Appalachian String Band Music Festival Announces 2017 Contest Winners

 News…

CLIFFTOP, W.Va. – The 28th annual Appalachian String Band Music Festival at Camp Washington-Carver in Clifftop, Fayette County, wrapped up on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. Twenty-two musicians, 12 bands and 10 dancers from California to Maine took home a total of $7,550 in prize money. Three of the winners are from West Virginia, including The Confirmation Bias, Beckley, fifth place Neo-Traditional Band; Mud Hole Out of Control, Marlinton, first place Youth Traditional Band; and Luke Snuffer, Beckley, first place Old-time Flat Foot – 15 years of age and younger.

More than 3,500 musicians, dancers, fans and friends representing all 50 states and 12 countries attended the West Virginia Division of 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) – Nora Brown, Brooklyn, N.Y.
            2nd Place ($50) – Joey Webb, Frankfort, Ky.
            3rd Place ($25) – Charlie Burkett, Rochester, Minn.      

Banjo
            1st Place ($400) – Micah Spence, Chattanooga, Tenn.
            2nd Place ($200) – Seth Swingle, Earlysville, Va.
            3rd Place ($150) – Arnie Naiman, Aurora, Ontario, Canada
            4th Place ($100) – Pete Peterson, Oxford, Pa.
            5th Place ($50) – Luke Richardson, Lawrenceburg, Tenn.

Senior Banjo
            1st Place ($200) – Pete Peterson, Oxford, Pa.
            2nd Place ($100) – Arnie Naiman, Aurora, Ontario, Canada
            3rd Place ($50) – Don Borchelt, N/A

Youth Fiddle
            1st Place ($100) – Lillian Chase, Weaverville, N.C.
            2nd Place ($50) – Hickory Selin, Ithaca, N. Y.
            3rd Place ($25) – Ella Webster, Lexington, Ky.

Fiddle
            1st Place ($400) – Rhys Jones, Warrenton, Va.
            2nd Place ($200) – Clelia Stefanini, Nashville, Tenn.
            3rd Place ($150) – Joseph Dacasamo, Durham, N.C.
            4th Place ($100) – Henry Barnes, Newport, Va.
            5th Place ($50) – John Lane, Minneapolis, Minn.

Senior Fiddle
            1st Place ($200) – Barb Kuhns, Medway, Ohio
            2nd Place ($100) – Paul Brown, Winston-Salem, N.C.
            3rd Place ($50) – Bob Borcherding, Okemos, Mich.

Youth Neo-Traditional Band
           1st Place ($300) – Selin Brothers, N/A

Neo-Traditional Band
            1st Place ($700) – Che Apalache, Clemmons, N.C.
            2nd Place ($400) – Evil Diana, Oakland, Calif.
            3rd Place ($300) – Rain City Ramblers, Seattle, Wash.
            4th Place ($200) – Take Two, Charlottesville, Va.
            5th Place ($100) – The Confirmation Bias, Beckley, W.Va.

Best New Composition Song
            No monetary award – “Heirloom and Upstarts” by Fred Swedberg

Best Original Tune
            No monetary award – “Geezer Hill Allstars” by Rebecca Wise

Youth Traditional Band
            1st Place ($300) – Mud Hole Out of Control, Marlinton, W.Va.

Traditional Band
            1st Place ($700) – The Onlies, Seattle, Wash.
            2nd Place ($400) – The Cork Burners, Minneapolis, Minn.
            3rd Place ($300) – Old Drake, Nashville, Tenn.
            4th Place ($200) – The Buckin Mules, Lawrenceburg, Tenn.
            5th Place ($100) – Steam Machine, Galax, Va.

Old-Time Flat-foot Dance – 15 years of age and under
            1st place ($75) – Luke Snuffer, Beckley, W.Va.
            2nd Place ($50) – Audrey Sementilli, Albany, Ohio

Old-Time Flat-foot Dance – 16 years of age through 40
            1st Place ($75) – Hillary Klug, Shelbyville, Tenn.
            2nd Place ($50) – Kim Perry, Baltimore, Md.
            3rd Place ($25) – Greta Van Dorren, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Old-Time Flat-foot Dance – 41 years of age through 59
            1st Place ($75) – Susan Chalker, Sparks, Md.       

Old-Time Flat-foot Dance – 60 years of age and older
            1st Place ($75) – Phil Jamison, Asheville, N.C.
            2nd Place ($50) – Ruth Alpert, Santa Barbara, Calif.
            3rd Place ($25) – Kim Forry, Arnold, Md.

Grand Champion Old-Time Flat-foot Dance Winner
           ($100) Hillary Klug, Shelbyville, Tenn.

For more information about the 28th annual Appalachian String Band Music Festival, contact Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner for the division, at (304) 558-0220.

A beautiful retreat listed in the National Register of Historic Places and operated by the West Virginia Division of 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.

The division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, is an agency within the Office of Secretary of Education and the Arts with Gayle Manchin, cabinet secretary. It brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

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