2022 Championships Provide Stellar Entertainment
The 50th National Flat Picking Championships were, by far, one of the better collection of competitions with repeat winners doing well and new competitors were astounding.
For 50 years, musicians from around the world have been participating in the Flat Pick Championships at the Walnut Valley Festival. Holten Doucette from Waller, TX, took home two championships – flat pick guitar and mandolin. It is the first time since 2009 that one competitor has won more than one championship in the same year.
One never knows what we will hear at our competitions but it is never disappointing. Be sure to listen to their interviews and to their winning tunes.
International Autoharp Championship
First
Betty Scott
- International Autoharp Championship – First – 2022, 2016, 2009
- International Autoharp Championship – 3rd 2008
Betty Scott started playing the autoharp back in 2004. Betty loves the autoharp for it’s versitility and because it travels well. Betty loves camping, canoeing and travel. Since the pandemic, she has stuck close to home and played music.
This is the third time Betty has won the International Autoharp Championship, having won previously in 2016 and 2009, and was especially humbled by this particular win. “At 84, I don’t get around like I used to. I hope to make it back next year but one never knows.” says Betty.
Betty takes home the Whippoorwill Luthier’s Choice Autoharp, a trophy, and $250 cash.
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Contest Tunes
Betty Scott's championship interview:
First Round:
Second Round:
Awards Presentation Encore
Second
Loriann Clayton-Bethard
- International Autoharp Championship – Second – 2022
It was a second-place finish for Loriann Clayton-Bethard during her third trip to Winfield, and second entry in the autoharp contest. In 2019 she tied for fourth with the 2021 champion, Ken Shoemaker. As a behavior coach in a public school in the Kansas City area, Loriann says the past several years of education has been draining and coming to Winfield energizes her. Her band is Common Threads, a collaboration with her pianist husband and fiddling son. She said she’s hoping that it might expand to a quartet if her singer/songwriter/fiddler daughter joins the group. During her encore, Loriann yodeled while she played – a skill she learned from her international yodeling champion father. Her prize instrument was the d’Aigle Cascade SP G-D Diatonic Autoharp.
Contest Tunes
First Round:
Second Round:
Awards Presentation Encore
Third
Steve Luper
- International Autoharp Championship Third – 2022, 2018, 2016
- International Autoharp Championship Second – 2021, 2019
Steve Luper, Andover, KS, rounded out the winners and took home the $600 Cash Prize. Steve is no stranger to Walnut Valley championships. He competes in both the autoharp and the flat pick competitions.
This humble person was very honored to receive the Third Place Trophy and the $600 cash prize.
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Contest Tunes
First Round:
Second Round:
Awards Presentation Encore
Plaque Winners: Michael Poole from Chapel Hill, NC and Dave Pines from Nederland, CO
International Finger Style Guitar Championship
First
Tim Thompson
- International Finger Style Guitar Championship – First – 2022, 2008
- International Finger Style Guitar Championship – Second – 2019, 2007
Tim Thompson is a Nashville based session player, singer/songwriter and a two time International Fingerstyle Guitar Champion (2022 & 2008). He has appeared with such artists as Tommy Emmanuel, Hwy 101, and toured with Crystal Gayle. He has recorded twelve CDs and two DVDs. He has been featured in the following magazines, Taylor Guitar’s Wood and Steel, Just Jazz Guitar and Fingerstyle Guitar which said, “Tim Thompson is a Nashville based finger-stylist that burns!” Tim’s songwriting and guitar skills have been featured in a series of workshops sponsored by NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association), Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch, Steve Kaufman’s Guitar Camp, as well as middle and high schools and colleges. His original music has been featured as bumper music on NPR, Casper’s Haunted Christmas CD and the Flip Video Camera software.
