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.

Katie Dahl (Baileys Harbor, WI), Martin Gilmore (Denver, CO), Sara Beth Go (Nashville, TN), Cindy Kalmenson (Ojai, CA), Abigayle Oakley (Nashville, TN), and Madeleine Roger (Winnipeg, MB, Canada) will each perform 20-minute sets during a Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners concert at the festival on Saturday afternoon, May 31. The concert will also be livestreamed on the Kerrville Folk Festival’s website (kerrvillefolkfestival.org) and Facebook page, as well as on the Kerrville Folk Festival Foundation’s YouTube channel.

This year’s Kerrville New Folk competition drew a record-breaking 1341 entries. The six performing songwriters named as 2025 New Folk Winners were selected by judges Adeem the Artist, Rj Cowdery, Matt Nakoa, Raina Rose, and J Wagner. Their songs were evaluated based on originality, lyrics, melody, harmonic structure, and other elements of song-craft. In addition to receiving $750 cash awards and two wristbands each for Kerrville’s 2025 “Welcome Home” Fest in the fall, the winners are also invited to participate in a New Folk Concert Series tour in the spring prior to next year’s festival. Being named as a Kerrville New Folk Winner is regarded as a very prestigious honor in singer-songwriter circles.

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 and is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America.

Now in its 55th year, the Kerrville Folk Festival extends through Sunday, June 8, and features more than 100 artists and acts. Besides concerts each evening, it 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, Hill Country bike rides, guided nature walks, yoga, beer and wine seminars, a Young Artists Performance Incubator, a professional development program for teachers, as well as a songwriters school and instrumental workshops.

A listing of all of this year’s New Folk Finalists was included in a previously posted article: https://acousticmusicscene.com/2025/04/19/finalists-named-in-2025-kerrville-new-folk-competition/

Here are links to view the New Folk Concerts that took place on May 24 and 25:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a99XF8DZrRQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-zPMCRHcps

This year’s Kerrville New Folk Finalists are AJAYE (Nashville, TN), Malena Cadiz (Los Angeles, CA), Katie Dahl (Baileys Harbor, WI), Sophia DeLeo (New York, NY), Jeremy Facknitz (Colorado Springs, CA), Jessica Willis Fisher (Nashville, TN), Abbie Gardner (Nashville, TN), Martin Gilmore (Denver, CO), Sara Beth Go (Nashville, TN), Helena Hallberg (Zurich, Switzerland/Nashville, TN), Brian Johannesen (Iowa City, IA), Cindy Kalmenson (Ojai, CA), Holly Lovell (Denver, CO), Hudson Mueller ((Houston, TX), Abigayle Oakley (Nashville, TN), Racyne Parker (Everett, WA), Morgan Lee Power (Waco, TX), Reckless Saints (Fort Myers, FL), Madeleine Roger (Winnipeg, MB Canada), Stephanie Sammor (Farmers Branch, TX), Tai Shan (Madison, TN), Isabel Shaye (Arlington, VA), Mike Vitale (Los Angeles, CA), and Christopher Worth (Portland, OR). 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 may also be livestreamed on the Kerrville Folk Festival’s website [kerrvillefolkfestival.org] and Facebook page, as well as on the Kerrville Folk Festival Foundation’s YouTube channel.

After performing the two songs that they submitted during the New Folk Concerts, six songwriters will be selected as 2025 New Folk Winners by a panel of judges that includes Adeem the Artist, RJ Cowdery, Matt Nakoa, Raina Rose, and J Wagner. 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 2025 New Folk Award Winners, to be announced during the evening concert on May 25, will be invited to perform a 20-minute set as part of a New Folk Award Winners Concert on Saturday, May 31 that also will 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 2025 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 Concert Series tour in the spring prior to the festival.

Extending for 18 days, the Kerrville Folk Festival is set for May 22-June 8 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, organized canoe and kayak trips on the Guadelupe River and Hill Country bike rides, guided nature walks, yoga, beer and wine seminars, a Young Artists’ Performance Incubator, a professional development program for teachers, as well as a songwriters school and instrumental workshops.

Finalists Named in Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest

Ten finalists also have been named this month in the Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest and have been invited to showcase their talents during the 2025 Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival that takes place May 16-18 at the Galatyn Park Urban Center in Richardson, Texas — located just a few minutes north of Dallas. The finalists slated perform on Saturday, May 17, beginning at 12:30 p.m. CT, include Chris Baron (Portland, Oregon), Bud Bierhaus (Katy, TX), Daniel Boling (Albuquerque, NM), Mary Broussard (Scott, LA), Linda Dunnavant (Nashville, TN), Jesse Garcia (Glorietta, NM), Christine Hand (Dallas, TX), Michelle Rayburn (Nashville, TN), Erin Ash Sullivan (Harvard, MA), and Lindsay White (San Diego, CA).

