Entries are now being accepted in the 2025 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters, to be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 24 and 25, 2025, during the first weekend of the annual Kerrville Folk Festival in the Texas Hill Country near Austin and San Antonio. The entry deadline is March 7, while 24 finalists will be named in mid-April.
Six songwriters will be named as 2025 New Folk Award Winners after performing, along with the 18 other finalists, at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds. A Kerrville New Folk Award Winners concert is slated for Saturday, May 31, with each of the winners playing a 20-minute set. The New Folk Concerts will be livestreamed on kerrvillefolkfestival.org, as well as on the festival’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Songwriters may submit a .mp3 audio recording of two original songs in any genre via the Kerrville Folk Festival website’s New Folk Competition section (kerrvillefolkfestival.org/newfolk), where official competition rules, guidelines and entry forms can also be found. Entries will be evaluated based on originality, lyrics, melody, harmonic structure, and other elements of songcraft. The entry fee is $55.
Established in 1972 at the urging of the late Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary fame, 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. In addition to receiving $750 cash awards and two wristbands each for Kerrville’s 2025 fall “Welcome Home” Fest, being named as a New Folk Winner is regarded as a very prestigious honor. Kerrville New Folk winners also are invited to participate in a New Folk Concert Series tour in the spring prior to the festival.
The 2024 Kerrville New Folk winners were Robin Bienemann (Chicago, IL), Lila Blue (NYC, NY), Lucy Clearwater (Lafayette, CA), Sean Keel (Austin, TX), Rachel Summer (Boston, MA), and Lily Talmers (Birmingham, MI).
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