Rockygrass Instrument Contests
Rockygrass Instrument Contests
Rockygrass Instrument Contests
The RockyGrass Music Competitions are traditional bluegrass competitions that began at the 1st Annual Rocky Mountain Bluegrass Festival in 1973.
Instrumentalists can compete in the following categories: flatpick guitar, mandolin, banjo, dobro, and fiddle.
2026 Instrument Contest Results
This year’s instrument contest showcased another dazzling display of virtuosity in the Wildflower Pavilion and the finals on the Main Stage. Congrats to all the 2026 finalists:
BANJO
- 1st place: Corey Clark (Fort Collins, CO)
- 2nd place: Luke Stecklein (Cave Creek, AZ)
- 3rd place: Elijah Donovan (Longmont, CO)
FLATPICK GUITAR
- 1st place: Forest Thurman (Menifee, CA)
- 2nd place: Hayes Griffin (Columbus, OH)
- 3rd place: Dave Pailet (Lafayette, CO)
MANDOLIN
- 1st place: Oscar Caudell (Asheville, NC)
- 2nd place: Otto Allard
- 3rd place: Penelope Harriman (Lafayette, CO)
FIDDLE
- 1st place: Taylor Tudor (Grand Junction, CO)
- 2nd place: Danielle Bettencourt (Sierra Vista, AZ)
- 3rd place: Corey Clark (Fort Collins, CO)
DOBRO
- 1st place: Arthur Wessel (Eagle, CO)
- 2nd place: Zander Chovanes (Bozeman, MT)
- 3rd place: Elliott Hollander (Atlanta, GA)
2026 Contest Prizes
Banjo: Deering John Hartford 5-String Banjo
Guitar: Preston Thompson D-MA Mahogany/Adirondack Dreadnought Guitar
Mandolin: Bourgeois M5-A Mandolin
Fiddle: Thomas Verdot Paragon Fiddle
Dobro: $750
$100
$50
2026 PRIZES
Banjo 1st Prize
Deering John Hartford 5-String Banjo
Deering’s American-made Hartford model banjo, designed and built for legendary banjoist/performer John Hartford, has the world-renownedDeering Grenadillo (wood) tone ring.
The dark walnut stained, satin finished maple neck and resonator are highlighted by the Steamboat-style, fingerboard inlays and Paramount style peghead. No other banjo in the world sounds like a Hartford. Powerful, sweet, warm and rich with no shortage of volume makes this banjo super versatile as well as lighter in weight than a bronze tone ring banjo. The wood tone ring ages like a violin or guitar, faster than bronze tone ring banjos.
Guitar 1st Prize
Preston Thompson D-MA Guitar with Adirondack top
The Preston Thompson Dreadnought guitars are all crafted to produce the tone and volume that the dreadnought guitar was originally designed to achieve.
These are traditional instruments and all models are based on the famous 1937 Herringbone Dreadnought, owned by the late, great Charles Sawtelle of the award winning bluegrass band, Hot Rize. All feature Red spruce (Adirondack) tops chosen for tap tone and stiffness, advanced X brace placement, hand graduated top thickness, pre-war hand carved scalloped braces, nitro-cellulose lacquer finishes and time tested design features such as dovetail neck joints.
It’s all about sound, and that is what the Thompson Dreadnought specializes in. Thompson Dreadnoughts are built with the finest woods, materials and craftsmanship to deliver that sought after pre-war sound and playing feel. This D-MA model features Mahogany back & sides and an Adirondack top.
Mandolin 1st Prize
M5-A Bourgeois Mandolin
Experience the expressive and complex voice of the new fully torrefied M5A Mandolin. Hand crafted using only the finest materials and custom hardware, master luthier Dana Bourgeois has designed the M5A to deliver superior tonal performance, professional level playability, and a lifetime of inspiration.
Fiddle 1st Prize
Thomas Verdot Paragon Fiddle
Thomas Verdot studied violin construction with the late Karl Roy, former head of the violin making school in Mittenwald, Germany. He then studied restoration with Hans J. Nebel, a fourth generation “Fiddle Maker” who was the former head of the restoration department of the Rembert Wurlitzer firm in New York. Verdot’s Paragon violins are high quality European instruments, finished in-house, adjusted for the best possible performance.
Dobro 1st Prize
$750
Schedule
Preliminary Round: Friday, July 24th
Preliminary rounds are held in the Wildflower Pavilion.
- 11:30am Banjo Contest
- 1:00pm Guitar Contest
- 2:30pm Mandolin Contest
- 4:00pm Fiddle Contest
- 5:30pm Dobro Contest
- Please check-in at the contest table within the Wildflower Pavilion at least 30-minutes before the start of your instrument start time.
