Winners in the 2008 USA Songwriting Competition have been announced. Brooklyn, New York-based singer-songwriter Lucy Wainwright Roche captured first place in the folk category for “Snare Drum.” Boston, Massachusetts-based contemporary Celtic fiddler and composer Hanneke Cassel came in first in the instrumental category and won overall third prize in the competition for her song “A Shadow and a Thought.” Top honors for lyrics went to San Marcos, Texas-based Americana singer-songwriter Terri Hendrix for “If I Had a Daughter.” Los Angeles, California-based pop-rocker Jordan Zevon won the overall grand prize in the 13th annual competition. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

Nominees for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, to be presented by the Recording Academy next Feb. 8 in Los Angeles, were announced this week. Click on the headline for a listing of those who may be of particular interest to fans of folk and roots music.

Entries are now being sought for the 2009 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters to be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 23 and 24, during the 38th Annual Kerrville Folk Festival. The first 800 entries received prior to March 15, 2009 will be accepted and 32 finalists will be named in April. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

Finalists for the eighth annual Independent Music Awards were announced on Nov. 19. Produced by Music Resource Group, publishers of The Musician’s Atlas, the Independent Music Awards feature more than 50 music and design categories and were open to any indie-label release or self-produced, self-distributed recording released between July 1, 2007 and Sept. 30, 2008. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

The submission deadline for the 9th Annual Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) Song Contest has been extended to Dec. 10. The contest, open to aspiring songwriters in all music genres, is presented by CMT. NSAI members may enter for $35 per song, while the per-song fee for others is $45. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

Mieka Pauley, a 27 year-old singer-songwriter from Cambridge, Massachusetts, was named the grand prize winner in The New York Songwriters Circle’s 2008 Songwriting Contest. Pauley, whose musical style combines elements of soul, blues, rock, acoustic and alternative, performed a stripped-down acoustic version of “All the Same Mistakes” during live finals held before a panel of music industry judges and fans, Nov. 5 and 6, at The Bitter End in Manhattan’s West Village. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

The submissions deadline for the 2008 International Songwriting Competition has been extended to Dec. 1. Entries must be postmarked or uploaded online on or before that date. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

The international finals of the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, presented by Folk Alliance, take place on Saturday, October 11, at 7:30 p.m., at the Cultural Center in Charleston, West Virginia -- home to the internationally broadcast “Mountain Stage” radio and TV show that has showcased more than 2000 artists since its inception in 1983. Performing artists include this year’s early-bird finalists Maureen Andary of Washington, D.C. and Robby Hecht of Nashville, Tennessee; general round finalists Jacob & Lily of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Kelleigh McKenzie of Rosendale, New York, and Rose Polenzani of Somerville, Massachusetts; plus the following regional winners: Tanya Davis of Halifax, Nova Scotia; Steve Dawson of Chicago, Illinois; Jeff Ellis of Huntington, West Virginia; Kangero of Brooklyn, New York; Boris McCutcheon of Ojo Sarco, New Mexico; and Sarah Sample of Seattle, Washington. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]