Nurture the Future is this year’s conference theme. “It was something we felt needed to be communicated as our world is changing every second of the day,” says Jill Kettles, SERFA’s board president. “We aim to uphold the past, mold the present, and project it for future generations; this is not just important but vital.”

SERFA is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International (folk.org), a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. SERFA (serfa.org) exists to promote, develop and celebrate the diverse heritage of roots and indigenous music, dance, storytelling and related arts in the southeastern United States. It has produced an annual conference since 2008. This is SERFA’s third consecutive year at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina.

The official showcases take place Friday and Saturday evenings, with each artist/act performing a 15-minute set. Unplugged private showcases follow from 10:40 p.m. to 2 a.m. Also on the agenda are daytime panel discussions and workshops, a Wisdom of the Elders session, a few thematic song circles, open mics, mentoring sessions, an awards presentation, an exhibit hall, communal meals, and plenty of other opportunities to learn, share and network –- including during built-in afternoon breaks in the programming. Informal jams and song circles also are apt to break out in the lobby and outside (weather permitting).

Rachael Sage, Award-Winning, Prolific Singer-Songwriter and Boutique Label Owner to Deliver Keynote Address

Daytime Programming Includes Workshops, Song Circles, Think Tanks, and Mentoring Sessions

Besides the workshops and panel discussions, there will be moderated, interactive “think tanks” on House Concerts and Small Venues and Hey, What’s Your Problem, one-on-one mentoring sessions, several thematic song circles, several thematic song circles, and a Wisdom of the Elders session during the daytime hours.

Wisdom of the Elders and SERFA Awards are Among Conference Highlights

The Wisdom of the Elders conversational panel session provides a structured opportunity for conference attendees to learn from and about veteran leaders in the folk community and for the elders to talk among themselves as well. Participants this year are Scott Berwick, Wayne Erbsen and Taylor Pie.

Berwick has long been active in American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 1000 (the traveling musicians union), has been attending SERFA conferences for the past decade, and has also been involved with the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, the Hudson Valley Folk Guild, and the Ashokan Center, as well as an informal, weekly song circle near his home in upstate New York.

Erbsen has been engaged in traditional American music for more than 50 years as a musician, recording artist (with nearly 20 albums to his credit), professor at Warren Wilson College and the University of North Carolina at Asheville, author and publisher (who has written and published 40 books), and a public radio DJ.

A Tennessee-based traveling folk minstrel and Americana artist, Taylor Pie (Susan Taylor) helped form the Pozo Seco Singers with Don Williams in the early 1960s and has been a solo singer-songwriter and musician since the folk group disbanded. Many notable artists have covered her songs, while Pie was inducted into the Old-Time Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015. Along with her friend Kathryn Harrison, she launched PuffBunny Records in 2007 to share her music and that of other artists she admires. Taylor Pie, who now handles A &R for the label, also stars in Nobody Famous, an award-winning music documentary that was screened during the 2022 SERFA conference.

Menius, who currently hosts “The Revolution Starts Now” on Hillsborough, NC-based WHUP, has hosted radio shows on four stations since 2007. The first executive director of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), from 1985-1990, Menius also served as Folk Alliance International’s initial board president in 1990 and manager from 1991-1996, prior to serving as associate director of MerleFest for a decade and then as executive director of Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky and The ArtsCenter in Carrboro, NC. He’s also produced concerts, festivals and conferences and worked as a fundraiser, marketing director, emcee, stage manager, and writer.

Dom Flemons, an Arizona native and Chicago area-based musician who has earned the moniker “The American Songster” since his repertoire covers more than 100 years of American roots music, records for Smithsonian Folkways. He is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist (banjo, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, fife, and rhythm bones), music scholar, actor, slam poet, record collector, and the creator, host and producer of American Songster Radio Show on WSM in Nashville, Tennessee. Earlier this year, he was named the grand-prize winner as well as first place honors for Best Folk/Americana Roots Album (for American Wildfire) in the International Acoustic Music Awards. In 2020, he received the prestigious United States Artists Fellowship Award in the Traditional Arts category. Two years later, he received a degree as Doctor of Humane Letters from his alma mater Northern Arizona University and was the commencement speaker at the graduation ceremony or the Class of 2022. Flemons was a founding member of Carolina Chocolate Drops, a Grammy Award-winning African-American old-time string band.

