn together out of love or fascination of the dobro, or resonator guitar. Invented and developed in the late 1920's and early 30's, the Dopyera brothers presented America and the world with a totally unique instrument centered around a mechanical resonating sound or amplification system. The brothers tossed around the question of what to call this new class of stringed instruments and finally coined the term 'Dobro' which was a combination of the words Dopyera and Brothers. "Resonator Guitar" is more commonly used now for non-Gibson/Dobro branded guitars. ResoGat is the gathering of Dobro/Resonator guitar enthusiasts to talk, play music, laugh, meet old friends and make new friends.

It has a Foreword by Jerry Douglas and is a 216 page, full color, hard cover book published by Centerstream/Hal Leonard Publishing. It is the first and most definitive work devoted solely to the Dobro guitars produced by the Dopyera Brothers including John Dopyera, the inventor, during the initial years of production from 1929 to 1941. It includes original, high quality, full color photos of most of the Dobro Models made during this period with historical background on the Dobro, the instrument that has become such a large part of Bluegrass Music and other musical styles of today. It includes a CD with 15 tunes played by Steve on 15 different prewar Dobros to give an example of the varied sounds of the prewar instruments. The book is available at Barnes & Noble and other book and music stores throughout the world as well as Amazon.com and many other web dealers. Or you can contact Steve at 760-536-9573 in San Diego, CA or steve.toth@roadrunner.com for info on getting an autographed copy directly from the author.

Bev got her first Dobro in May, 1967 at age 12 and recorded her first Dobro instrumental LP record in April, 1971. She was the first female Dobro player to record an all Dobro instrumental album. After the initial recording she followed up with 9 more over the years. Two of those albums were recorded with Bashful Brother Oswald. At that time there was a need for Dobro instructional material and she wrote "Country and Bluegrass Dobro" and followed up later with two tablature books.

In 1974 she began publication of "Dobro Nut" which was later renamed to "Resophonic Echoes" in 1976 and the name eventually settled on "Country Heritage" in 1982. Her first public performance was on Alex Campbell's radio show in 1970. Afterward she performed with Ola Belle Reed before starting to work with Joe Knight in 1979. She continued to perform on stage and radio afterward. In 1994 Bev moved to Clarkville, AR. Bev opened a music shop in a remodeled house and eventually outgrew the building. The business continued to grow and moved a few times before Country Heritage Muisc changed over to a strictly online/mail order store.

Johnny Bellar is a virtuoso performer on resophonic and lap steel guitars. Within a year of his 1973 graduation from high school, Johnny entered and won his first dobro competition. Watching his performance was a friend of the legendary Stoneman Family. Within two weeks Johnny was performing with the group.For 10 years Johnny toured and recorded with The Stonemans appearing on the Grand Ole Opry, "Hee Haw",

"Nashville Now" and the "Ralph Emery Show". In 1984. Johnny became an original member of The New Tradition followed by Slim Whitman's Australian tour in 1989. He has performed numerous times at the Bluebird Café and other popular Nashville music spots, and was a musician at Opryland, USA. Boxcar Willie and Tommy Cash are among the artists Johnny has recorded with on albums spanning a musical spectrum from children's music to bluegrass, traditional country, classical and gospel. Johnny has recorded several national radio commercials and demos for name songwriters. He tours with various artists, as well as working as a session musician. Recently, Johnny was one of four featured performers in two national tours for the "Masters of the Steel String Guitar." Sponsored by the National Council for the Traditional Arts.

Stacy Phillips passed peacefully with his family around him on June 5th, 2018. Stacy died in Hartford's St. Francis hospital after lying in a coma for three days following a heart attack.

His music will live on through everyone he has touched and inspired in his lifetime. Stacy was an artist, a teacher and had no boundaries playing Bluegrass, klezmer, old time, gospel and, many other genres of music. He was considered one of the masters of Dobro as well as being an accomplished fiddle player. He was an easy going person with a commitment to the highest standard in music.

Stacy will be missed by all who knew him and were influenced by his music and teaching.