This year’s Kerrville New Folk Finalists are AJAYE (Nashville, TN), Caitlin Cannon (Nashville, TN), Cheyloe (Birmingham, AL), Robert Deitch (Polk City, IA), Bill DiLuigi (Nashville, TN), Sarah Golden (Houston, TX), Melody Guy (Nashville, TN), Helena Hallberg (Zurich, Switzerland & Nashville, TN), Sammie Hershock (Marshall, MI), Taylor Lansdale (Lexington, KY), Charlotte Morris (Philadelphia, PA) Hudson Mueller (Houston, TX), Matthew Payne (Dripping Springs, TX), Rebekkah Powell (Boulder, CO), Michelle Raybourn (Nashville, TN), Natalie Royal (Nashville, TN), Monty Russell (Ruston, LA), Stephanie Sammons (Dallas, TX), Liam Slater (Nashville, TN), Casli Stephan (Tulsa, OK), Allison Strong (Union City, NJ), Cat Terrones (San Pedro, CA), Robert Thomas (Monncton, NB, Canada), and Logan Vath (Norfolk, VA). They will showcase their talents and songwriting skills at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds in the Texas Hill Country near Austin and San Antonio, beginning at 1:30 p.m. CT. The New Folk Concerts will also be livestreamed on the Kerrville Folk Festival’s website,https:// kerrvillefolkfestival.org.

After performing the two songs that they submitted during the New Folk Concerts, six songwriters will be selected as 2026 New Folk Winners by a panel of judges. As in the first round, the finalists’ songs will be evaluated based on originality, lyrics, melody, harmonic structure, and other elements of song-craft. Each of the six performing songwriters chosen as 2026 New Folk Award Winners, to be announced during the evening concert on May 24, will be invited to perform a 20-minute set as part of a New Folk Award Winners Concert on Saturday, May 30 that will also be livestreamed.

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 2026 fall “Welcome Home” Fest, being named as a New Folk Award Winner is regarded as a very prestigious honor. Kerrville New Folk winners also are invited to participate in a New Folk Winners House Concert Tour in Texas.

Extending for 18 days, the Kerrville Folk Festival is set for May 21 to June 7 and will feature more than 100 artists and acts. Besides concerts each evening, it features “Ballad Tree” song-sharing sessions, campfire jam sessions, concerts and activities for children, as well as songwriting and instrumental workshops, a canoe trip on the Guadelupe River, and wine tasting excursions for additional fees.

Finalists Named in Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest

Ten finalists also have been named in the Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest and have been invited to showcase their talents during the 2026 Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival that takes place May 15-17 at the Galatyn Park Urban Center in Richardson, Texas — located just a few minutes north of Dallas. The finalists are Bud Bierhaus (Katy, TX), Paul Demer (Dallas, TX), Jerome Goosman (Nashville, TN), Jeff Hewitt (Garland, TX), Michelle Raybourn (Nashville, TN), Ben Reneer (Phoenix, AZ), Stephanie Sammons (Dallas, TX), Branlin Shockey (Rockwall, TX), Alicia Stockman (Heber City, UT), and Reed Waddle (Phoenix, AZ). As noted earlier, Raybourn and Sammons are also Kerrville New Folk Finalists.

Using a blind-screening process, a panel of judges chose the finalists who will perform two songs each on the Singer-Songwriter Stage inside the Eisemann Center during the annual event that is billed as North Texas’ largest music festival. The 10 finalists will compete for cash prizes and be judged based equally on the quality and presentation of their songs – with originality, lyricism, melody, harmonic structure, and overall songwriting craft among the criteria. Each of the finalists will also be afforded an opportunity to perform a set of songs on another stage as well during the festival. Visit https://www.wildflowerfestival.com for more information.

Six Songwriters Win Prestigious Kerrville New Folk Competition

Six singer-songwriters have been selected as winners in the 2023 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 27 and 28 as part of the Kerrville Folk Festival, an 18-day event at the Quiet Valley Ranch in the Texas Hill Country.

