Winners Named in 2020 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition

Six singer-songwriters have been named as winners in the 2020 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. They were chosen by a panel of judges from among 24 finalists who performed two songs each during the New Folk Concerts that streamed online October 10 and 11 on the Kerrville Folk Festival’s website, Facebook page and YouTube channel as part of a Virtual Celebration held in place of the annual event on the Quiet Valley Ranch in the Texas Hill Country.

Andy Baker (Gobles, MI), John John Brown (Pawling, NY), Abigail Lapell (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Louise Mosrie Coombe (Williamsburg, MA), Michael Prysock (Dallas, TX), and Shanna in a Dress (Boulder, CO) will each perform short sets during a Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners concert as part of the second weekend of the 2020 October Virtual Celebration on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 17, beginning at 1:30 p.m. CDT/ 2:30 p.m. EDT/11:30 a.m. PDT.

About 30 hours after learning that she was one of the winners in Kerrville New Folk, Shanna in a Dress said: “I’m really happy! I think the voice I try to squelch in my head is often asking ‘Is my songwriting special? Do people think I’m any good?’ and to be validated in such a huge way (top 6 out of 700+ entries) makes me want to hold onto this feeling for as long as I can. The funny flip side of song contests is that they are so subjective and every contest I’ve entered and lost I’ve needed to mentally coach myself back from disappointment with ’’How can you really actually judge songs against each other? I’m sure mine just slipped through the cracks!’ So my ego stays in check by remembering that there are plenty of songs in that huge pool of entries that are just as deserving of this nice ‘winner’title I just got.”

Here’s a link to a video of Shanna performing “Daddy’s Little Girl,” one of her winning songs: https://youtube.com/watch?v=c4UVb9BXe4s

Shanna told AcousticMusicScene.com that being named a New Folk Winner is “very exciting and also a bit of a double-edged sword- because of the pandemic it’s kind of the worst year to win! Normally (I’ve heard)
you get really tight with your fellow New Folk class, get to play on the mainstage during the Kerrville Folk Festival, and go on a two-week tour with the other winners. I LOVE LOVE LOVE people and connecting with them in thefestival environment, and I’m definitely disappointed I don’t get to do that.”

Noting that this was her first year being part of New Folk, Abigail Lapell told AcousticMusicScene.com: “it’s been really incredible, despite being a really different experience from most years. Our hosts Lindsey and Deb [Rouse] and the whole Kerrville team, along with all the finalists, have worked really hard to make it feel like a community, despite gathering remotely. I know we all wished we could be together at Quiet Valley Ranch, but I’m so glad we were able to capture a bit of that magic over the virtual airwaves.”

Lapell said that the biggest highlight for her was “ discovering so many new-to-me musicians and getting to check out everyone’s songs. I feel truly honoured (Canadian spelling, represent!!!) to be among such a talented group. I also got to check out some of the other festival performances last weekend, which was really inspiring. Everyone involved did a great job pulling off an amazing festival under challenging circumstances.”

“Being part of the New Folk family this year has helped keep me connected to the wider music world despite not being able to gather in person,” she continued. “Not getting to tour and perform live has been really hard this year, especially during the summer festival season. (Actually, my P2 work visa to play in the U.S. is about to expire, unused. American musicians might not realize how much time, paperwork and expense goes into getting one of those things!) And personally, I’ve actually been avoiding doing virtual concerts — I LOVE that audiences and performers are finding ways to connect online, but I’ve found it just isn’t a great fit for me personally. So this felt like such a nice way to come out of my shell a bit and connect with musicians all over the place (including a couple other Canucks!) as well as our super lovely judges and all the Kerrville Folk Family. “

Here’s a link to view a video of Abigail Lapell performing “Down by the Water,” one of the two songs that she submitted to the New Folk Competition:

https://youtu.be/NUgySaZ3NeQ

Expressing thanks to all of the finalists for sharing their “works of art,” Tom Prasada-Rao, a past Kerrville New Folk Winner and one of this year’s three judges, said: “It really doesn’t matter whether you are declared a winner or not because you are all winners.” Sharing similar sentiments, Bernice Lewis, also a past Kerrville New Folk winner who served as a judge, said that just being part of the competition “inspired me to write better songs and be a better musician.”

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 and is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America. This year’s festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In its place, festival organizers hosted an online festival featuring virtual concerts and campfire song circles that were streamed online on three successive Saturdays in late May-early June. Although the festival was tentatively rescheduled for Oct. 8-18, those plans also had to be scrapped due to the ongoing health crisis. In its place, a Virtual Celebration has been taking place online via the festival’s website, Facebook page and YouTube channel over two successive weekends and continues Oct. 17-18.

For more information on the Kerrville New Folk Competition and to view a full schedule of the festival’s 2020 October Virtual Celebration — including evening concerts and virtual campfires — visit https://www.kerrvillefolkfestival.org/oct2020-virtual-lineup.