Over the recent Labor Day weekend, the 46th annual Grand Master Fiddler Championship was held in Nashville at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
When the prestigious open competition was completed, Trustin Baker of Birch Tree, MO came out on top. Trustin is 19 years of age, and performs with his siblings as The Baker Family. He had been a runner-up in this contest this past three years, and this time around, he won it all.
Over the Saturday and Sunday competitions, Grand Master champions were chosen in the open, traditional, and youth categories. Awards were also presented to the top accompanists who backed up the various competitors.
Each year this contest draws some of the best fiddlers from all across the United States to try and win this distinguished award.
The complete 2018 Grand Master Fiddler results follow:
2018 GMFC Open Championship
- Trustin Baker – Missouri
- Ridge Roberts – Texas
- Andrew Lin – Kentucky
- Billy Contreras – Tennessee
- Ivy Phillips – Tennessee
- Matthew Lin – Kentucky
- Wes Westmoreland – Texas
- Joel Whittinghill – Kentucky
- Mari Black – Massachusetts
- Karissa Nugent – Texas
- Mark Ralph – Kentucky
- Kerry Varble – Ohio
- Benjamin Lin – Kentucky
- Bill Jones – Georgia
- Jason Andrew – Texas
- Noemi Turner – Washington
- Cody Stadelmaier – Colorado
- Blakeley Burger – Kentucky
- Josiah Colle – Arkansas
2018 GMFC Traditional Championship
- Tyler Andal – Tennessee
- Giri Peters – Tennessee
- Tessa Dillon – West Virgina
- Clelia Stefanini – Tennessee
- Henry Barnes – Ohio
- Andrew Magill – North Carolina
- Hillary Klug – Tennessee
2018 GMFC Youth Championship
- Leah Bowen – Nevada
- Miles Quale – California
- Emilie Miller – Washington
- David Lin – Kentucky
- Teo Quale – California
- Jane Eby – Ohio
- Kate Ward – Kentucky
- Devon Waite – Tennessee
- Christiana Nugent – Texas
- Nathan Pedneault – Texas
2018 GMFC Accompanist Championship
- Drew Miller – Texas
- Rob Pearcy – Tennessee
- Jonathan Trawick – Oregon
- Elijah Baker – Missouri
- Jim Reina – Texas
- Todd Varble – Ohio
Congratulations to all the winners and top finishers!
You can learn more about the history and traditions of the Grand Masters Fiddler Championship online.
