There’s still time to enter instrument and band contests that will be held Sunday (June 3) as part of the 47th Annual Deer Creek Fiddlers’ Convention in Westminster, MD.
Pickers, singers and songwriters can sign up Sunday morning from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., when the competition begins at the Carroll County Farm Museum.
In addition to $200 cash, winning bands will be eligible for upcoming festival performances. The winning bluegrass band will play on the main stage at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival in mid-August. The winning old-time and celtic ensembles will perform at the Common Ground on the Hill Festival on July 14, as will the winner of the clogging competition.
There are also cash prizes ($100 for first, $50 for second, $25 for third) for Celtic instrumentalist, bluegrass banjo, old time banjo, bluegrass fiddle, old time fiddle, guitar, Dobro, mandolin, singing and songwriting, as well as awards to young performers (12 and under) and special performers.
Special judges awards include a guitar and mandolin donated by Eastman.
The competition is open to anyone purchasing a ticket at the gate. There are also food and craft vendors and plenty of opportunities for jamming. The event is kid-performer friendly.
“Deer Creek, to me, is a great gathering of regional musicians who reflect the traditions of bluegrass, old time and Celtic music,” said Walt Michael, executive director of Common Ground on the Hill, a Westminster, MD-based nonprofit that runs a music and arts camp, acoustic music fesitival, the Deer Creek event and other programs steeped in traditional arts.
The Baltimore area has been a hot bed of string music for decades, due mostly to folks from West Virginia and elsewhere who moved to the region to seek work and financial stability. Among the most prominent of those transplants: singer-songwriter Hazel Dickens, one of the newest members of the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
More information about the Deer Creek event can be found at www.commongroundonthehill.org.
