CLIFFTOP, W.Va. – The 31st annual Appalachian String Band Music Festival at Camp Washington-Carver in Clifftop, Fayette County, wrapped up on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Nineteen musicians, thirteen bands and nine dancers from 12 states took home a total of $9,625 in prize money.
Seven of the winners are from West Virginia, including Trevor Hammons, Marlinton, Pocahontas County, first place banjo; Joseph Jordan, Charleston, Kanawha County, second place banjo; Robert Smailes, Montrose, Randolph County, third place senior banjo; Tessa Dillon, St. Albans, Kanawha County, first place fiddle; Hemlock & Hickory, Capon Bridge, Hampshire County, first place neo-traditional band; The Long Point Strindband, Beckley, Raleigh County, fifth place neo-traditional band; and Dirty Birds Stringband, Charleston, Kanawha County, second place traditional band.
More than 2,500 musicians, dancers, fans and friends representing more than 25 states and 10 countries attended the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History’s five-day-event that features some of the world’s finest string-band musicians and flat-foot dancers. Contests were held in four traditional categories – fiddle, banjo, string band and flat-foot dance – plus one neo-traditional string band category.
The contest winners were:
Youth Banjo
1st Place: ($100) – Samuel Harris, Raleigh, N.C
2nd Place: ($75) – John Davis, Leicester, N.C.
3rd Place: ($50) – Holly Riley, Mills River, N.C.
Banjo
1st Place: ($400) – Trevor Hammons, Marlinton, W.Va.
2nd Place: ($200) – Joseph Jordan, Charleston, W.Va.
3rd Place: ($150) – Thomas Traynham, Willis, Va.
4th Place: ($100) – Bradley Kolodner, Baltimore, Md.
5th Place: ($50) – Seth Swingle, Earlysville, Va.
Senior Banjo
1st Place: ($200) – Thomas Traynham, Willis, Va.
2nd Place: ($100) – Mark Rast, Lancaster, Pa.
3rd Place: ($50) – Robert Smailes, Montrose, W.Va.
Youth Fiddle
1st Place: ($100) – Eric Tritsch, Mullhelm, Pa.
2nd Place: ($75) – Holly Riley, Mills River, N.C.
3rd Place: ($50) – Micah John, Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Fiddle
1st Place: ($400) – Tessa Dillion, St. Albans, W.Va.
2nd Place: ($200) – Mitchell Depew, Moorestown, N.J.
3rd Place: ($150) – George Jackson, Madison, Tenn.
4th Place: ($100) – Lillian Chase, Weaversville, N.C.
5th Place: ($50) – Sonya Badigian, Durham, N.C.
Senior Fiddle
1st Place: ($200) – Peter Vigour, Croset, Va.
2nd Place: ($100) – Thomas Traynham, Willis, Va.
3rd Place: ($50) – Christopher Germain, Abingdon, Pa.
Youth Neo-Traditional Band
No monetary award – The Long Necked Legs, Asheville, N.C.
No monetary award – Hokum Jumping Frogs, Asheville, N.C.
Neo-Traditional Band
1st Place: ($1,000) – Hemlock & Hickory, Capon Bridge, W.Va.
2nd Place: ($750) – Morris Bros., Columbus, Ohio
3rd Place: ($500) – Root 2 Music, Montvale, Va.
4th Place: ($400) – The Moot Point, Millheim, Pa.
5th Place: ($300) – The Long Point Stringband, Beckley, W.Va.
Youth Traditional Band
No monetary award – The Flaming Fire, Lexington, Va.
Best New Composition Song
No monetary award – Morris Bros., Columbus, Ohio
Best New Composition Tune
No monetary award – Hemlock & Hickory, Capon Bridge, W.Va.
Traditional Band
1st Place: ($1,000) – The Tennessee Hillbuddies, Elizabethton, Tenn.
2nd Place: ($750) – Dirty Birds Stringband, Charleston, W.Va.
3rd Place: ($500) – The Neal Pressley Fan Club, Puyallup, Wash.
4th Place: ($400) – Tune Hash, Madison, Tenn.
5th Place: ($300) – The Down Hill Strugglers, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Youth Old-Time Flat-Foot Dance
1st Place: ($100) – Jacob Fennell, Dickson, Tenn.
2nd Place: ($75) – Pelle Hello, Floyd, Va.
3rd Place: ($50) – Holly Riley, Mills River, N.C.
Old-Time Flat-Foot Dance
1st Place: ($100) – Margaret Van Doreen, Ann Arbor, Mich.
2nd Place: ($75) – Emily Hammond, Alexander, Va.
3rd Place: ($50) – Gina Dilg, N/A
Senior Old-Time Flat-Foot Dance
1st Place: ($100) – Jane Henderson, Bloom, Tenn.
2nd Place: ($75) – Daphne Pappas-Anderson, Pittsburgh, Pa.
3rd Place: ($50) – Maureen Jo Reed Burke, Tullahoma, Tenn.
Grand Champion Old-Time Flat-Foot Dance Winner
($100) – Jacob Fennell, Dickson, Tenn.
For more information about the 31st annual Appalachian String Band Music Festival, contact Andrea Nelson, public information specialist for the department, at (304) 558-0220.
A beautiful retreat listed in the National Register of Historic Places and operated by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, Camp Washington-Carver serves as the state’s mountain cultural arts center. The facility nurtures the cultural heritage embodied in the site since its dedication in 1942 as a 4-H and agricultural extension camp for West Virginia’s African Americans. The camp is located in Fayette County next to Babcock State Park, just off Rt. 60 (Midland Trail) on Rt. 41.
PHOTOGRAPHS: Appalachian String Band Music Festival. Photos by Stephen Brightwell, photographer for the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vnzMpWspwjbG-S-8wGYKtIeO12YkSQZ_?usp=sharing