At this past weekend’s MerleFest, winners were chosen in the 22nd Annual Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. The invitational competition is held each year during the festival, with finalists chosen in advance.
Congratulations to these 2014 winners:
Bluegrass
- 1st Place – Paul Harrigill (Murfreesboro, TN) and Amber Nugent (Ferriday, LA) – I’m Blue
- 2nd Place – Chelsea McBee (Shepherdstown, WV) – Gone-A-Rye
- 3rd Place – Josh Crews (Boone, NC) – Crossties
Gospel/Inspirational
- 1st Place – Frank Hurd (Raleigh, NC) – Light
- 2nd Place – Gary Alan Ferguson (Alexandria, VA) – Time to Praise the Lord
- 3rd Place – Allen Smith and Corey Smith (Robbins, NC) – Without Love
Country
- 1st Place – Becky Warren (Nashville, TN) – Call Me Sometime
- 2nd Place – Kelsi Robertson-Harrigill (Murfreesboro, TN) – If You Never Let Me Go
- 3rd Place – Dan Buehner (Salt Lake City, UT) and Ben Childs (Oxford, MS) – Cadillac
General
- 1st Place – Joseph Terrell (Chapel Hill, NC) – Angelina Jane is Long Gone
- 2nd Place – Sarah Potenza and Ian Crossman (Nashville, TN) – My Turn
- 3rd Place – Clint Alphin (Dunn, NC) – Nobody Knows My Name
First place finishers took home a check for $500 from sponsor La Fiesta Mexican Restaurants, two boxes of D’Addario strings, a gift certificate from Jackson’s Music. Second and third place winners received $250 plus strings and a gift certificate.
Judges this year were Charles R Humphrey III, Niall Toner, and Darrell Scott.