In addition to being a Singer-Songwriter/Guitarist, Tim is also a producer and arranger with over thirty years of experience. Tim offers everything from guitar vocal demos to full-blown band productions with some of Nashville’s finest musicians. From string parts to groovin’ drum tracks, from fiddle to mandolin, Tim Thompson Production covers the gamut of instrumentation and styles. For more info visit timthompsonproduction.com
Contest Tunes
Tim Thompson's championship interview:
Round One:
Round Two
Award Presentation Encore
Second
Hiroya Tsukamoto
- International Finger Style Guitar Championship – Second – 2022, 2018
Hiroya is a one-of-a-kind composer, guitarist and singer-songwriter from Kyoto, Japan. He began playing the five-string banjo when he was thirteen, and took up the guitar shortly after.
In 2000, Hiroya received a scholarship to Berklee College of Music and came to the United States. He formed his own group in Boston “INTEROCEANICO (inter-oceanic)” which consists of unique musicians from different continents including Latin Grammy Colombian singer Marta Gomez. The group released three acclaimed records (“The Other Side of the World”, “Confluencia” and “Where the River Shines”). Hiroya has released three solo albums (“Solo”, “Heartland” and “Places”).
Hiroya has been leading concerts internationally including several appearances at Blue Note(NYC), United Nations and Japanese National Television(NHK). In 2018, Hiroya won 2nd place in International Finger Style Guitar Championship.
Hiroya won 2nd Place in the International Finger Style Guitar Championship in 2022. He received a trophy and a Huss & Dalton Custom Finger Style Guitar for his efforts.
Contest Tunes
Round One:
Round Two:
Awards Presentation Encore
Third
William "Bill" Russell
- International Finger Style Guitar Championship – Third – 2022, 2018
William Henry Russell (Bill Russell) is an award winning classical / fingerstyle guitarist, conservatory trained classical musician, and an established composer and arranger. He is the 2009 Gamble Rogers Fingerstyle Guitar Champion, 2018 Indiana State Fingerstyle Guitar Champion, and has taken third place at the International Fingerstyle Guitar Competition in Winfield, Kansas in 2018 and again in 2022. Bill received a Bachelor’s Degree of Music from The Boston Conservatory and a Master’s Degree of Music from Florida State University. Performing in countless churches, cafes, concert halls, and festivals he has honed his craft while entertaining audiences for almost 40 years. Bill has perfected his own distinctive solo guitar style that bears a deeper understanding of the music conveyed through an impeccable classical technique. He enters into every performance with this J.S. Bach quote in his heart and mind:
“The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” – J.S. Bach
Bill Russell takes home with him a Taylor 812ce Guitars and a trophy.
Contest Tunes
Round One:
Round Two:
Awards Presentation Encore
Plaque Winners: Adam Cantor from Houston, TX and Allen Lance from Smyrna, TN
National Mountain Dulcimer Championship
First
Kara Barnard
- National Mountain Dulcimer Championship First – 2022
Kara Barnard is a multi-instrumentalist, music instructor, singer-songwriter, and talented visual artist. Kara instructs hundreds of guitar, mandolin, banjo and dulcimer students each year. Beginner to advanced students seek her out for her technical excellence and outstanding teaching skills. She is one of the most highly respected music teachers in Indiana.
In 2022 she was the 2022 Walnut Valley Festival National Mountain Dulcimer contest champion.
Her experiences competing in international guitar contests led her to create her own contest in 2010. The Indiana State Fingerstyle Guitar Contest takes place each year in Brown County Indiana on the last weekend in July. Top guitarists from all over the world come to compete. Kara co-produces the weekend with Chuck Wills.
In 2018 Kara launched “Kara’s Silver Strings” a mountain dulcimer program that teaches older adults to play the dulcimer using her age specific curriculum and specially designed dulcimers. Eric Rose teamed up with Kara and the two have focused on taking the program to assisted living facilities across the country.
Though she considers herself retired as a performer, Kara’s seven CDs, Cheshire Cat Moon, The Water’s Edge, Home, Fret Hopping in Brown County, Dishpan Brigade, Brown County Waltz, and Flying Down King Street, still see yearly sales in the thousands. She has cut down on her formerly extensive touring schedule, and now only occasionally performs in Indiana and South Carolina as a solo performer and with her sister, Pam Barnard Hays (as one half of The Barnard Sisters).
