2019 Winfield winners – Walnut Valley Championships

Sullivan Tuttle, Allen Shadd, and Jason Shaw – winners of the Guitar Flat Pick Championship 2019

This past weekend saw the 48th annual Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS, where they host the National Flat Picking Championships, as well as similar competitions for mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and hammered dulcimer. These contests carry a great deal of prestige, and “winning Winfield” has long signified that you have arrived.

But it is not wholly a competition. Attendees were also treated to concerts from top bluegrass and old time entertainers like Appalachian Road Show, Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, John McCutcheon, Special Consensus, Ashley Lewis, Muriel Anderson, and many more.

Contestants travel from all over the US to go head to head with true masters of their instruments. The top three finishers receive a handsome trophy, and a handmade professional instrument donated by one of the luthiers at the festival.

When all the dust had settled, the 2019 champions were…

2019 International Autoharp Contest

  1. Doug Pratt – Cary, NC
  2. Steve Luper – Andover, KS
  3. Ivan Stiles – Phoenixville, PA

Runners Up: Loriann Clayton-Bethard, Ken Shoemaker

2019 International Finger Style Guitar Championships

  1. Adam Gardino – Colorado Springs, CO
  2. Jesse Smith – Wadsworth, OH
  3. Gints Smukais

Runners Up: RD King of Brighton, MA, Hiroya Tsukamoto of Woodside, NY

2019 National Mountain Dulcimer Championships

  1. Grant Olson – Andover, MN
  2. Jeff Hames – Madison, MS
  3. Michele Gourley (performs as Michele Star) – Durham, NC

Runners Up: Katie Moritz of Yorkville, IL, Jim Curley of Ironton, OH

2019 National Mandolin Championships

  1. Wesley Carr – Rochelle, IL
  2. Luke Lovejoy – Cloverdale, IN
  3. Holten Doucette – Waller, TX

Runners Up: Ethan Batan of Spencer, IN, Marina Pendleton of Houston, TX

2019 Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championships

  1. Celeste Johnson – Arvada, CO
  2. Monte Gaylord – Vinita, OK
  3. Marina Pendleton – Houston, TX

Runners Up: Hannah Farnum of Galena, MO, Emma Jane Pendleton of Tulsa, OK

2019 National Guitar Flat Pick Championships

  1. Allen Shadd – Lake Wylie, SC
  2. Sullivan Tuttle – Palo Alto, CA
  3. Jason Shaw – Lincoln, NE

Runners Up: Matthew Lindsey from Culloden, WV, Chapman Welch from Pearland, TX

2019 National Hammer Dulcimer Championships

  1. Nate Pultorak – Saranac, NY
  2. Ben Haguewood – Mineral Point, MO
  3. Fran Mayfield – Spring, TX

Runners Up: Cal Sweeten from Overland Park, KS, John Lion from Landsdowne, PA

2019 National Bluegrass Banjo Championships

Eric Welty – Argyle, TX

Weston Stewart – Anderson, AL

Trevor Smith – Austin, TX

Runners Up: Charles Butler of Nashville, TN, G. Rockwell of Bridgeport, CT

Congratulations to all the winners!

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.