Tag: Virginia Folk Music Association

A Cut Above named 2017 VFMA Band champions

A Cut Above from Bedford, Virginia was awarded top honors on October 15 in the Virginia Folk Music Association’s Virginia State Bluegrass Contest. Nine bands competed from across the state at the Chesterfield Fairgrounds outside of Richmond for the $1000 top prize.

Band members include Daniel Creasy on banjo, Mike Walker on mandolin, Bob Brooke on guitar, Don Bartlett on reso-guitar, and Glen Davis on bass.Only recently formed, the guys focus on both Gospel on secular grass.

Here’s video of them earlier this month at the Wildwood Farms General Store in Floyd, VA.

The State Championships are held in conjunction with the VFMA’s annual Jumpin’ Bluegrass Festival, and has been held since the 1950s when the Governor granted them authority to name the bluegrass champs each year. Individual instrument contests are also hosted, with a special prize for the best young performer.

2017 winners include:

Band

  1. A Cut Above
  2. The Hendersons
  3. Blue Connection

Male Vocalist

  1. Art Crawley
  2. Gerald Runion
  3. Matt Spence

Female Vocalist

  1. Hannah Roper
  2. Andrea Valderama
  3. Dorothy Hager

Banjo

  1. Daniel Creasy
  2. Matthew Henderson
  3. Steve Waddell

Mandolin

  1. Matthew Henderson
  2. Mike Walker
  3. Emily Roper

Guitar

  1. Mike McCoib
  2. Gaylon Ryan
  3. Hannah Roper

Fiddle

  1. Jessica Zilinsky
  2. Roger Gray
  3. Mike McCoib

Miscellaneous

  1. Ronnie Burroughs
  2. Rebecca Bryant
  3. Gaylon Ryan

Junior Entertainer

  1. Denver Smith
  2. Sarah Rose Wilkerson
  3. Octavia Simmons

Congratulations to all the winners!

For more information about the Virginia Folk Music Association, visit them online.

Bands sought for VFMA bluegrass competition

The Virginia Folk Music Association is on the hunt for bands from the Old Dominion interested in competing in their bluegrass band contest in October.

A top prize of $1,000 is offered for Virginia-based groups, and the entry fee is only $10/member. The contest is scheduled for the last day of their festival, Jumpin’ Bluegrass ’17, held October 12-15 in Chesterfield, VA.

The winner takes the title of Virginia State Bluegrass Champion, as do winners in the various individual competitions held that day.

Competitors in all the contests must be Virginia residents, and the bands must not be full-time music professionals who earn their living touring together. Those who register in advance will be able to select a competition time so they know when they will be called to the stage.

Second place finishers in the band competition will receive a $500 prize, with $250 going to third. Winners in the male and female vocal categories, and the individual instrument contests, receive trophies.

Full details and contest rules can be found on the VFMA web site.

The organization is a fully volunteer effort, and has functioned as a non-profit since 1947. They also operate a Hall of Fame Museum in Chesterfield, and a Heritage Music Youth Scholarship.

Josh Grigsby & County Line new Virginia champs

The past weekend at the Chesterfield County Fairgrounds, the Virginia State Bluegrass Championship Contest was hosted by the Virginia Folk Music Association. Prizes were awarded for bands, vocalists, and instrumentalists alike.

Bragging rights for top band go to Josh Grigsby & County Line, from Virginia’s northern neck region. The band’s three vocalists also took the top spots in the Male Vocalist category, and Josh’s wife Crystal might have placed in Female Vocalist had the category not had to be cancelled for lack of necessary registration.

In addition to Josh on guitar, County Line consists of Chris Westcott on guitar, Frankie Ballowe on mandolin, Robert Kidd on bass, and Judge Parker on banjo, with Crystal singing harmony. In 2014 they were winners of the  band competition at the Bluegrass by the Bay Festival in Gloucester, Virginia.

Their debut album, Changes In The Tide, has been recently released and plans are being set now to start work on a second, tentatively titled Ruby Lane Memories.

 

You can learn more about the group online or on Facebook.

The Virginia State Bluegrass Championships have been held since 1947 when they were sanctioned by the Governor as the official state competition. All entrants must be legal residents of Virginia, and substantial cash prizes are awarded to the top three finishers in 8 categories.

The final results for 2015 are as follows:

Bluegrass Band

  1. Josh Grigsby and County Line
  2. Changing Lanes
  3. This Time Last Year

 

Male Vocalist

  1. Josh Grigsby
  2. Chris Westcott
  3. Judge Parker

 

Guitar

  1. Jeremiah Gilmer
  2. Avery Welter
  3. Dennis Elliott

 

Banjo

  1. Charlie Payne
  2. Jeremiah Gilmer
  3. Ethan Edwards

 

Fiddle

  1. Avery Welter
  2. Blake Brewington
  3. Devona Cristobal

 

Mandolin

  1. Jeremiah Gilmer
  2. Ethan Edwards
  3. Frankie Ballowe

 

Dobro

  1. Travis Chambers
  2. J.W. Carpenter
  3. Devona Cristobal

 

Information about the 2016 Virginia State Bluegrass Championship will be posted soon online. The competitions are always held in early October.

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