Contest Tunes
Kara Barnard's championship interview
Round One:
Round Two:
Awards Presentation Encore
Second
Lloyd Wright
- National Mountain Dulcimer Championship Second – 2021
Lloyd Wright began playing the mountain dulcimer at age 13 in 1994 after his family made a chance visit to The Dulcimer Shoppe in Mountain View, AR. Lloyd admits his mom, Margaret Wright, was the first to fall in love with the mountain dulcimer but it did not take long for the entire family became hooked. Within the next twelve months, Lloyd Wright was competing in his first mountain dulcimer competition in Glen Rose, Texas.
Lloyd won the National Mountain Dulcimer championship in 2000, then won 2nd Place in 2022. Lloyd takes home a McSpadden Baritone mountain dulcimer, a trophy and $225 cash.
Contest Tunes
Round One:
Round Two:
Awards Presentation Encore
A Festival First — Three Generations of the Wright family competed in the 2022 National Mountain Dulcimer Championship. Above, the three generations as well as Loyd’s wife, are performing for Lloyd’s Second Place win encore presentation.
Third
Dana Hamilton
- National Mountain Dulcimer Championship First Place – 1995
- National Mountain Dulcimer Championship – 2nd Place – 1992
- National Mountain Dulcimer Championship – 3rd Place -2022, 1987
- National Hammer Dulcimer Championship – 1989, 1980
- National Hammer Dulcimer Championship – 3rd Place – 1988
Dana Hamilton is a multi-instrumentalist with more wit and talent than one man should have. His prowess on both the mountain and hammered dulcimers is known by his speed and accuracy.
Dana is well known for his mountain and hammer dulcimer and banjo playing throughout the mid-west and the South. He is credited with three recordings by the band Sweet Song String Band, one recording with the New Dallas String Band and with two recordings by the band Loose Change, along with contributing to numerous recordings by other artists.
Dana Hamilton won 3rd Place in the 2022 National Mountain Dulcimer Championship. This is the fourth time Dana has either won or placed in the national championship. Dana has also won or placed in the National Hammer Dulcimer Championship three times.
Dana Hamilton takes home the 4FSSG-e Scroll Head mountain dulcimer, a trophy and $200 for his efforts.
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Contest Tunes
Round One:
Round Two:
Awards Presentation Encore
National Mandolin Championship
First
Holten Doucette
- National Mandolin Championship – First – 2022
- National Mandolin Championship – 2nd Place – 2021, 2016
- National Mandolin Championship – 3rd Place – 2017
- National Flat Pick uUitar Championship – 1st Place – 2022
- National Flat Pick Guitar Championship – 3rd Place – 2021
Holten Doucette, Waller, TX, went home with the First Place trophy and the Collings MT A-style Mandolin by Collings Guitar, Inc. of Austin, TX. He was a returning finalist from the 2021 championship and although he had more time to play, he said, the last two years were important years in his development – ages 20-22. “My mind hopefully matured a lot. I feel that musically, I’ve just been able to kind of step up in the maturity,” he explained. Doucette just completed his bachelor’s degree in business management and says he is an aspiring day trader. “I just day trade my own account. What I’m looking for is financial freedom and the ability to sleep at night. Doucette has primarily competed at Walnut Valley Festival – seven years running. He also plays guitar and won in flat pick the following day. He accompanied his younger brother in the Old Time Fiddle Championship later that day. The advice he gave him for his first Walnut Valley contest was to not take things too seriously. Doucette says that he really loves just picking with all the guys backstage. “We get a little jam going under the grandstand with all the cool instruments under there,” he said. “That’s really what I like the most.”
