Awards & Contests

Nominees Named for 2018 JUNO Awards

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) has revealed the nominees for the 2018 JUNO Awards – including those for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year and Traditional Roots Album of the Year. The coveted awards will be presented on Sunday, March 25 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
SPBGMA Presents Bluegrass Music Awards

SPBGMA Presents Bluegrass Music Awards

The Farm Hands were the top winners in the 44th Annual Bluegrass Music Awards presented by The Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPBGMA) at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, February 4, 2018. Winners in 19 categories were honored during an awards show that capped the nonprofit organization’s 35th national convention. [To continue reading this article and see the complete list of winners, click on the headline.]

Winners Named in 60th Grammy Awards’ American Roots Music Field

Winners in the 60th Grammy Awards’ American Roots Music Field were recognized during a Premiere Ceremony that streamed online prior to The Recording Academy’s televised awards show on Sunday, January 28 from Madison Square Garden in New York City. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

Winners Chosen in 2018 South Florida Folk Festival Singer-Songwriter Competition

Three winners have been named in the 2018 South Florida Folk Festival Singer-Songwriter Competition that took place on Saturday, January 13, at Fort Lauderdale’s Hugh Taylor Birch State Park. [To continue reading this short article, click on the headline.]

Notable Songwriting Contests Open for Entries

Entries are now being sought in both the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest and the 2018 Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest that are held, respectively, in conjunction with MerleFest, April 26-29, on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina and the annual Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival, May 18-20, in Richardson, Texas, just a few minutes north of Dallas. [To continue reading this article, which also includes information about the Kerrville New Folk Competition, click on the headline.]
Winners Named in Mid-Atlantic Song Contest

Winners Named in Mid-Atlantic Song Contest

Category winners have been named in the 34th annual Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, presented by the Songwriters’ Association of Washington (SAW), while overall grand, second and third prize winners will be announced during an awards gala on Jan. 21, 2018 at Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Virginia. Alberta, Canada-based singer-songwriter John Wort Hannam was the top winner (Gold) in the Folk-Acoustic category for his song “Ain’t Enough,” while Herndon, Virginia’s Crys Matthews took second place (Silver) for “We Must Be Free.” [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

Mid-January is Music Festival Time in Florida

Floridians and visitors to the Sunshine State can escape the winter doldrums and enjoy some fine music in mid-January. The South Florida Folk Festival and the 30A Songwriters Festival take place over the same weekend in different parts of the state. The former includes the finals of an annual singer-songwriter competition, while the latter features such big-name talents as Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
2018 Kerrville New Folk Competition Opens for Entries

2018 Kerrville New Folk Competition Opens for Entries

Entries are now being accepted for the 2018 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters, to be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 26 and 27, 2018, during the first weekend of the 47th Annual Kerrville Folk Festival in the Texas Hill Country. The first 800 entries received by February 28 will be judged, and 32 finalists will be named in April. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

Crys Matthews Wins 2017 NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition

Crys Matthews was named the grand-prize winner in the 2017 NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition after performing, along with other finalists, during a live music showcase at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ David Rubenstein Atrium in New York City on Thursday, November 30. [To continue reading this article, which includes links to a couple of video, click on the headline.]

2018 Grammy Awards Nominees Named in American Roots Music Field

Nominees in 84 categories have been named for the 60th Annual Grammy Awards to be presented by The Recording Academy on Sunday, January 28, 2018. Of particular interest to readers of AcousticMusicScene.com are the nominees for awards in the American Roots Music Field that, alas, will likely be presented prior to the live broadcast airing on CBS television stations that evening from Madison Square Garden in New York City. [To continue reading this article and see the list of nominees in the American Roots Music Field, click on the headline.]

Winners Named in 2017 Canadian Folk Music Awards

Artists were recognized in 19 categories during the 2017 Canadian Folk Music Awards celebration that took place Nov. 18-19 at Ottawa’s Bronson Centre. [To continue reading this article and see the list of award winners, click on the headline below.]

Rhiannon Giddens is Named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow

Rhiannon Giddens was named earlier this month as one of 24 recipients of 2017 MacArthur Foundation Fellowships, also known as a “genius grants,” awarded annually to “individuals who show exceptional creativity in their work and the prospect for still more in the future.” [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]