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, lyrics, melody, and harmonic structure among the criteria.
Each of the finalists also will be afforded an opportunity to perform a set of songs on another stage as well during the festival. Visit wwildflowerfestival.com for more information.

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).

Peter, Paul and Mary’s music and social activism helped to shape a generation. Through the years, the popular and inspirational folk trio who frequently sang out against war and injustice touched the hearts and consciences of millions of people worldwide, won five Grammy Awards, received eight gold and five platinum records, released six Billboard top 10 singles, had two #1 Billboard chart-topping albums and a dozen top 40 hits, and have been the subject of five PBS documentaries.

Peter Yarrow was born on May 31, 1938 in New York City. Although he took violin lessons as a child, inspired by folks like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, he later switched to guitar. After graduating from Cornell University in 1959 with a degree in Psychology (although he also was a teaching assistant in an American folklore class), Yarrow returned to NYC and began playing the folk clubs and basket houses of Greenwich Village. After meeting music impresario Albert Grossman (who managed Dylan, Janis Joplin, Odetta, and others) who was eager to work with a folk harmony group, Yarrow set about with Grossman to launch one.

Peter, Paul and Mary – featuring Yarrow (guitar and tenor vocals), Noel Paul Stookey’s (guitar and gentle baritone vocals) and Mary Travers’ (contralto vocals) — formed in 1961, having made its first public appearance that fall at the Bitter End on Bleecker Street in New York City’s Greenwich Village. The trio’s eponymous debut album, released on Warner Brothers Records in May 1962, topped the charts that summer, remained in the Billboard magazine top 10 for ten months and the top 20 for two years, sold more than two-million copies, and featured the Grammy Award-winning hit single, “If I Had a Hammer.” That song, penned by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays of The Weavers (whom Yarrow viewed as early mentors), became an anthem of the civil rights movement and was performed by the trio on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, along with its rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” during the historic 1963 March on Washington at which the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Peter, Paul and Mary’s rendition of “ Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” was released in the summer of 1963 and also became a big hit for the trio. Archival footage of the trio performing the song during the march appears in the 2014 PBS documentary 50 Years with Peter, Paul and Mary, produced and directed by Emmy Award-winner Jim Brown. As Yarrow observes in the documentary, it was time when “music began to inspire America, tweak its conscience, and articulate its dreams.”

Besides “Blowin’ in the Wind,” the trio also recorded Dylan’s “When the Ship Comes In” and Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” with its rendition of the latter song also landing in Billboard’s top 10. Yarrow served on the board of the Newport Folk Festival and helped to emcee the event in 1965 when Dylan went electric. Famously, as recreated in the widely acclaimed Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown that is currently screening at movie theaters, Dylan borrowed Yarrow’s guitar to play “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.”

Although Peter, Paul and Mary performed together over the span of 50 years, there were times when the trio was on hiatus with each of its members pursuing solo careers and projects. The first such break came in 1970, shortly after the release of the trio’s cover of John Denver’s “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane” and Yarrow’s conviction after pleading guilty to taking “indecent liberties” with an under-age girl who had come to his dressing room seeking an autograph in 1969, for which he served three months in prison.

While “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane” was its last number one hit, Yarrow penned “Light One Candle” for the trio in 1982 – while war was raging in Lebanon – that has since become a popular Chanukah song. Peter, Paul and Mary performed “Light One Candle” — whose lyrics commemorate a war of national liberation fought by the Maccabees, while also calling for peace in the Middle East – for several years before recording it on its 1986 studio album No Easy Walk to Freedom. Its moving lyrics include: “Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice justice and freedom demand. Light one candle for the wisdom to know when the peacemaker’s time is at hand.” The 1986 album’s title track is a civil rights anthem that Yarrow co-wrote with Margery Tabankin.

An anti-war activist, Yarrow helped to organize and produce a number of large events including peace concerts at NYC’s Madison Square Garden and Shea Stadium, as well as the 1969 “Celebration of Life” march and demonstration in Washington, DC during which some 500,000 people demanded an end to America’s involvement in Vietnam.