Contest Tunes
Holten Doucette's championship interview:
Round One:
Round Two:
Award Presentation Encore
Second
Ethan Batan
- National Mandolin Championship –Second Place – 2022, 2018
Ethan Batan from Spencer, IN, rounded out the winners of the mandolin championship. Batan said that this was his fourth Winfield festival and his fourth time competing in the mandolin contest at Winfield. Although he hadn’t been at Winfield for four years, he felt confident in his ability and felt that this was the right time for him to return to compete. In addition to mandolin, Batan plays violin and guitar. He said he loves the culture and atmosphere – how musicians get along and the music brings people together at Winfield. Ethan took home the second-place trophy and a $1,500 cash prize provided by Walnut Valley Festival.
Contest Tunes
Round One:
Round Two:
Award Presentation Encore
Third
Ben Cockman
- National Mandolin Championship – Third – 2022
- National Flat Pick Guitar Championship – First Place – 2014
Some festival regulars may recognize this year’s 3rd place finisher, Ben Cockman, since he took home the international flat-pick guitar championship in 2014. He said he entered the mandolin and flat-pick contests from 2012-2014, finishing in the top in the mandolin in 2012 and 2013. From North Carolina, Ben and his wife and four daughters (ages 8, 6, 5 and 2) drove to Winfield this year. He said once they all got used to the heat, they’ve been loving Winfield. Ben’s favorite part about the festival is the camaraderie with all the other players. “You can tell everybody is kind of pulling for each other, but it’s still very nerve wrecking. I love meeting all the other pickers.” As a full-time music teacher, it’s no surprise that loves learning new licks while jamming in the campgrounds. He teaches about 75 students a week and expressed his pride at the successes that many of them have had over the years.
Contest Tunes
Round One:
Round Two:
Award Presentation Encore
Plaque winners are Kyle O’Brien from Evergreen, CO and Zdenek Jahoda from Prague, Czech Republic
Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championship
First
Eavia Ryan
Eavia Ryan from Rye, CO, selected the Luis and Clark Carbon Fiber 5-string fiddle as her prize instrument after beating out 16 competitors from 11 states in the Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle championship. This was Ryan’s first year competing at Winfield – she picked up the fiddle five years ago, after having started on the classical viola. “One of my sisters started playing fiddle, and I was like, ‘I like that.’ It’s just so cheerful and it’s got such an intense drive that once I started I couldn’t stop.” She says there are two main people who inspire her as a musician, her fiddle teacher Chris Daring and her Mom. “My Mom gave us our first lessons and taught us to read music before we could read books. I’m very grateful for that.” And, Chris “is amazing and she always taught us to love music and to consider it as a blessing that’s given to you, and you can bless other people with it.” Ryan is a nursing student at Colorado State University in Pueblo.
- Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championship First – 2022
Contest Tunes
Eavia Ryan's championship interview.
Round One:
Round Two:
Awards Presentation Encore:
Second
Amanda B. Grapes
Amanda Grapes Dellinger from South Salt Lake City, UT, placed second in this year’s contest. She said that she made the top five in 2015, her only other time competing at Winfield after winning the state fiddle contest in Utah. “I came out here and was just blown away. The jams are amazing and I met some incredible people. As soon as I got home, I packed up my apartment, put everything in storage and moved to Kansas.” She said she took a leave of absence from her day job as an environmental scientist for three months and went on tour with some of the people she met at the Festival. “I wound up going back home to the mountains, and then I found my band Pixie and the Party Grass Boys. So, I feel like that first Winfield changed my life.” She selected the Callegari Violin – anno 2022 – 1742 Guarneri for her prize instrument.
- Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championship Second – 2022
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/partygrass/
Website:
https://www.pixieandthepartygrassboys.com/
Contest Tunes
Round One:
Round Two:
Awards Presentation Encore:
Third
Nathan Pedneault
Nathan Pedneault from Crowley, TX, rounded out the top three this year. Pedneault took home the Jay Haide Special Model a l’ancienne Eurowood – anno 2021 – Guadagnini Model fiddle and the third place trophy. He finished in the top five in 2021. He’s a business management student at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, but plays with several bands in his free time. He said they primarily play good ol’ honky-tonk country music. In addition to fiddle, Pedneault says he plays mandolin and bass. As for whether he’ll compete next year, he says he isn’t sure. He hopes to study abroad – maybe Spain or Italy – so that he can visit those places where instruments have been built by some of the greatest musicians. “I love seeing beautiful places and beautiful people. Just seeing what life has outside of where I’m from,” he said
- Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championship Third – 2022
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Contest Tunes
Round One:
Round Two:
Awards Presentation Encore:
Plaque winners are Hansen Doucette, Waller, TX and Edith Sigler, Wichita, KS.
