Thirty-two songwriters have been named as finalists in the 2009 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. Chosen from among 800 submissions from around the world, the finalists will perform the two songs they submitted during the New Folk Concerts slated for Saturday and Sunday afternoons, May 23 and 24, as part of the Kerrville Folk Festival.

Scheduled to perform (in order of performance) at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds in the Texas Hill Country on May 23, from noon to 3 p.m. are Lynne Hanson (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), Craig Bickhardt (Media, Pennsylvania), Sarah Donner (Princeton, New Jersey), Ben Mallott (Austin, Texas), Marc Black (Katonah, New York), Angela Easterling (Taylors, South Carolina), Larry Murante (Seattle, Washington), Terry Penny (Lewisporte, Newfoundland, Canada), Louise Mosrie (Nashville, Tennessee), Rebecca Loebe (Roswell, Georgia), Tommy Byrd (Austin, Texas), Matthew Fockler (South Padre Island, Texas), Valorie Miller (Asheville, North Carolina), Colin McGrath (Brooklyn, New York), Liz Longley (Downingtown, Pennsylvania), and Bob Sima (Woodbine, Maryland). New Folk Finalists slated to perform on May 24 are Sarah Sample (Seattle, Washington), Greg Alexander (New York, New York), Jason David Hiatt (Austin, Texas), Carrie Catherine (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada), Ernest Troost (Los Angeles, California), Gretchen Witt (Brooklyn, New York), Laura Zucker (Lafayette, California), Larry Zarella (Massachusetts, by way of Alaska), Tom Neilson (Greenfield, Massachusetts), Joe Crookston (Ithaca, New York), Shannon Wurst (Alma, Arkansas), Roy Schneider (Fort Meyers, Florida), Kim Miller (Wimberley, Texas), Jeff Martin (Portland, Oregon), Lucy Wainwright Roche (Brooklyn, New York), and Kate Mann (Portland, Oregon).

After performing, six songwriters will be selected as 2009 New Folk Winners by judges Amilia k Spicer, TR Ritchie and Jon Vezner. The six will receive cash honorariums and other prizes, as well as the opportunity to strut their stuff during a Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners Concert at the festival on Sunday, May 31.

A number of former New Folk finalists and winners are on this year’s festival line-up – including Jonathan Byrd, KC Clifford, RJ Cowdery, Joe Jencks, David Llewellyn, Karen Mal, Drew Nelson, Chris O’Brien, Tom Prasada-Rao, BettySoo, Devon Sproule, John Wort Hannam and Hans York.

Now in its 38th year and geared towards singer-songwriters of various musical styles and their fans, the Kerrville Folk Festival is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America. In addition to concerts each evening, Kerrville features “Ballad Tree” song-sharing sessions, “Texas & Tennessee” song circles with Steve Gillette, campfire jam sessions, concerts and activities for children, organized canoe trips on the Guadelupe River and Hill Country bike rides, a professional development program for teachers, as well as a three-day songwriters school and instrumental workshops (for which separate pre-paid registration is required).

The Kerrville Folk Festival runs for 18 straight days – Thursday, May 21 – Sunday, June 7. The entire weekend of May 29-31 will be broadcast live on Sirius XM Radio, The Village (XM 15), hosted by Mary Sue Twohy. For a complete festival schedule and additional information, visit www.kerrvillefolkfestival.com.