Yarrow was a major champion of other songwriters who particularly sought to nurture the talents of new and emerging ones who, as he put it, “write from the heart.” A founding board member of the Newport Folk Festival, he also developed and hosted a Sunday afternoon concert focused on emerging folk artists and songwriters – providing earl opportunities to such artists as Eric Anderson, Tim Hardin and Buffy St. Marie. Ten years later, in 1972, he partnered with Rod Kennedy, the late founder-producer of the Kerrville Folk Festival to establish what’s now the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. 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.

Yarrow believed that music could be a transformative tool for informing the ethical sensibilities of children. In 1999, he established Operation Respect — an educational nonprofit organization and program that seeks to teach children about tolerance and respect for each other’s differences – using music, video, and conflict resolution curricula developed by Educators for Social Responsibility. In an interview with AcousticMusicScene.com in 2010, Yarrow maintained that “all kids deserve to grow up accepting each other,” expressing concern that 160,000 American children refuse to go to school because of cruelty, according to the American Association of School psychologists. Citing “our need to inherit a peaceful world,” he noted that peace education was regarded as “seditious” when the Operation Respect program was launched. It has since been incorporated into the curriculum of some 22,000 U.S. elementary and middle schools.

A former board member of the Connecticut Hospice, where he also periodically sang for patients and staff, he was long active on behalf of the hospice movement.

Last April, Yarrow joined Stookey in in performing in Boston during a Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Peter, Paul and Mary were among the inaugural class of inductees.

As Yarrow told AcousticMusicScene.com in 2010: “”Music can be used as a powerful force in a world where we desperately need it … Music is something that binds the hearts and can bring us together.” Here’s a link to read that article: https://acousticmusicscene.com/2010/11/27/the-peter-yarrow-sing-along-special-airs-on-pbs-stations/

Many of Peter Yarrow’s songs and those by other songwriters that Peter, Paul and Mary covered over the decades have a timeless quality to them and multigenerational appeal. For Peter Yarrow, “Day is Done,” yet his music and that of Peter, Paul and Mary lives on. So too do his widow Mary Beth (the niece of the late Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-MN), whom he met during a 1968 Democratic presidential primary campaign event and married the following year), his daughter Bethany, son Christopher, granddaughter Valentina, and lots of adoring fans.

Our folk community mourns his passing, as well as the recent deaths of Mike Brewer (a Missouri-based folk-rock singer-songwriter who, with his musical partner Tom Shipley, recorded the hit song “One Toke Over the Line”), David Mallet (the Maine-based singer-songwriter best known for “Garden Song”), and Josh White, Jr. (a Michigan-based singer and guitarist who followed in his late father’s folk and blues footsteps for decades).

Robin Bienemann (Chicago, IL), Lila Blue (New York, NY), Lucy Clearwater (Lafayette, CA), Sean Keel (Austin, TX), Rachel Sumner (Boston, MA), and Lily Talmers (Birmingham, MI) were chosen as winners in the prestigious competition by a panel of judges from among 24 finalists who performed two songs each during the New Folk Concerts on May 25 and 26 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. Each performed a 20-minute set during a Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners Concert at the festival on June 1; received cash honorariums, festival swag and a mentoring session with a professional songwriter; as well as an invite to participate in the Kerrville New Folk on the Road.

The tour kicks off on Friday, Nov. 8 at ACL Live at 3Ten in Austin, which bills itself as the Live Music Capital of the World. Several house concerts follow: an already sold-out one for Sycamore Creek House Concerts in Dripping Springs (Nov. 9), New Braunfels House Concerts in New Braunfels (Nov. 10), and Milagro Springs House Concerts in Wimberley (Nov. 11). On Tuesday, Nov. 12, the performing songwriters will grace the stage at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston (a concert that will also be livestreamed). After a brief hiatus, the tour continues on Friday, Nov. 15 with a free 6 p.m. show at Kerrville’s Pint & Plow Brewing. This will be followed by performances on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 16 in Fischer as part of a weekend-long Cabin 10 Presents: Live at the Donkey Shack. The tour wraps up at Bowman Backyard House Concerts in the late afternoon on Sunday, Nov. 17. For more information and links to purchase tickets for these shows, visit https://www.kerrvillefolkfestival.org/2024-new-folk-winners-tour.

This year’s Kerrville New Folk competition drew a record-breaking 1341 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. The Kerrville Folk Festival is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America.

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. It is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America.

Now in its 54th year, the Kerrville Folk Festival extends through Sunday, June 9. 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, Hill Country bike rides, guided nature walks, yoga, beer and wine seminars, a Young Artists Performance Incubator, a professional development program for teachers, as well as a songwriters school and instrumental workshops.