National Guitar Flat Pick Championship
First
Holten Doucette
- National Guitar Flat Pick Championship – First – 2022
- National Guitar Flat Pick Championship – Third 2021
- National Mandolin Championship First – 2022
- National Mandolin Championship Second – 2021, 2016
- National Guitar Mandolin Championship Third – 2017
This was Holten Doucette’s seventh entry in the contest, following up on his first top five finish in 2021. “I was amazed to make top six,” he said. “This group of guys is a great bunch of guitar players, and every year I come to this contest and look around and just think of how under prepared I am, how my stuff doesn’t sound as good as I thought it did.
“I love getting to hang out with these guys, hear their ideas, listen to what they do, and just think of how I can maybe play a little more like that next year. It’s always an inspiration.”
Doucette said that some of his best memories from the Walnut Valley Festival might be a surprise. “Looking back, I would say all those contests that I lost or finished second or third were the best.” He explained that it was because he has been forced to get out of his comfort zone, when he hears all of the great guitarists playing stuff he’s never heard before, it forces him to try different styles. He says these contests have helped to make him a better musician.
Since he’ll be unable to compete for the next five years in flat pick guitar and mandolin, he said he may enter the dulcimer contest. “A lot of dulcimer players would probably disapprove of the way I play. I can’t play it laying on my lap. I have one that I can turn up – autoharp style, I think they call it. I don’t know if that would go over well, but I’ve thought about doing it.”
Contest Tunes:
Holten Doucette's championship interview.
First Round:
Second Round:
Awards Presentation Encore
Second
Justus Ross
- National Guitar Flat Pick Championship – Second – 2022
Justus Ross finished second in his first contest. He’s been playing the guitar for 13 years – so he started around age 5. He said that there was a little Lightning McQueen guitar that he would crawl over to and start picking. “Right at my 6th birthday, I started taking guitar lessons,” he said. “I was already picking up on some things before that, but I needed lessons and so I started taking some lessons and took them from an older man in my hometown and then ended up taking from a few other people and took lessons from Jake Workman for probably a year and a half. And that really built a good foundation to build off of.” He currently lives in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, but grew up about an hour away in Piedmont, Missouri. “I’ve always wanted to come [to Winfield], but never really had an interest in competing because of the nerves and stuff. I’ve competed in band contest before and I just know how stressful that is. So, I really tried to come into this with an open mind. The calmer I could be, the better off.” In the end, he said he was calmer than he thought he would be, but not as calm as he would have liked. A recent high school graduate, Ross travels around the country with his band, Kentucky Just Us. He said his favorite place they’ve played at was the Rory Feek Homestead venue. He said his band is the reason he made it to Winfield this year. He joined the band in July. “We’ve been on the road; and I think we’ve played four shows in the last few days. And then we’re playing a show tomorrow and then we’re going to Missouri, where I’m from. Last night we played in Branson, Missouri. We got out of there at midnight and drove all night. I think I got here, like, ten minutes before the lineup and just barely slept – maybe an hour.” As a result, his celebration plans were to take a nap. The nap couldn’t last too long because they were scheduled to go on stage 5 and another show at 7:30 that night.
Contest Tunes:
First Round:
Second Round:
Awards Presentation Encore
Third
Ian Ly
- National Flat Pick Guitar Championship Third Place -2022
Ian Ly, a University of Kansas design student finished in third place in his third year in the contest. A Kansas native, Ly spent most of his childhood in California but returned to Kansas for his undergraduate studies. He said that he likes the environment at KU, as well as being closer to family and friends. In addition to the guitar, Ly says he plays a little mandolin and banjo, and just picked up the fiddle a few weeks before the Festival. Ly finished in the top five previously, but this was the first year he placed. “I think I grew as a musician over the past year, as you do, and I sort of understood what my shortcomings were last year, and I think I was able to make up for this,” he said. He said his favorite part about Winfield is the excitement and banter that goes on in the contest tent and the late-night jamming.
