Ten singer-songwriters have been selected as finalists in the 2019 Telluride Troubadour Competition, held in conjunction with the 46th Telluride Bluegrass Festival, a roots-oriented music festival set amid Colorado’s rugged San Juan Mountains, June 20-23. They will now vie for cash and other prizes, as well as the honor of being named this year’s Telluride Troubadour.

The finalists, chosen from among nearly 300 entries, are Clara Baker (Portland, OR), Cecilia Castleman (Nashville, TN), Wes Collins (Chapel Hill, NC), Jeff Cramer (Denver, CO), Connor Garvey (Portland, ME), Billy Huston (Boulder, CO), Tim Ostdiek (Longmont, CO), Emily Scott Robinson (Greensboro, NC), Alexa Wildish (Boulder, CO), and Ira Wolf (Nashville, TN). Liv Greene (Boston, MA) and Kimberly Townsend (New York, NY) were named as alternates.

Last year’s Telluride Troubadour winner was Garrett Owen of Dallas, Texas.

Each of this year’s finalists – who were judged on the basis of their songs’ composition, vocal delivery, and the overall presentation/performance — will perform two original songs in the preliminary round at the Elks Park Stage in downtown Telluride on Thursday afternoon, June 20, while the top five finalists will perform two different original songs in the final round the following afternoon. In addition to a complimentary four-day festival pass, each finalist also receives an in-the-round performance slot in Elks Park and an opportunity to perform a “tweener” song on the festival’s main stage. The winner performs a 15-minute set on the festival’s main stage on Saturday evening.

Here’s a link to listen to a Soundcloud stream of songs by each of the finalists:

https://soundcloud.com/planetbluegrass/sets/2019-telluride-troubadour-finalists

More information on the 2019 Telluride Troubadour Competition and on the Telluride Bluegrass Festival can be found online at www.bluegrass.com/telluride.