Bluegrass Songwriting News

The IBMA Foundation has announced today a new scholarship for IBMA members who are studying songwriting in college, or plan to be in the coming semesters. It is endowed by Rick Lang, a prolific bluegrass songwriter who has received a

This interview was conducted in February 2018. It was meant to be the first episode of a new radio show focused on the craft of songwriting that never panned out. Tim O'Brien is a great hero of mine, and a

Organizers of the long running Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS have announced that Chris Jones will serve as the new curator of their NewSong Showcase. As they look forward to the 49th annual festival in 2020, their songwriting competition

Despite the cancellation of the 2020 MerleFest, the first round of judging for their annual Chris Austin Songwriting Competition was recently concluded. Since submissions had already been accepted when Wilkes County, NC officials restricted public gatherings of more than 100

MerleFest officials said Monday that the acclaimed Chris Austin Songwriting Contest will held, in a slightly altered format, even though MerleFest itself has been canceled for 2020 because of the coronavirus. The first contest judges waded through a record 1,065 entries

The DC Bluegrass Union, who promote bluegrass music in the greater capitol region, have announced the winners in their Hazel Dickens Song Contest for this year. The annual competition is held in honor of Dickens, a former DC resident whose

The DC Bluegrass Union has opened submissions for their 2020 Hazel Dickens Song Contest, held to honor the late former capitol area resident who pioneered the role of a female songwriter in bluegrass. Since launching a few years ago, this competition

A pair of prominent bluegrass writers have been nominated for induction into the 2019 class of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Among the 8 announced nominees for this year are Shawn Camp and Jerry Salley. Both are highly visible performers

When Common Ground on the Hill announced that a songwriting contest would be included among their 2019 offerings for the first time, there was concern as to whether they would generate enough entries to make it interesting. After all, there

The International Bluegrass Music Association has announced today the list of writers and songs that will be featured at their Songwriters Showcase during World Of Bluegrass 2019. Each year dozens of songwriters vie to have their new material performed at the