38th Annual Telluride Band Contest
38th Annual Telluride Band Contest
38th Annual Telluride Band Contest
Congratulations to the 2026 Telluride Bluegrass Band Contest winners The Litch Brothers from Orcas Island, WA! They have won an EP Recording package provided by eTown Hall Studio and Airshow Mastering, and a spot on the 2027 Telluride Bluegrass Festival main stage lineup.
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!
2026 Contest Bands
Top 4 Finalists
Congratulations to the 2026 Band Contest winners The Litch Brothers and the other top 4 finalists!
- The Litch Brothers (Orcas Island, WA)
- Randy Steele and The High Cold Wind (Chattanooga, TN)
- North State Grass (Charlotte, NC)
- Wasatch Valley Drifters (Salt Lake City, UT)
2026 Contest Bands
Cheer on this year’s group of contest bands in the preliminary round at Elks Park on Friday at 10:00am.
- Colorado College Bluegrass (Colorado Springs, CO)
- The Harveys (Franklin, TN)
- Hollow Down (Peoria, IL)
- Knee Deep (Boulder, CO & Austin, TX)
- The Litch Brothers (Orcas Island, WA)
- North State Grass (Charlotte, NC)
- Nowhere Dept. (Denver, CO)
- Randy Steele and The High Cold Wind (Chattanooga, TN)
- Walt Phelan & Found Harmonium (Memphis, TN)
- Wasatch Valley Drifters (Salt Lake City, UT)
2026 Prizes
1st Place Prize
- 2027 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Main Stage Performance
- EP Recording Package (provided by eTown Hall Studio and [Airshow Mastering)
- $750
EP Recording Package
eTown Hall & Airshow Mastering
To make sure the winning band has something great-sounding to sell at their 2027 main stage debut, they will receive an EP recording package from two complementary Boulder studios. They’ll track and mix at eTown Hall Studio and finish up with mastering at Airshow Boulder.
- The winning band will get one day of tracking and mixing with eTown Radio engineer James Tuttle in the eTown Hall studio.
- The band’s mixes will be mastered by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering’s studio in the Boulder foothills.
An EP is defined as “up to 15 minutes, up to 3 songs.” The prize includes up to 5 hours of tracking time and 5 hours of mix time, and up to 5 hours of mastering plus master parts. Mastering includes a master for CD manufacturing and a set of 24-bit master files for digital distribution or vinyl pressing. This prize may be applied to a larger work, with the band paying the studios’ customary rates for additional time or parts. The recording and mastering sessions must be completed by January 1st, 2027.
Other Prizes
- 2nd Place: $450
- 3rd Place: $300
- 4th Place: $150
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
2026 Contest Schedule
The Band Contest consists of 2 rounds of live performances in Telluride around a single microphone.
Preliminary Round
All 12 bands perform in the preliminary round:
- Friday, June 19 @ 10am: Elks Park Stage, outside the Festival grounds.
Contest Finals (Main Stage)
The top 4 bands from the preliminary round will perform in the contest finals on the Festival Main Stage:
- Saturday, June 20 @ 9:45am: Festival Main Stage, inside the Festival grounds
Prizes are awarded immediately after the contest.
Heritage Plaza in Mountain Village
New this year: We’re adding a daytime stage near the gondola station in Mountain Village! On Sunday, June 21 from noon-2pm, two of the four finalist bands will be invited to play 45-minute sets in Heritage Plaza.
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.
How To Enter
Band contest entries are now full for the 2026 Telluride Band Contest.
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.
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 [email protected].