- If there are spots available a waitlist will be created for all instruments at 11:15am. Please check-in at the desk in the Wildflower to get on the waitlist.
- The order of play will be selected randomly ahead of time and posted in the Wildflower Pavilion on Friday at 11am.
- Please read the entire rules posted online. If the rules are broken you may be disqualified.
- The top 3 contestants moving on to the Finals will be posted immediately after the contest.
- HAVE FUN!!!
Final Round: Saturday, July 25th (Top 3 Contestants)
The contest finals are held on the Festival Main Stage
- Dobro: 9:15am
- Fiddle: 9:40am
- Mandolin: 10:05am
- Flatpick Guitar: 10:30am
- Banjo: 10:55am
Final times are subject to change.
The top 3 contestants on each instrument should checkin backstage by 8:30am on Saturday morning.
Rules & Scoring
General Rules (See below for instrument specific rules if applicable)
- Each competition is limited to 12 registered contestants.
- Contestants who have previously won one of the RockyGrass instrument contests may not enter that same instrument contest again.
- On the day of the preliminary round, contestants must check-in with the contest staff in the Wildflower Pavilion at least 1 hour before their contest is scheduled to begin.
- Time limit is 3 minutes per song for a recommended total stage time of 6 minutes. The judges will mark you down if stage time significantly exceeds the time limit.
- Contestants my retune their instruments between songs however time spent tuning will be counted towards total stage time.
- Contestants play 2 songs in the preliminary round.
- Contestants who place in the top 3 in the preliminary round, will play 2 songs in the final round.
- Repeats of songs played in the preliminary round are not allowed in the final round.
- Each song must be a unique song, a medley of multiple songs is not considered a single song.
- One backup rhythm musician is allowed for accompaniment. Backup musicians may not be Performers at the Festival or be a RockyGrass Academy instructor.
- Contestants must play instruments acoustically into a microphone. Contestants and backup musicians will play on separate microphones.
- Contestants may sit in the provided chair or stand.
- The contest is judged “in the blind” and therefore judges will not be in the audience but will be listening in a remote location.
- CONTESTANTS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK ON STAGE.
- The contestant order will be randomly assigned prior to each round and posted.
- The contest emcee will announce each contest by their number and the contestant must be ready to get on stage once their number is called.
- In the event of a tie or virtual tie, the judges as a group will be allowed discretion to come to a consensus regarding the winner(s). A virtual tie is defined as total scores within 5 points of each other. Judges may need to confer to ensure fairness and consistency in the rating process.
- Score sheets will not be shared with contestants
Flat Pick Guitar Rules
- All contestants must play with a FLAT PICK, no finger picking will be allowed. Therefore no combination of flat pick and finger picking allowed.
- Standard / Traditional acoustic 6-string or standard / traditional acoustic 12-string guitars may be played
- The low E (6th) string can be changed to a “Drop D” or a low D note. No other string tuning or variance from the standard E (1), B (2), G (3), D (4), A (5) will be permitted.
Scoring
- 50% Overall Ability (includes difficulty, expression, material selection, taste, execution)
- 25% Rhythm
- 25% Tone
How To Enter
Spaces for the 2027 RockyGrass Instrument contests will open in early 2027!
Each entry is $15. Contestants may enter multiple categories however they may not enter a category that they have previously won.
Only (12) tickets will be sold per instrument.
Since the contests are held inside the festival grounds, all contestants must have either a 3-day pass or single-day tickets for Friday (the preliminary round) and Saturday (final round).
We will be sending out an email a week before the Festival to collect your contact info. Please watch the inbox of the email address you used to purchase your SeeTickets/Eventim registration.
(Note that while we strongly urge you to complete the form in this email, you can still register in-person at the Festival. We will not cancel anyone’s contest registration if they miss this email!)
2025 Instrument Contest Results
This year’s instrument contest showcased another dazzling display of virtuosity in the Wildflower Pavilion and the finals on the Main Stage. Congrats to all the 2025 finalists:
BANJO
- 1st place: G. Korth-Rockwell
- 2nd place: Colton McCormick
- 3rd place: Maura Benton
FLATPICK GUITAR
- 1st place: G. Korth-Rockwell
- 2nd place: Oscar Caudell
- 3rd place: Everitt Merritt
MANDOLIN
- 1st place: Dave Pailet
- 2nd place: G. Korth-Rockwel
- 3rd place: Oscar Caudell
FIDDLE
- 1st place: Finn McGuiness
- 2nd place: Julian Oliver
- 3rd place: Mei Lin Heirendt
DOBRO
- 1st place: Andrew Gordon
- 2nd place: Arthur Wessel
- 3rd place: Mathew Lois Zuckerman
Questions?
Please reach out to us at [email protected].