Katie Boeck (Nashville, Tennessee), Flamy Grant (San Diego, California), Byron James (Lawrence, Kansas), Barbara Jarrell (Shreveport, Louisiana), Olivia Ellen Lloyd (Shepherdstown, West Virginia), and Jack Summers (Kansas City, Missouri) will each perform 20-minute sets during a Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners concert at the festival on Saturday afternoon, June 3 at 1:30 p.m. CT that will also be live-streamed on the Kerrville Folk Festival’s website (link) and on the Kerrville Folk Festival Foundation’s YouTube channel. The six will also receive cash honorariums and other prizes. Some 950 songwriters had initially submitted entries.

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. Now in its 51st year, it is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America.

The Kerrville Folk Festival extends through Sunday, June 11. Besides concerts each evening, Kerrville features “Ballad Tree” song-sharing sessions, late-night and afternoon song circles and jam sessions at various campsites, concerts and activities for children, organized canoe and kayak trips on the Guadelupe River and Hill Country bike rides, a professional development program for teachers, as well as a songwriters school and instrumental workshops. For more information, visit kerrvillefolkfestival.org. A listing of all of this year’s New Folk Finalists was included in a previously posted article.

Korby Lenker Wins 2023 Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest

Korby Lenker, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, is the winner in the 2023 Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest that was held in conjunction with the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival, May 19-21 at Galatyn Park Urban Center in Richardson, Texas – just a few minutes north of Dallas.

Writes Lenker: “Contests are not even close to as fun as actual shows but they are a kind of interesting gauntlet, akin to running through a tunnel of strangers with a guitar while being poked with a series of sharp sticks.” When it was finally time to play his first song – a serious one entitled “Every Time I Hear Your Favorite Song” that he wrote after his little sister Kenna passed away suddenly – Lenker looked at his hands “and to my great pleasure they weren’t shaking, not even a little bit. I sat down at the piano they had prepped for me and even though it was way too high and I felt like a Tyrannosaurus Rex when I raised my hands to play the first chord sounded right enough… When the song was done there was a smattering of applause much like you might hear folks do at some other kid’s recital. Not an inch past polite.” In contrast, some audience members sang along to the chorus during his second song, “Ain’t Nobody Gonna Steal My Joy,” a “happy as hell” number that he co-wrote with Robby Hecht, and on which Lenker accompanied himself on guitar.

The Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest, which drew some 300 entries from across the U.S., was open to singer-songwriters who perform in a wide array of genres — including Americana, bluegrass, blues, Celtic, country, folk, and rock, among others. Submitted songs were to have been representative of the artist’s live performance and include only one instrument, the songwriter’s vocals and no back-up harmonies, and were not to exceed five minutes in length.

Lenker who originally hails from southern Idaho and also is an author and filmmaker, was among ten finalists who competed for cash prizes and were judged based equally on the quality and presentation of their songs — with originality, lyrics, melody, and harmonic structure among the criteria. As the first-place (grand prize) winner, he received $1,000 plus two full days of recording at Audio Dallas Recording Studio, while runners-up Lauren Frihauf (Denver, CO) and Abigayle Kompst (Nashville, TN), along with Michael Troy People’s Choice Award winner JD Graham (Mesa, AZ), each received $500. The winners also were featured in a spotlight round on Sunday afternoon, May 21.

Caitlin Cannon Wins 2023 Songwriter Serenade

Cannon released her first album, The TrashCannon Album, in 2020 and followed that up with an album by Side Pony, her duo with Alice Wallace, entitled Lucky Break. On March 31, her latest single, “Amarillo and Little Rock,” premiered on streaming platforms. She plans to release another solo album early next year.

Taking second through eighth place, respectively, in this year’s Songwriter Serenade were Jenner Fox (Bainbridge Island, WA), Sarah Morris (Shoreview, MN), Nick Spear (Whitefish, MT), Chris Moyse (Nashville, TN), Ajaye Bureyko (Nashville, TN), Wyatt Espalin (Hawassee, GA), and Anthony Garcia (Holland, TX).