Junior Appalachian Musicians, Inc. (jamkids.org) is the nonprofit parent organization for more than 50 afterschool programs for children ages six and up. JAM provides communities with the requisite tools and support to teach children to play and dance to traditional old time and bluegrass music. Its program model introduces music through small group instruction on instruments common to the Appalachian region and provides youth with opportunities to learn traditional music with their peers from local teaching artists and to perform in their communities and regionally.

Taylor Caffery, the longtime host of “Hootenanny Power” on WRKF in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is the recipient of this year’s Kari Estrin Founding President’s Award. His weekly radio show incorporates musical styles and cultural influences from Caffery’s five decades on radio that began when he hosted his first show while in the U.S. Navy and continued with his college radio station KCSL. To that musical gumbo, he mixes in new discoveries from Folk Alliance International and SERFA conferences.

Dozens of Artists to be Featured in Official and Guerilla Showcases

Slated to present official showcases on Friday evening, May 10 are (in order of appearance) Sue Horowitz, Chris Haddox, Ron Fetner, A Tale of Two, Dustin Gaspard, Nicholas Edward Williams, Helene Cronin, and Admiral Radio. Saturday’s official showcase lineup features Jess Klein, Wes Collins, Bett Padgett, Cast Iron Bluegrass, Ruth and Max Bloomquist, Stone & Snow, Couldn’t Be Happiers, and Ordinary Elephant.

Here’s a link to a Spotify playlist that features one song from each of the official showcase artists.

Following the official showcases on Friday and Saturday, as well as an open mic on Thursday, late-night guerilla showcases will take place in various meeting rooms for several hours. AcousticMusicScene.com, which has had a presence at SERFA conferences since 2011, will host a couple of late-night song swaps and a midnight hoot (featuring more than two-dozen artists/acts – each performing one song) on Thursday, May 9, overnight. The AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot is a pre-arranged round-robin song swap that is intended to provide concert and festival presenters, folk DJs and others with an opportunity to get a small sampling of the music of a lot of artists in a short period of time on the conference’s opening night. It also enables artists to enjoy and each other’s company and music before the conference really gets into full swing on Friday.

Here’s the AcousticMusicScene.com Showcase schedule:

10:40 Brooklyn in the House: Carolann Solebello and Pat Wictor

11:00 Long Island Sound: Hank Stone and Jim Whiteman

11:30 Midnight Hoot, Part 1 (one song each):

Antonio Andrade, Max & Ruth Bloomquist, Dan & Faith, Katie Dahl, Annie Stokes

12:00 Midnight Hoot, Part 2 (one song each, not necessarily in this order)

Taylor Pie, The Farmer & The Crow, Amy Speace, Annie & Rod Capps, Marc Douglas Berardo, Karyn Oliver, Lindsay Whiteman, Miles & Mafale, Rachael Sage, Emma Frances, Nicholas Edward Williams, Noah Zacharin

1:00 Midnight Hoot, Part 3 (one song each, not necessarily in this order)

Jon Shain & FJ Ventre, Erin Ash Sullivan, Robert Bidney, Rob Lytle, Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus, Meg Braun, Alice Hasen, Brian Ashley Jones & Melanie Jean, Couldn’t Be Happiers, Reckless Saints, Siena Christie

One of the most notable songwriting competitions in roots and Americana music, the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest features four categories: bluegrass, general, gospel, and country. First- through third-place winners will be chosen in each category during MerleFest 2021, which is slated for September 16-19, 2021 on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. First-place winners will each receive $1,000 and a Saturday evening performance slot at the festival. Founded 33 years ago in memory of the late Eddy Merle Watson, son of American music legend Doc Watson, MerleFest is considered one of America’s most popular music festivals.