Contest Tunes:
First Round:
Second Round:
Awards Presentation Encore
Plaque winners are Jakub Racek, Czech Republic, Matthew Taylor, Fulton, MO and Adam Wright, Goodlettesville, TN
National Hammer Dulcimer Championship
First
John Lionarons
- National Hammer Duclimer Championship First – 2022
- National Hammer Duclimer Championship Second – 1995
- National Hammer Dulcimer Championship – Third Place -2001, 1996, 1994
John Lionarons, Lansdowne, PA, said he’s been playing the hammer dulcimer for 50 years. He was introduced to it when he was a student at Buffalo State. He saw Walt Michael and the Bottle Hill band play when they were just out of college. “All my friends are at this concert. We were all guitar players. We see him wailing on this instrument and we clapped our hands to our cheeks. I said, ‘Oh my God. What is that thing?’ Just like people have been saying to me.” Lionarons said that hammer dulcimer has opened a lot of doors for him – he got into theater and the actor’s union because of it. And, he says he has also met every woman he’s gone out with because of the hammer dulcimer. “Women think if you play nice music, you must be nice. In my case, it’s true.”
Selected the Master Works 16/15 CBWXR7 Bantam Weight Chromatic Extended Range hammer dulcimer as his prize instrument.
Contest Tunes:
John Lionaron's championship interview:
Round 1
Round 2
Awards Presentation Encore
Second
Robert Miller
- National Hammer Dulcimer Championship – Second – 2022
In his second hammer dulcimer contest at Winfield, Robert Miller, Pittsburgh, PA, finished second. He said his first time competing was in 2019, after winning the Mideast Region Dulcimer Festival in Coshocton, Ohio. He was first introduced to the hammer dulcimer at a Renaissance Fair when he was in college. But it wasn’t until much later when he finally got to pick one up to play. He said he bought his first one on Craigslist for $80. Miller is a music therapist. He coordinates a creative arts therapy department at a mental health hospital. The therapy is about engaging in the music making or listening and then seeing how that impacts you and using that experience to process through other things to try and let things out, to gain new skills to connect with yourself in a different way. He said he loves the music at Winfield the most. “There are so many good groups to go and listen to; but then to sit in on the competitions and listen to everybody do their thing. It’s like no other place I’ve been.”
Prize Instrument Selected: Rick Thum 17/17 Professional Chromatic Hammer Dulcimer with Dampers
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Contest Tunes
Round 1
Round 2
Awards Presentation Encore
Third
Mickey Sweeney
- National Hammer Dulcimer Championship – Third – 2022
Mickey Sweeney, Lake St. Louis, MO, said her teacher, Rick Thumb, did a bit of arm-twisting this year to convince her to compete because she had been planning to attend, relax and enjoy the music. Everyone was telling me I should enter the contest. “I didn’t have songs, so I practiced for two days instead of listening to music,” she said. “But here I am. I’m just tickled to death. And it wasn’t nerve-wracking because I only had two days to worry about it.” In last year’s contest, Sweeney finished in the top five – and had prepared for the two weeks prior to the contest. A classical pianist with a couple of music degrees, Sweeney said she taught music at every level from preschool to college at some point before she retired. She said she loves so much about Winfield – Bella Fleck, vendors, concerts, and jamming in the campgrounds – the wagon she uses to cart around her instrument has changed her life, she says, making her and her instrument super mobile. Mickey selected for her prize instrument the Songbird Finch Chromatic Pro Hammer Dulcimer made by Songbird Hammer Dulcimers in Muskatine, IA.
