About
Who are the Resonateurs and what exactly
is the Gathering of Resonateurs or ResoGat for short?
Well, the quick answer is, we’re a loosely knit group of individuals who are drawn together out of a love or fascination for the dobro, or resonator guitar. Invented and developed in the late 1920’s and early 30’s, the five 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.
Following WWII, electrified instruments appeared, and interest in the Dobro subsided somewhat until Bluegrass music appeared. Josh (Buck) Graves adapted the Earl Scruggs style of banjo picking to the dobro and the rest is history. Notable players (Mike Auldridge, Jerry Douglas, Rob Ickes…) made the instrument more “main stream”.
John Dopyera was aware of the contribution his father had made to the world of music. John and his wife extended an invitation to anyone with a strong interest in the Dobro/resonator guitar to join them at their home in Pennsylvania for a week long ‘Gathering in the Woods’ on Fouth of July weekend, 2000. Following the 2004 Gathering, John and Margaret made the hard decision to sell their Pennsylvania wooded retreat. A committee was formed to see if the Gathering could successfully transfer and find a new home. The communities of Wilkesboro/N. Wilkesboro rolled out a red carpet invite to the group, but still left us with an unanswered question. Would people be willing to change to a new location some 600 miles from John and Margaret’s home? The pleasant answer was a resounding “yes!”. The gathering now has more than 100 attendees from 20 states and from this beginning it has grown into the annual Gathering of Resonateurs (ResoGat) held in Wilkesboro, NC.
The History of ResoGat
Knowing the contribution his father made to the world of music, John Dopyera, Jr. and his wife Margaret issued an open invitation for anyone with a strong interest in the Dobro/resonator guitar to join them at their home in Pennsylvania for a week long ‘Gathering in the Woods’ during the week of July 4, 2000 – whether a luthier, collector, musician, or a connoisseur.
From this beginning our gathering has grown every year, including the current Annual Gathering of Resonateurs held at Wilkesboro, NC. Following the 2004 Gathering, John and Margaret made the hard decision to sell their Pennsylvania wooded retreat. A committee was formed to determine if the Gathering could successfully transition and find a new ‘home.’ The communities of Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro rolled out a ‘red carpet’ invitation to our group, leaving only one unanswered question: “would people be willing to relocate some 600 miles from John and Margaret’s home?” Luckily, the answer was a resounding yes – over 100 participants flew in from 15 states and Canada that year.