The contest entry deadline is June 15. Submissions, including a $30 fee per entry, may be made using an online entry form. All lyrics must be written in English, and no instrumentals will be accepted. For more information about the contest, rules, and how to enter, visit merlefest.org/CASC.

The Chris Austin Songwriting Contest was established to honor the memory of Chris Austin, a songwriter and former sideman for Ricky Skaggs. Austin’s life was tragically cut short when a private plane carrying him and six other members of Reba McEntire’s band, as well as her tour manager, crashed in California in 1991. In the contest that is open to those whose primary source of income is not derived from songwriting or publishing, songs are judged based on originality, lyrics, melody and overall commercial potential. Previous winners of the contest include Gillian Welch, Tift Merritt, Michael Reno Harrell, Adrienne Young, Martha Scanlan, David Via, Eliot Bronson and Johnny Williams, among others. Net proceeds from the contest help support the Wilkes Community College Chris Austin Memorial Scholarship that has provided financial support to 109 students since its inception.

MerleFest is a “traditional plus” music festival featuring traditional roots-oriented sounds of the Appalachian region — including old-time, roots country, bluegrass, folk, gospel, and blues — expanded to include Americana, classic rock and other styles. It usually takes place during the last weekend in April but was cancelled last year due to safety concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and is making a one-time only move to the this fall, according to festival organizers. The 2021 festival’s artist lineup will be revealed on June 10 during a MerleFest Artist Announcement Celebration livestream beginning at 7 p.m. EDT.

Lindsay Craven, the festival’s artist relations manager, reached out to see if some artists would like to share a special song and a memory of the iconic blind folk guitarist, who passed away on May 29, 2012, and received what she called an “amazing “response. “More than 60 artists “have taken time to record a video and send in a song for us to share with our fans,” she noted.

Extending from 9 a.m. on Monday, May 25 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, May 29, the remembrance event known as #DocWatsonWeek can be viewed on MerleFest’s Facebook page (https:facebook.com/MerleFest), as well as via its Twitter and Instagram accounts (both at @MerleFest) during the week. Each video will be posted at the top of the hour, starting at 9 a.m. daily, according to Craven. DocWatsonWeek will close out with a recording of Watson’s final performance on the festival’s Creekside Stage in 2012.

Here’s the artist lineup: MONDAY: Joe Smothers Music, One Fret Over, Cordovas, Sweet Potato Pie, Piedmont Blūz Acoustic Duo, Hogslop String Band, Happy Traum, Kelsey Waldon, Mary Flower, Chatham Rabbits, Chatham County Line, Tara Nevins of Donna the Buffalo with Richie Stearns, Tommy Emmanuel with Jason Isbell; TUESDAY: Kevin Russell of Shinyribs, Iron Horse Bluegrass, Steep Canyon Rangers, The Williams Brothers Band, James Nash of The Waybacks, Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road, Alison Brown, Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, The Local Boys, Pete Wernick, Jerry Douglas, Peter Rowan, Andy May; WEDNESDAY: Terrapin Creek, David Holt, Bill and the Belles, Kruger Brothers, Robbie Fulks, musician, Tony Williamson, Dennis Stroughmatt with Creole Stomp, Gangstagrass, Nefesh Mountain, Dave Bruzza of Greensky Bluegrass, T Michael Coleman, Scythian, Carol Rifkin; THURSDAY: The Barefoot Movement, Kathy Mattea, Charles Welch, Mitch Greenhill, None of the Above, Presley Barker, Paul Thorn, Jody Carroll, Billy Strings, Wayne Henderson, Amythyst Kiah, Sierra Hull, Darin & Brooke Aldridge; FRIDAY: The Steel Wheels, Brothers Egg, Sierra Ferrell, Mark Bumgarner Music, Wyld Fern, Jim Lauderdale, Anna Lynch, Fireside Collective, Sam Bush, John McEuen, and Doc Watson.

