Awards & Contests – Page 2 – AcousticMusicScene.com

Billy Strings was named Entertainer of the Year during the 36th Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards. (Photo: Ed Rode)

IBMA 2025 Bluegrass Music Awards Presented

Post published:September 21, 2025
Post author:Michael Kornfeld
Post category:Awards & Contests Bluegrass & Beyond

Billy Strings was named Entertainer of the Year for a fourth time, while bluegrass fiddle virtuosos Jason Carter and Michael Cleveland received several awards during the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s 36th Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards on September 18. The awards show – co-hosted by Steve Martin and Allison Brown – was a highlight of the IBMA’s five-day--long World of Bluegrass and took place at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article and to see the complete list of award recipients.]

Winners Named in 2025 Kerrville New Folk Competition

Post published:May 28, 2025
Post author:Michael Kornfeld
Post category:Awards & Contests Festival Focus News - U.S. National

Six singer-songwriters have been named as winners in the 2025 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 on May 24 and 25 as part of the Kerrville Folk Festival, an 18-day event at the Quiet Valley Ranch in the Texas Hill Country near Austin and San Antonio. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article and to view videos of the New Folk Concerts.]

SolarFest Songwriter Showcase Applications Due June 1

Post published:May 17, 2025
Post author:Michael Kornfeld
Post category:Awards & Contests Festival Focus

SolarFest -- slated for August 8-10, 2025 in Brandon, Vermont -- hosts a Singer-Songwriter Showcase. It’s free to enter and open to all artists who write and perform original music and are not currently signed to a major recording label.

Finalists Named in 2025 Kerrville New Folk Competition

Post published:April 19, 2025
Post author:Michael Kornfeld
Post category:Awards & Contests Festival Focus

Twenty-four songwriters have been named as finalists in the 2025 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. Chosen from among 1,118 entries from around the world, the finalists will perform the two songs they submitted on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, May 24 and 25, as part of the first weekend of the 53rd annual Kerrville Folk Festival. Ten finalists also have been recently selected as finalists in the Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest that is held in conjunction with the Wildflower Arts and Music Festival the previous weekend.

International Folk Music Award Winners Honored During Conference in Montreal

Post published:March 11, 2025
Post author:Michael Kornfeld
Post category:Acoustic Radio Waves Awards & Contests Conferences of Note

The 2025 International Folk Music Awards were presented on the opening night of the 37th annual Folk Alliance International Conference at Le Sheraton Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada last month. These included member-voted Best Album, Song and Artist of the Year (2024), as well as Lifetime Achievement Awards, Spirit of Folk Awards, the Clearwater Award, the People’s Voice Award, and the Rising Tide Award, in addition to inductions into the Folk Radio Hall of Fame. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article, which also includes information about the conference, and to view a couple of videos.]

IBMA Songwriter Showcase Applicants Sought

Post published:March 4, 2025
Post author:Michael Kornfeld
Post category:Awards & Contests Bluegrass & Beyond

Up to 10 songwriters (or songwriting teams) will be invited to perform one original bluegrass song each for an audience of artists, producers and other industry professionals during a Songwriter Showcase at this year’s IBMA Business Conference that’s part of the World of Bluegrass in Chattanooga, Tennessee, hosted by the International Bluegrass Music Association, September 16-18. The online application period for the 2025 IBMA Songwriter Showcase extends through March 31.

Sierra Ferrell Wins Four Grammy Awards

Post published:February 5, 2025
Post author:Michael Kornfeld
Post category:Awards & Contests News - U.S. National

Sierra Ferrell was a big winner at the 37th annual Grammy Awards, taking home awards in all four categories in which she was nominated. The Nashville, Tennessee-based and small-town West Virginia-born singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was honored for Best Americana Album (Trail of Flowers), Best American Roots Performance (“Lighthouse”), Best American Roots Song (“American Dreaming,” a co-write with Melody Walker), and Best Americana Performance (“American Dreaming”) during the February 2 premiere ceremony at Los Angeles, California’s Crypto.com Arena that preceded the evening telecast on CBS. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article and to view a video.]

Songwriter Serenade Contest Opens for Entries

Post published:January 16, 2025
Post author:Michael Kornfeld
Post category:Awards & Contests

Applications are being accepted through March 29 in the 18th annual Songwriter Serenade contest. From among all entries received, 15 songwriters will be invited to showcase their original songs and compete for prize money at the St. John Church Outdoor Pavilion in Schulenburg, Texas on Saturday, May 3, 2025.

Entries Sought in 2025 Kerrville New Folk Competition

Post published:January 14, 2025
Post author:Michael Kornfeld
Post category:Awards & Contests

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.

Highlights of 23rd Annual Americana Honors & Awards Air on PBS Television Stations

Post published:November 21, 2024
Post author:Michael Kornfeld
Post category:Awards & Contests News - U.S. National

Performances by some of Americana music’s biggest stars-- including Duane Betts, Blind Boys of Alabama, Fantastic Negrito, Sierra Ferrell, Emmylou Harris with Rodney Crowell, Sarah Jarosz, Noah Kahan, Larkin Poe, Jobi Riccio, Shelby Lynne, Waxahatchee with MJ Lederman, and Dwight Yoakam -- captured live during the 23rd annual Americana Honors & Awards show in September will air as an episode of Austin City Limits on PBS television stations throughout the U.S. beginning on Saturday, November 23.

2025 Canadian Folk Music Awards Nominees Named

Post published:October 31, 2024
Post author:Michael Kornfeld
Post category:Awards & Contests

Abigail Lapell, a Toronto-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, tops the list of nominees for the 2025 Canadian Folk Music Awards with four nominations: Contemporary Album of the Year and Solo Artist of the Year for her newest release, Anniversary, and Traditional Singer of the Year and Children’s Album of the year for her previous recording, Lullabies. Lapell previously received Canadian Folk Music Awards for English Songwriter of the Year in 2023 and 2020 and Contemporary Album of the Year in 2017. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article and to view the complete list of 107 nominees vying for awards in 20 categories to be presented in Ottawa next April.]

2024 Kerrville New Folk Winners Tour Texas in November

Post published:October 30, 2024
Post author:Michael Kornfeld
Post category:Awards & Contests

Winners of the 2024 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters will embark on a Kerrville New Folk on the Road tour across Texas on Friday, November 8. Extending through Sunday, Nov. 17, the tour will include stops in Austin, Dripping Springs, New Braunfels, Wimberley, Houston, Kerrville, Fischer, and San Antonio.