38th Annual Telluride Band Contest
38th Annual Telluride Band Contest
38th Annual Telluride Band Contest
The Telluride Band Contest is a nationally-recognized bluegrass contest. Finalists are awarded cash and prizes, as well as critical acclaim, well-deserved recognition, and a chance to perform on the Festival main stage!
Congratulations to the 2025 Telluride Bluegrass Band Contest winners Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light from Boston, MA. They will be playing the 2026 Telluride Bluegrass Festival and have won an EP Recording package provided by eTown Hall Studio and Airshow Mastering, as well as a free 4-day van rental from Titus Adventures!
How To Enter
2026 Telluride Band Contest entry tickets will go on sale on December 11th at 10am MST.
Only one (1) ticket is needed per band. Only 12 total Band Contest tickets will be sold.
There is no application process (just please read the “Rules & Guidelines” section below to make sure your band qualifies). After that, your band just has to be one of the first 12 bands to purchase a Telluride Band Contest ticket.
Band Contest Tickets are $100 with an additional refundable $100 deposit that will be returned after your band competes in the contest. Failure to compete in the contest will forfeit your entire $200.
Rules & Guidelines
- Please note: Contestants are required to use just a single, omni directional stage microphone for the preliminary and final rounds of the band contest. No monitors are provided. Bass players may plug in if they wish.
- No more than (12) bands will be registered for the band contest.
- Since the final round is held on the main stage on Saturday, each band member must have festival passes for at least Saturday.
- Bands may receive a temporary barricade pass for their vehicle to unload their instruments for both the preliminaries on Friday and the finals on Saturday.
- Bands may consist of 3-6 members. The music should be “Bluegrass,” “Old Time,” “Western Swing,” or “New Acoustic/Newgrass.”
- Recommended time limit: (3) minutes per song. The judges mark you down if a selection significantly exceeds (3) minutes.
- No electric instruments or pickups allowed, with exception of electric bass and steel guitar (or lap steel). Only one mic will be provided for each band.
- Each band plays (3) songs in the preliminaries and (3) songs in the finals. The (3) band selections must be the following types:
- A slow vocal song
- An instrumental song
- A fast vocal song. Tempos are relative.
- Songs played in the preliminary round are not allowed to be repeated in the finals.
- Bands entering the contest may have no common members
- No drum sets or fixed/mounted percussion allowed. (Musicians should be able to stand and move with their instruments. Washboards, shakers, and tambourines are examples of accepted percussion.)
- Band winners in previous years are not eligible to enter the Band competitions.
- The contestant order will be randomly assigned at the contest site prior to the start of the competition.
- Band finalists will receive vouchers from the contest clerk immediately after contests to access the backstage area on Saturday morning. Contestants must have purchased a ticket for Saturday’s show and have a wristband to access the backstage area.
- Scores are not cumulative from the prelims to the finals. The finals are a new contest; everyone starts on a fresh and equal footing.
- Prizes are awarded directly after the final round! Stay nearby if you want to reap the rewards you richly deserve.
- Contestants should not talk to the judges or the clerks concerning their scores during or after the contest. The decision of the judges is final. Completed judging forms are not available to the contestants or the public. If you have a formal protest, bring it to the head clerk first. They will forward it to the right person
Scoring
- 30% Material Selection (taste, difficulty, authenticity/originality…)
- 30% Instrumental Performance (includes ability of soloists and overall instrumental blend)
- 30% Vocal Performance (lead and harmony)
- 10% Stage Presence
Tips
- Music competitions are a test of nerve as much as skill. Your ability to perform elegantly under pressure goes with the territory.
- Judges may confer to ensure fairness and consistency in the rating process.
- In the event of ties or virtual ties, the judges as a group will be allowed discretion to confer to reach a consensus regarding the winner. A virtual tie is defined as total scores within 5 points of each other. If a “tie-breaker” is called, you must play one song that is different from your previous songs. It’s a good idea to have a tie-breaker tune ready.
- Straying too far from the boundaries of music that is out of the genre of ”Old Timey,” “Bluegrass,” “Western Swing,” or “New Acoustic” will affect your score negatively. The judges are not listening for Jazz, Classical, Rock and Fusion. For example, eight bars of a Charlie Parker solo in the middle of “Old Dan Tucker” is inappropriate, but a swingy, improvised Texas-style chorus in “Gray Eagle” is fine. Idiom is important. The judges, in the end, decide if your interpretation crosses over the sometimes fuzzy boundary into another world of music.
Past Winners
The Telluride Troubadour Competition has been held in conjunction with the Telluride Bluegrass Festival since 1985.
1985 - Blitz Creek
1986 - Loose Ties
1987 - Northern Hospitality
1988 - Titan Valley Warheads
1989 - Powder Ridge
1990 - The Chicks
1991 - Meighan Edmonson Mittelmeier Band
1992 - Sugarbeat
1993 - String Fever
1994 - Salt Licks
1995 - Magraw Gap
1996 - Cornbread Sally
1997 - Ryan Shupe & Rubberband
1998 - Floodplain Gang
1999 - Pagosa Hot Strings
2000 - Clear Blue
2001 - Bearfoot Bluegrass
2002 - South Austin Jug Band
2003 - Hit & Run Bluegrass
2004 - Burnett Family Bluegrass Band
2005 - The Badly Bent
2006 - Greensky Bluegrass
2007 - Spring Creek Bluegrass Band
2008 - Blue Canyon Boys
2009 - The Hillbenders
2010 - Nora Jane Struthers & the Bootleggers
2011 - Run Boy Run
2012 - BlueBilly Grit
2013 - Front Country
2014 - Trout Steak Revival
2015 - The Lil Smokies
2016 - Fireball Mail
2017 - Sugar and the Mint
2018 - Wood Belly
2019 - Bowregard
2022 - Full Cord
2023 - The Fretliners
2024 - Still House String Band
2025 - Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light
Questions? We can help! Please reach out to us at contests@bluegrass.com.