Founded in 1988 in memory of the late Eddy Merle Watson, Doc’s son and an instrumental virtuoso in his own right, MerleFest was initially created to celebrate “traditional plus” music – a mix of music based on the traditional, roots-oriented sounds of the Appalachian region — but has come to embrace Americana, country, blues, rock and other musical styles as well. The annual four-day event, originally scheduled for this spring on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, has been postponed until April 29-May 2, 2021 due to public health concerns surrounding the Coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic.

The Songwriter Serenade win for Mary Bragg came one year to the official release date of her fourth and latest studio album, Lucky Strike. Bragg was named the winner in the country category of the 2017 Merlefest Chris Austin Songwriter Contest for the album’s title track, a co-write with Liz Poston. Last year, the small-town Swainsboro, Georgia native also was a finalist in the prestigious Kerrville New Folk and Telluride Troubadour competitions.

Second- to seventh-place winners in the Songwriter Serenade Competition were, respectively: Mia Rose Lynne (Cross Plains, TN), Clint Alphin (Nashville, TN), Heather Styka (Chicago, IL), Brian Pounds (Austin, TX), Renee Wahl (Nashville, TN), and Chad Richard (Orange, TX). The other semifinalists (in alphabetical order) were Edan Archer (Nashville, TN), Jordi Baizan (Houston, TX), Daniel Boling (Albuquerque, NM), Charles Bryant (Pasadena, TX), Jackson Emmer (Carbondale, CO), Dan Johnson (Fort Worth, TX), Rich Krueger (Evergreen Park, IL), and Jodee Lewis (Chicago, IL).

The Songwriter Serenade is an 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 three-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 and audience rapport also were taken into consideration during the semifinal and final rounds.

Feb. 1 Deadline Nears for Chris Austin Songwriting Contest

Now in its 26th year, the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest affords aspiring writers an opportunity to have their original songs heard and judged by a panel of music industry professionals, under the direction of volunteer contest chairperson, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale. The first place winners will receive $600 and a performance slot on the Cabin Stage on Friday and Saturday at MerleFest 2018. Founded 30 years ago in memory of the late Eddy Merle Watson, son of American music legend Doc Watson, MerleFest is considered one of America’s premier music festivals

Rodney Crowell, Andrew Marlin (of Mandolin Orange), and previous winner Johnny Williams (of Jeanette Williams Band) will judge the on-site final round of this year’s contest on April 27.

The contest entry deadline is February 1. Submissions, including a $30 fee per entry, may be made using the online entry form or by mailing entries to MerleFest/CASC, PO Box 120, Wilkesboro, NC 28697. All lyrics must be written in English and no instrumentals will be accepted. For more information about the contest rules and how to enter, visit: http://merlefest.org/chris-austin-songwriting-contest/enter-the-contest/.

The Chris Austin Songwriting Contest was established to honor the memory of Chris Austin, a songwriter and former sideman for Ricky Skaggs. Austin’s life was tragically cut short when a private plane carrying him and six other members of Reba McEntire’s band, as well as her tour manager, crashed in California in 1991. In the contest that is open to those whose primary source of income is not derived from songwriting or publishing, songs are judged based on originality, lyrics, melody and overall commercial potential. Previous winners of the contest include Gillian Welch, Tift Merritt, Michael Reno Harrell, Adrienne Young, Martha Scanlan, David Via, Eliot Bronson and Johnny Williams. Net proceeds from the contest help support the Wilkes Community College Chris Austin Memorial Scholarship that has provided financial support to 86 students since its inception.

2018 Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest Opens

A panel of judges will choose ten finalists to perform two songs on the Singer-Songwriter Stage during the 26th annual event that is billed as North Texas’ largest music festival. The ten finalists will compete for cash prizes and be judged based on both their songwriting craft and the presentation of their songs. Four of them will each receive $500. All performing finalists will receive festival passes for themselves and a guest, lodging, green room access for food and beverages, and the opportunity to perform solo sets on the festival’s Courtyard Stage. The four winners will also be featured in a 75-minute spotlight round on Sunday afternoon.

