Awards & Contests

Entries Sought in 2024 Kerrville New Folk Competition

Entries are now being accepted in the 2024 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters, to be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 25 and 26, 2024, during the first weekend of the annual Kerrville Folk Festival in the Texas Hill Country near Austin and San Antonio. The first 800 entries received by March 15 will be judged, and 24 finalists will be named in mid-April. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article that also includes information about a New Folk Concert Series tour and the initial festival lineup.]

Grammy Winners Named in American Roots Music Field

Winners in the 66th GRAMMY Awards’ American Roots Music Field were recognized during a ceremony that took place prior to The Recording Academy’s televised and livestreamed awards show from Los Angeles, California on Sunday, February 4, 2024. Brandy Clark, Jason Isbell and Allison Russell, who led the nominees with three nominations each, were among the winners. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article that includes a listing of winners in the American Roots Music Field and select other categories.]

Winners Named in South Florida Folk and Acoustic Music Festival’s Singer-Songwriter Competition

Lynn Biddick (LaCrosse, WI), Jane Fallon (Dunedin, FL) and Sarah McCulloch (Davie, FL) have been named as winners in the 2024 South Florida Folk and Acoustic Music Festival’s Singer-Songwriter Competition. [Click on the headline to continue reading this short article.]

Lucas Rotman Wins Music For Humanity Songwriting Contest

Lucas Maehara Rotman, a Brooklyn, New York-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, was named the first-place winner in the first annual Music for Humanity Songwriting Contest during the upstate New York-based nonprofit organization’s 158th Free Performance Night at Noble Coffee Roasters in Campbell Hill, NY, on December 16, 2023. [ Click on the headline to continue reading this article, which includes comments from the contest winner and mention of the runner-up and honorable mention recipients.]

GRAMMY Awards Nominees Named in American Roots Music Field

Nominees have been named for the 66th annual GRAMMY Awards to be presented by the Recording Academy on Sunday, February 4, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Brandy Clark, Jason Isbell and Allison Russell lead the nominees in the American Roots Music Field with three nominations each. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article and to see the complete list of nominees in the American Roots Music Field, along with select others.]

Winners Named in 2023 Americana Honors & Awards

The 23rd annual Americana Honors & Awards were presented at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on September 20, 2023. Tyler Childers, Billy Strings, Bonnie Raitt, The War and Treaty, S.G. Goodman, and SistaStrings were named as recipients of coveted awards during an awards show that is the highlight of the annual AMERICANAFEST, a five-day celebration of American roots-inspired music put on by the Americana Music Association, September 19-23. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article and to view a few videos.]
Halley Neal is 2023 SolarFest Singer-Songwriter Showcase Winner

Halley Neal is 2023 SolarFest Singer-Songwriter Showcase Winner

Nashville, Tennessee-based singer-songwriter Halley Neal has been named the winner of the SolarFest 2023 Singer-Songwriter Showcase, which returns in July following a hiatus of several years. She and four finalists have been invited to perform of the festival’s solar-powered main stage in Brandon, Vermont on Saturday afternoon, July 15, and will also be awarded cash prizes. As the winner, Neal will be invited to perform a full set at next year’s festival as well. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article.]

Winners Named in Performing Songwriter Contests

Winners have been named in the 2023 Kerrville New Folk Competition, the Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest, and the Songwriter Serenade. Although the final rounds of all three competitions took place in Texas, they were open to and won by singer-songwriters from outside the Lone Star State. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article.]

Finalists Named in 2023 Telluride Troubadour Competition

Ten singer-songwriters have been selected as finalists in the nationally recognized 2023 Telluride Troubadour Competition, held in conjunction with the 5Oth annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, a roots-oriented music festival set amid Colorado’s rugged San Juan Mountains, June 15-18. They will now vie for cash and other prizes, as well as the honor of being named this year’s Telluride Troubadour. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article.]

Entries Sought for SolarFest ’23 Singer-Songwriter Showcase

SolarFest -- slated for July 15-16, 2023 in Brandon, Vermont -- is again hosting a Singer-Songwriter Showcase following a hiatus of several years. It’s free to enter and open to all artists who write and perform original music and are not currently signed to a major recording label. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article.]

Finalists Named in 2023 Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest

The Top 10 Finalists have been named in the 2023 Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest that is held in conjunction with the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival, May 19-21 at Galatyn Park Urban Center in Richardson, Texas – just a few minutes north of Dallas. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article.]
Kerrville New Folk Finalists Named for 2023

Kerrville New Folk Finalists Named for 2023

Twenty-four songwriters have been named as finalists in the 2023 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. Chosen from among hundreds of submissions from around the world, the finalists will perform the two songs they submitted at the New Folk Concerts slated for Saturday and Sunday afternoons, May 27 and 28, as part of the 51st annual Kerrville Folk Festival. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article and to see the complete list of finalists.]