8c8624_98ed97625bae49ac8eff73ef42550255Entries are now being accepted for the 2019 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters, to be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 25 and 26, 2019, during the first weekend of the 48th Annual Kerrville Folk Festival in the Texas Hill Country near Austin and San Antonio. The first 800 entries postmarked or submitted online by February 28 will be judged, and 32 finalists will be named in April.

Six songwriters will be chosen as 2019 New Folk Award Winners after performing, along with the 26 other finalists, at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds. A Kerrville New Folk Award Winners concert is slated for Sunday, June 2.

Songwriters may submit two original songs (written after Jan. 1, 2017) online at www.tlok.org/kff/ or by following the link on the Kerrville Folk Festival website’s New Folk page, filling in the requested information and uploading two separate song files (any common audio format should work). Alternatively, home-burned CDs (mp3 format only) may be mailed to the Kerrville Folk Festival office along with a completed entry form. The entry fee is $25. Official guidelines, along with entry information and forms, are posted at www.kerrville-music.com/new-folk.

‘New Folk is our way of finding new, exciting, excellent songwriters from around the world,” said Dalis Allen, producer of the Kerrville Folk Festival. “Our line-up every year is full of artists who have remained a part of the festival long after their first introduction in the competition,” she continued. Among those she cited as first coming to the festival’s attention as New Folk Finalists are Nanci Griffith, Lyle Lovett, Hal Ketchum, James McMurtry, Lucinda Williams, Jimmy LaFave, John Gorka, David Wilcox, Tish Hinojosa, Dave Carter, Johnsmith, Tom Prasada-Rao, Tom Kimmel, and Michael Lille.

2018 Kerrville New Folk Award Winners (l.-r.): Ben Bedford, Sarah Morris, Rich Krueger, Helene Cronin, John R. Butler, Mac Leaphart (Photo: Neale Eckstein)

2018 Kerrville New Folk Award Winers (l.-r.): Ben Bedford, Sarah Morris, Rich Krueger, Helene Cronin, John R. Butler, Mac Leaphart (Photo: Neale Eckstein)

Established in 1972 at the urging of Peter Yarrow, the Kerrville New Folk Concerts have become a highlight of the annual festival that is geared towards singer-songwriters of various musical styles. It is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America. In addition to receiving cash awards and additional performance opportunities, being named as a New Folk Award Winner is regarded as a very prestigious honor.

The six songwriters named as winners in the 2018 Kerrville New Folk Competition were Ben Bedford, John R. Butler, Helene Cronin, Rich Krueger, Mac Leaphart, and Sarah Morris.