Last year’s winners were Mike Laureanno (Rhode Island), Tom Meny (Texas) and Emily Scott Robinson (Texas), while Healther Mae (Washington, DC) was the Michael Terry People’s Choice Winner. The contest is named after the late Alton (Al) Walter Johnson, who managed the festival’s singer-songwriter stage for years.

For complete contest rules and more information, visit www.wildflowerfestival.com/songwriter-contest-workshop/.

Entries Continue to Be Accepted for the 2018 Kerrville New Folk Competition

As previously posted on AcousticMusicScene.com, Entries are also 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.

Six songwriters will be named as 2018 New Folk Award Winners after performing, along with the 26 other finalists, at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds. A Kerrville New Folk Winners concert is slated for Sunday, June 3.

Songwriters may send two original songs (written after Jan. 1, 2016) on a home-burned CD to the Kerrville Folk Festival office, email them in .mp3 format along with a completed entry form, or submit them online via Sonicbids. The entry fee is $25. Official guidelines, along with entry information and forms, are posted at www.kerrville-music.com/new-folk.

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.

This year’s contest attracted nearly 750 entries in four categories (bluegrass, country, general and gospel). Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale served as volunteer contest chairperson and led a songwriting mentoring session, along with the on-site judges, in which all of the finalists took part.

The winners in the bluegrass and general categories are listed below.

Bluegrass: First Place: Aaron Biebelhauser (Louisville, KY) for “Blue Collar Dreams,” Second Place: Courtney Rorrer (Madison, NC) and Asa Gravely (Beckley, WV) for “Midnight Tears,” and Third Place: Cindy Giejda (Farmingdale, NJ) for “Jail Break.”

General: First Place: Sarah Sample (Sheridan, WY) for “A Heart That Falls apart” and Adam Bonomo (Brooklyn, NY) for “Redshifted,” and Second Place: David Morris (Gaithersburg, MD) and Chris Dockins (Burke, VA) for “Weeds.”

Although AcousticMusicScene.com generally does not cover country and gospel music, the winners in those categories are as follows:

Country: First Place: Buddy Guido (Mohawk, NY), Paul Kelly (Santa Fe, NM) and Willie Scheollkopf (Buffalo, NY) for “This Livin’ May Be Killing Me,” Second Place: Sarah Morris (Shoreview, MN) for “I Go Back,” and Third Place: Meris Gantt of Handlebar Betty (Blowing rock, NC) for “House of Cards.”

Gospel/Inspirational: First Place: Marcy Each (Cedar Rapids, IA) for “On the Cross Built for Me,” Second Place: Austin Stanley (Nashville, TN) for “The Face of God,” and Third Place: Corey Smith and Allen Smith (Fayetteville, NC) for “The Road.”

The Chris Austin Songwriting Contest was established to honor the memory of Chris Austin, a songwriter and former sideman for Ricky Skaggs. Austin’s life was tragically cut short when a private plane carrying him and six other members of Reba McEntire’s band, as well as her tour manager, crashed in California in 1991. In the contest that is open to those whose primary source of income is not derived from songwriting or publishing, songs are judged based on originality, lyrics, melody and overall commercial potential. Previous winners of the contest include Gillian Welch, Tift Merritt, Michael Reno Harrell, Adrienne Young, Martha Scanlan, David Via, Eliot Bronson and Johnny Williams. Net proceeds from the contest help support the Wilkes Community College Chris Austin Memorial Scholarship that has provided financial support to 81 students since its inception.

Founded in 1988 in memory of the late Eddy Merle Watson, son of American music legend Doc Watson, MerleFest is considered one of America’s premier music festivals. Initially created to celebrate “traditional plus” music – a mix of music based on the traditional, roots-oriented sounds of the Appalachian region — the four-day event now embraces Americana, country, blues, rock and other musical styles as well.

