The winners of the 2018 Circa Blue Fest Songwriting Contest have been announced ahead of next weekend’s festival in Martinsburg, WV.
The competition is open each year to bluegrass songwriters who receive less than 50% of their income from songwriting royalties, with proceeds donated to the Bluegrass Country Foundation, which supports the 24/7 live radio feed at BluegrassCountry.org.
Judges for this year’s competition were Kim Robins, Dawn Kenney and David Morris.
When all the votes were tallied, the winners for 2018 were:
- Long Ago – Jim Woolsey
- Dirt Road – Jack Shannon
- Tired of Pretending – Mike Swartzentruber
Honorable mentions were awarded to Savage River, written by Cory Wharton, and I’m Finally Going Home, by Kevin Hale.
Woolsey receives the $300 top prize, and will perform his winning song on June 8 at the third annual Circa Blue Fest. Shannon’s second-place finish nets him $150 and Swartzentruber earns $75 for third.
Dawn Kenney says that the judges had a tough time winnowing out winners from the many strong contenders.
“It was a challenge judging the songs submitted for the contest this year. There were so many good ones for consideration. The range of entries was diverse, but there were some that really stood out. Congrats to all the writers who sent in their great work. Keep writing!”
Steve Harris, leader of the Circa Blue band and organizer of the festival, will appear this Friday on Bluegrass Country Radio where he will present a check to the Foundation and share more information about the competition and the festival.
Additional details can be found at www.circabluefest.com.