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Contest Tunes
Round 1
Round 2
Awards Presentation Encore
Plaque winners are Tina Gugeler, Erie, CO and Clifford White, Jefferson City, MO
National Bluegrass Banjo Championship
First
Jesse Meador
- National Bluegrass Banjo Championship – First – 2022
In his debut in the Walnut Valley Festival Bluegrass Banjo contest, Jesse Meador, Glasgow, KY, took home the championship trophy. He said that he finished his studies at the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music before he finished high school. “The second year we did high school, college and 102 gigs,” he said, explaining that the gigs were part of the school curriculum. “It was a great experience for all of us. We learned so much. A lot of what we learned there would have taken us years on the road to learn – like how to entertain people and keep shows flowing smoothly.” It prepared him for his current full-time gig with the band, Kentucky Just Us. The band’s guitarist placed second in the flat-pick contest. He said it was a concerted effort by the band members to get to Winfield – they had to schedule a tour in order to get them in the vicinity of Winfield in time for the contests. “We’ve been scrambling, trying to make this a tour, and we finally got enough gigs to make it happen.” Meador has been playing for 7 years, picking it up when he was just 12 years old. He says that he “noodles around on the guitar, but just enough to write songs.” Meador says that Gary “Biscuit” Davis, last year’s contest champion, is one of his mentors. “I have numerous vocal and other banjo heroes, but I’d say that none of it would be possible for us to do what I love and what we love, without the heavenly father. I’d say that’s the biggest influence on everything.” Jesse received the OME Ikon Banjo by OME Banjos in Boulder, CO.
Contest Tunes
Jesse Meador's championship interview.
Round 1
Round 2
Awards Presentation Encore
Second
Steven Moore
- National Bluegrass Banjo Championship First – 2015, 2008
- National Bluegrass Banjo Championship Second – 2022
- National Bluegrass Banjo Championship Third – 2006
Steven Moore, Saint Clairsville, OH, is a two-time champion of the National Bluegrass Banjo championship, winning in 2008 and 2015. He makes his living as an industrial hygienist for NiSource, a utilities company across six states, where his focus is on employee health. He says he is a semi-pro banjo player, playing weekend gigs. He’s been playing the banjo for 23 years and has entered the contest at Winfield six times, finishing in the top five in 2006 and 2007. He said he was surprised to make the finals this year, knowing that there were some past champions who didn’t. He said that might come down to how someone is playing that day, and a little bit might be due to a judge’s preference. “You might have a judge that really prefers traditional Scruggs-style, and you go up and you play a bunch of newgrass banjo stuff; it’s not going to be rewarded the same.” Moore said his favorite kind of music to play is progressive banjo – anything like Bela Fleck or Scott Vestal would play. Moore said he released his new album, Just a Little Talk with Myself, while at Winfield. Joining him on the album are Stuart Duncan, Cody Kilby, Byron House, James Seliga, and some notable guest singers including John Cowan from New Grass Revival and Elliott Park. Steven received the Deering Calico Banjo by Deering Banjo Company, Spring Valley, CA for his prize.
Contest Tunes
Round 1
Round 2
Awards Presentation Encore
Third
Anthony Howell
- National Bluegrass Banjo Championship – Third – 2022
Anthony Howell, Kosciusko, MS, finished third in the bluegrass banjo contest during his first trip to Winfield. A self-described utility musician, Anthony says mandolin was his first instrument, but he’s been playing banjo for about nine years. At the time of the contest, Howell was with the Williamson Branch band, but announced his departure from the group shortly after Winfield and then joined the Edgar Loudermilk Band. He said performing live was his first priority, but he also did some studio and session work. He said he’s working on an instrumental project called, “Hold Back the Dawn,” where he plays all of the instruments and several of the top vocalists in bluegrass music are featured. In his free time, he does some leather work, making banjo and guitar straps.
Anthony took home the Deering White Lotus Banjo provided by Deering Banjo Company of Spring Valley, CA.
Contest Tunes
Round 1
Round 2
Awards Presentation Encore
Plaque winners are Jason Bales, Gatlinberg, TN and Daniel Voeller, San Antonio, TX