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale chaired a volunteer panel of music industry professionals that selected the writers of 12 songs from among nearly 600 entries in four categories (bluegrass, country, general and gospel) for the opportunity to compete on the Austin Stage at MerleFest on Friday afternoon, April 25. The finalists in the bluegrass and general categories are listed below.

Bluegrass: Jim Crews (Boone, NC) for “Crossties,” Paul Harrigill (Murfreesboro, TN) and Amber Nugent (Ferriday, LA) for “I’m Blue,” and Chelsea McBee of The Random Assortment & the Christian Lopez Band (Shepherdstown, WV) for “Gone-A-Rye”).

General: Clint Alphin (Dunn, NC) for “Nobody Knows My Name,” Sarah Potenza and Ian Crossman (both of Nashville, TN) for “My Turn,” and Joseph Terrell of Mipso (Chapel Hill, NC) for “Angelina Jane is Long Gone.”

Although AcousticMusicScene.com generally does not cover country and gospel music, the finalists in those categories are as follows:

Country: Dan Buchner (Salt Lake City, UT) and Ben Childs (Oxford, MS), both of Hollering Pines, for “Cadillac,” Kelsi Robertson-Harrigill (Murfreesboro, TN) for “If You Never Let Me Go,” and Becky Warren (Nashville, TN) for “Call Me Sometime.”

Gospel/Inspirational: Gary Alan Ferguson (Alexandria, VA) for “Time To Praise the Lord,” Frank Hurd (Raleigh, NC) for “Light,” and Allen Smith and Corey Smith of Ash Breeze (Robbins, NC) for “Without Love.”

Each of the finalists will be provided with free admission and lodging for three nights at MerleFest and will participate in a mentoring session with Lauderdale. First place winners in each category will perform on the Cabin Stage on Friday night during the festival. Noted songwriters Darrell Scott, Charles Humphreys III (Steep Canyon Rangers) and Niall Toner will be among the second-round judges who determine this year’s winners.

The Chris Austin Songwriting Contest was established to honor the memory of Chris Austin, a songwriter and former sideman for Ricky Skaggs. Austin’s life was tragically cut short when a private plane carrying him and six other members of Reba McEntire’s band, as well as her tour manager, crashed in California in 1991. In the contest that is open to those whose primary source of income is not derived from songwriting or publishing, songs are judged based on originality, lyrics, melody and overall commercial potential. Previous winners of the contest include Gillian Welch, Tift Merritt, Michael Reno Harrell, Adrienne Young, Martha Scanlan, David Via, Eliot Bronson and Johnny Williams. The contest was established to honor the memory of Chris Austin, a songwriter and former sideman for Ricky Skaggs. Austin’s life was tragically cut short when a private plane carrying him and six other members of Reba McEntire’s band, as well as her tour manager, crashed in California in 1991.

Founded in 1988 in memory of the late Eddy Merle Watson, son of American music legend Doc Watson, MerleFest is considered one of America’s premier music festivals. Initially created to celebrate “traditional plus” music – a mix of music based on the traditional, roots-oriented sounds of the Appalachian region — MerleFest now also embraces Americana, country, blues, rock and other musical styles as well. More than 130 artists and acts will perform on 13 stages during the four-day event.This year’s festival will feature what’s being billed as a “BanjoRama” — a one-time only assembly of some of music’s top banjo players in performance together. More information on the festival may be found at www.merlefest.org.

Lauderdale, who hails from the Carolinas, has had songs recorded by such notable artists as Solomon Burke, Mark Chesnutt, the Dixie Chicks, Dave Edmunds, Vince Gill, George Jones, Patty Loveless, Kathy Mattea, George Strait and Lee Ann Womack, among others. He has collaborated with such artists as Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris and Ralph Stanley and is currently part of a six-week Hot Tuna Blues Tour. Lauderdale chairs a volunteer panel of Nashville songwriters, publishers and other music industry professionals, who will judge entries in the songwriting contest based on originality, lyrics, melody and overall commercial potential.