A listing of all of this year’s New Folk Finalists was included in a previously posted article: https://acousticmusicscene.com/2024/04/17/finalists-named-in-2024-kerrville-new-folk-competition/.

Slated to perform on Saturday, May 25 are Jeremy Parsons, Gloria Anderson, Rachel Sumner, Admiral Radio, Kenny Foster, Lila Blue, Lily Talmers, Summerlyn Powers, Mike Vitale, Halley Neal, Alex Wong, and Lucy Clearwater. Performing on Sunday afternoon, May 26 will be Elise Leavy, John Dennis, Genevieve Racette, Robin Bienemann, Stephanie Simmons, Sean Keel, Jack McKeon, Katie Dahl, Elliah Heifetz, Sara Beth Go, Blossom Drearie by Brandon Whyde, and Tai Shan.

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, from 1:00-4:30 p.m. CT. The New Folk Concerts will also be livestreamed on the Kerrville Folk Festival’s website [kerrvillefolkfestival.org/2024-newfolk-competition] and Facebook page, as well as on the Kerrville Folk Festival Foundation’s YouTube channel.

After performing the two songs that they submitted during the New Folk Concerts, six songwriters will be selected as 2024 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 2024 New Folk Award Winners, to be announced during the evening concert on May 26, will receive a cash prize, a mentoring session with a professional songwriter, some Kerrville Folk Festival swag, two complimentary full festival access passes to the KFF Foundation’s fall festival event, and will be invited to perform a 20-minute set on stage on Sunday, June 1. They also may be afforded the opportunity to take part in a Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk House Concert Tour in Texas, as well as to play the 2025 spring or fall festival.

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 and is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America. In addition to receiving cash awards and additional performance opportunities, being named as a New Folk Award Winner is regarded as a very prestigious honor.

Extending for 18 days, the Kerrville Folk Festival is set for May 23-June 9. Besides concerts each evening, it features “Ballad Tree” song-sharing sessions, campfire jam sessions, concerts and activities for children, organized canoe and kayak trips on the Guadelupe River and Hill Country bike rides, guided nature walks, yoga, beer and wine seminars, a Young Artists’ Performance Incubator, a professional development program for teachers, as well as a songwriters school and instrumental workshops.

Six songwriters will be named as 2024 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 Sunday, June 1, with each of the winners playing a 20-minute set.

Songwriters may submit a .mp3 audio recording of two original songs in any genre via the Kerrville Folk Festival website’s New Folk page (kerrvillefolkfestival.org/newfolk). The entry fee is $47. Along with the entry forms, official rules and guidelines can be found on the website.

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 and is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America. In addition to receiving cash awards and additional performance opportunities, being named as a New Folk Award Winner is regarded as a very prestigious honor.

Six 2023 Winners Take Part in New Folk Concert Series Tour, April 27-May 5, 2024

Kerrville New Folk winners also are invited to participate in a New Folk Concert Series tour in the spring prior to the festival. 2023 winners Katie Boeck, Flamy Grant, Byron James, Barbara Jarrell, and Olivia Ellen Lloyd will play eight Texas venues and concert series from April 27-May 5. These include Sycamore Creek Concerts in Dripping Springs (4/27), New Braunfels House Concerts in New Braunfels (4/28), Milagro Springs House Concerts in Wimberley (4/29), McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston (4/30), Sagebrush in Austin ((5/01), Pint & Plow in Kerrville (5/03), Fischer Hall New Folk/Old Folk in Fischer (5/04), and Bowman Backyard Concerts in San Antonio (5/05)

Initial Lineup for Kerrville Folk Festival Announced

The initial lineup for this year’s Kerrville Folk Festival — which extends from May 23-June 9 — also has been announced, with a full schedule slated for release in late March. Among the artists slated to showcase their talents — in addition to the 2023 New Folk winners named above — are (in alphabetical order) Adeem The Artist, Mary Bragg, Hayes Carll, Nic Clark, Scott Cook, Iris DeMent, Alejandro Escovedo, John Flynn, Sue Foley, Ruthie Foster, John Fullbright, Vance Gilbert, Drew Holcomb, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Hanne Kah, Donovan Keith, Amythyst Kiah, Spencer LaJoye, Zoe Lewis, Sav Madigan, Deidre McCalla, Miles & Mafale, SaulPaul, Darrell Scott, Aaron Smith, SONiA disappear fear, Jack Summers, Owen Temple, Topo Chico Cowboys, Tuba Skinny, and Susan Werner.

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.