Prize monies were awarded to all of the finalists, while Cannon was also afforded the opportunity to perform as the opening act during the judges’ show (featuring Susan Gibson, Josh Grider, Phoebe Hunt, and Walt Wilkins) at the TR Ranch in Halletsville in the evening following the songwriter competition. The finalists and seven other semifinalists were chosen from among nearly 130 entrants. There were no fees to enter the annual competition that was established in 2007 to provide performing songwriters with a platform to showcase their skills before their peers, a panel of esteemed judges and an appreciative audience of Americana, folk and roots music lovers.

The finalists, chosen from among nearly 200 entries, are Caitlin Cannon (Nashville,TN), Lyle de Vitry (Asheville, NC), Rob Drabkin (Denver, CO), Jackson Emmer (Carbondale, CO), Daphne Gale (New York, NY), Amy Keeler (Pugwash Junction, NS, Canada), Gabrielle Louise (Paonia, CO), Sean Magwire (Oxford, MA), Halley Neal (Nashville, TN), and Eliza Thorp (Petoskey, MI). Named as alternates were Lalo Hart (Evergreen, CO) and Sarah Morris (Shoreview, MN).

Each of the ten finalists – who were judged on the basis of their songs’ composition, vocal delivery, and the overall presentation/performance — will perform two original songs in the preliminary round at the Elks Park Stage in downtown Telluride on Thursday afternoon, while the top five finalists will perform two different original songs in the final round the following afternoon. In addition to a complimentary four-day festival pass, each finalist also receives an in-the-round performance slot in Elks Park and will participate in a live radio interview and performance with local station KOTO. The winner performs a 15-minute set on the festival’s main stage on Saturday evening.

The Telluride Troubadour Competition is open to anyone who writes and performs original music and who is not currently signed to a major recording or publishing deal. It has been held in conjunction with the Telluride Bluegrass Festival since 1991, although there hasn’t been one since 2019 – prior to the pandemic. That year’s Telluride Troubadour was Emily Scott Robinson (Greensboro, NC).

More information on the 2023 Telluride Troubadour Competition and on the Telluride Bluegrass Festival can be found online at www.bluegrass.com/telluride.

Ajaye Bureyko (Nashville, TN), Katrina Cain (Austin, TX), Caitlin Cannon (Nashville, TN), Christina Cavazos (Nashville, TN), Alex Coba (Houston, TX), Wyatt Espalin (Hawassee, GA), Jenner Fox (Bainbridge Island, WA), Anthony Garcia (Holland, TX), Helena Halberg (Brooklyn, NY), Jack McKeon (Nashville, TN), Sarah Morris (Shoreview, MN), Chris Moyse (Nashville, TN), Nick Spear (Whitefish, MT), Alicia Stockman (Heber City, UT), and Laura Zucker (Lafayette, CA) were selected as semifinalists by a panel of judges comprised of Susan Gibson, Josh Grider, Phoebe Hunt, and Walt Wilkins.

There were no fees to enter the annual competition that was established in 2007 to provide performing songwriters with a platform to showcase their skills before their peers, a panel of esteemed judges and an appreciative audience of Americana, folk and roots music lovers. Songwriters had to submit four songs in mp3 format that were written and/or copyrighted within the last three years. They were evaluated based on lyrics (imagery, story, creativity, and originality), melody (structure, phrasing and rhythm), and performing ability (vocals, musicianship). Stage presence/audience rapport will also be taken into consideration during the semifinals and finals.

Each of the 15 semifinalists will perform two songs before the judges and an audience from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Following an hour-long lunch break, seven selected finalists will perform one different original song between 3 and 4 p.m. Prize money will be awarded to all participants immediately after the finals, while an awards ceremony is slated for 4:30 p.m. Ken Gaines, an award-winning singer-songwriter and former longtime host of a songwriters’ series at Houston’s famed Anderson Fair, will be the event’s emcee. Public tickets are available for $15 and may be purchased online at songwriterserenade.com, where more information also may be found.

In addition to prize money, the first-place winner in the Songwriter Serenade will open a concert featuring the judges that evening at the TR Ranch in Halletsville, TX. Tickets for the concert, slated for 7-9 p.m., also may be purchased online.

As previously reported on AcousticMusicScene.com, Sav Buist, a Nashville, TN-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (who is also part of The Accidentals), took top honors during last year’s Songwriter Serenade.