The 19th Annual Chris Austin Songwriting Contest is open to aspiring songwriters who derive no more than 50% of their income from songwriting or music publishing. Winners will be recognized in four categories – country, bluegrass, gospel/inspirational and general. The contest deadline is February 18. Entries may be submitted via mail to P.O. Box 121855, Nashville, TN 37212, Sonicbids or American Songspace.

As previously reported on AcousticMusicScene.com, 12 finalists – three from each category – will be named in early April and will compete on the Austin Stage at MerleFest, April 28-May 1, on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The first place winners will receive performance slots on the Cabin Stage during the festival.

Additional information is available online at www.chrisaustinsongwritingcontest.org or by calling the contest hotline at (800) 799-3838.

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale chairs a volunteer panel of Nashville songwriters, publishers and other music industry professionals, who will judge entries based on originality, lyrics, melody and overall commercial potential.

Winners will be recognized in four categories: country, bluegrass, gospel/inspirational and general. Twelve finalists – three from each category – will be named in early April and will compete on the Austin Stage at Merlefest 2011, April 28-May 1, 2011 on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Admission and four nights lodging at the festival will be provided, as well as a mentoring session with Lauderdale. The first place winners will receive performance slots on the Cabin Stage during MerleFest.

Previous winners of the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest include Gillian Welch, Tift Merritt, Michael Reno Harrell, Adrienne Young, Martha Scanlan, David Via, Sam Quinn, and Johnny Williams. The contest was established to honor the memory of Chris Austin, a songwriter and former sideman for Ricky Skaggs, whose life was tragically cut short when the private plane carrying him and six other members of Reba McEntire’s band, as well as her tour manager, crashed in the mountains near San Diego, California in 1991.

Contest rules, entry forms and additional information about the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest are available online at www.chrisaustinsongwritingcontest.org.

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale chaired a volunteer panel of Nashville music industry professionals that selected the writers of 12 songs, from among more than 1,000 entries in four categories (bluegrass, country, general and gospel), for the opportunity to compete on the Austin Stage at MerleFest on Friday afternoon, April 30. The finalists in the bluegrass and general categories are listed below.

Bluegrass: “New Love” by Josh Pickett (Cana, VA), “Whisper Sweet Goodbyes” by Jo Ellen Doering (Los Angeles, CA), and “Carolina Dust” by Brink Brinkman (Pickerington, OH).

Doering and Brinkman also were finalists in the gospel category last year, while another of Doering’s songs is a finalist in that category this year.

General: “Rush” by Liz Longley (Downingtown, PA), “Get It Right” by Shay Lovette (Purlear, NC), and “Opening” by Chris Ayer (McLean, VA).

As reported on AcousticMusicScene.com in February, Longley recently was named the overall grand prize winner in the International Acoustic Music Awards.

First place winners in each category will perform on the Cabin Stage during MerleFest and will each receive a Taylor acoustic guitar, a check for $300, two boxes of D’Addario strings and one-year subscriptions to Acoustic Guitar and American Songwriter magazines. Second and third-prize winners also will receive cash prizes, strings and magazine subscriptions, as well as performance slots during the Friday night Songwriters Coffeehouse at Merlefest. The finalists also will participate in a group mentor session with Lauderdale.

Entries were judged based on originality, lyrics, melody and overall commercial potential. Previous winners of the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest include Gillian Welch, Tift Merritt, Michael Reno Harrell, Adrienne Young, Martha Scanlan, David Via and Johnny Williams. The contest was established to honor the memory of Chris Austin, a songwriter and former sideman for Ricky Skaggs. Austin’s life was tragically cut short when a private plane carrying him and six other members of Reba McEntire’s band, as well as her tour manager, crashed in California in 1991.

A short article featuring the artist lineup for MerleFest appears in the Bluegrass & Beyond and Festival Focus sections of AcousticMusicScene.com.