Kerrville Folk Festival
The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas.
| Kerrville Folk Festival | |
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| Genre | folk, bluegrass, country, singer-songwriter, blues, jazz, Americana |
| Dates | late spring/early summer |
| Location(s) | Quiet Valley Ranch, Kerrville, Texas, United States |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Founded by | Rod Kennedy |
| Website | www.kerrville-music.com |
The event draws around 30,000 people per year. Tickets (single day or season passes) are required for admission. Many patrons camp out on the festival grounds during part or all of the festival.
The festival places a strong emphasis on songwriting, though the performances encompass a variety of styles. The idea behind the festivals is to "promote emerging artists while giving our audience exposure to both new and recognized, seasoned talent", according to the festival's website.
History
The Kerrville Folk Festival was founded in 1972 by the husband-wife team of Rod Kennedy and Nancylee Davis.[1] The event has run annually since then. In 2002, Kennedy retired and the non-profit Texas Folk Music Foundation took over Festival management. The new board hired Dalis Allen as producer.[2] In November 2008, the Kerrville Folk Festival and Kerrville Wine & Music Festival were acquired by the Texas Folk Music Foundation, a 501(c)3 Texas Non-profit Corporation.
In past years, the event has also featured well known artists, including Peter, Paul and Mary, Lyle Lovett (1980), Emmylou Harris (2015), Willie Nelson (1973), Mary Chapin Carpenter, Robert Earl Keen (1983), Lucinda Williams (1974), David Crosby (2015), and Nanci Griffith (1978).[3]
In 2020, the music festival's events were moved online.
The Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition
Every year, there is a competition to discover promising new singer-songwriters called the New Folk Competition. Thirty-two finalists are selected from a field of 800 entries to share two of their original songs in an afternoon appearance on the stage of the Threadgill Theater. From those 32 finalists, six winners are selected by a small group of well-established songwriters. In addition to monetary prizes, the six winners are invited to the main stage to perform a 20-minute set.
A win at Kerrville carries considerable prestige in the singer-songwriter community. This is in part due to the peer-professional judging and the festival's long history of recognizing emerging artists who have later gone on to wider success. There have also been examples of notable performers who have appeared as finalists in the competition without ever earning a win. Artists who have performed in the competition include:[4][5]
- Tom Russell & Patricia Hardin (1975 - winner)
- Rick Beresford (1977 - winner)
- Eric Taylor (1977 - winner)
- Nanci Griffith (1978 - finalist)
- Steve Earle (1978 - finalist)
- Vince Bell (1978 - winner)
- Tish Hinojosa (1979 - winner)
- Lyle Lovett (1980, 1982 - finalist)
- Robert Earl Keen (1983 - winner)
- John Gorka (1984 - winner)
- Darden Smith (1985 - winner)
- Hal Ketchum (1986 - winner)
- James McMurtry (1987 - winner)
- Buddy Mondlock (1987 - winner)
- Pierce Pettis (1987 - winner)
- David Wilcox (1988 - winner).
- Anne Feeney (1989 - winner)
- Johnsmith (1990 - winner)
- Slaid Cleaves (1992 - winner)
- Cosy Sheridan (1992 - winner)
- Mark Elliott (1993 - finalist)
- Tom Kimmel (1993 - winner)
- Ellis Paul (1994 - winner)
2013 winners and finalists
The six New Folk Winners for 2013 were among 31 songwriter-finalists who performed during the New Folk Concerts on May 25 & 26, 2013 — chosen from up to 800 submissions.
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2012 winners and finalists
The six New Folk Winners for 2012 were among 32 songwriter-finalists who performed during the New Folk Concerts on May 26 & 27, 2012 — chosen from 800 submissions.
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2011 winners and finalists
The six New Folk Winners for 2011 were among 32 songwriter-finalists who performed during the New Folk Concerts on May 28 & 29, 2011—chosen from 800 submissions.
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2010 winners and finalists
The six New Folk Winners for 2010 were among 32 songwriter-finalists who performed during the 2010 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Concerts on May 29 & 30, 2010. Winners received a cash honorarium from the Texas Folk Music Foundation, Vic & Reba Heyman, and the Jim Ross Memorial Fund. They performed at the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners Concert on Sunday, June 6, 2010.
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2009 winners and finalists
The six New Folk Winners for 2009 were among 32 songwriter-finalists who performed during the 2009 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Concerts on May 23 & 24, 2009. Winners received a cash honorarium from the Texas Folk Music Foundation, Vic & Reba Heyman, and the Jim Ross Memorial Fund. They performed at the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners Concert on Sunday, May 31, 2009.
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2008 winners and finalists
The six New Folk Winners for 2008 were among 32 songwriter-finalists who performed during the 2008 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Concerts on May 24 & 25, 2008. Winners received a cash honorarium from the Texas Folk Music Foundation, Vic & Reba Heyman, and the Jim Ross Memorial Fund. They performed at the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners Concert on Sunday, June 1, 2008.
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2007 New Folk Competition
The 2007 New Folk Competition was held May 26 & 27.
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2006 New Folk Competition
The 2006 New Folk Competition was held on May 27 and 28.
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2005 New Folk Competition
The 2005 New Folk Competition was held on May 28 and 29.
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2004 New Folk Competition
The 2004 Competition was held on May 29 and 30.
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2003 New Folk Competition
The 2003 Competition was held on May 24 and 25.
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Kerrville Wine and Music Festival
The Kerrville Wine & Music Festival, called "Little Folk" is also hosted by the ranch over Labor Day Weekend. Both events share a website.
List of past performers
This list of past performers at the KFF is incomplete.[6]
- David Amram
- Matt Andersen
- David M. Bailey
- The Belleville Outfit
- Bobby Bridger
- Bob Brozman
- Hamilton Camp
- Mary Chapin Carpenter
- Guy Clark
- Judy Collins
- Dana Cooper
- Ronny Cox
- David Crosby
- Rodney Crowell
- Cypress Swamp Stompers
- Jimmy Driftwood
- Jonathan Edwards
- Joe Ely
- Deirdre Flint
- disappear fear
- Dixie Chicks
- Steven Fromholz
- Bob Gibson
- Eliza Gilkyson
- Emmylou Harris
- Vince Gill (as part of Bluegrass ReVue, in 1975)
- Jimmie Dale Gilmore
- Nanci Griffith
- Grimalkin
- Butch Hancock
- Patricia Hardin
- Carolyn Hester
- Sara Hickman
- Tish Hinojosa
- Ray Wylie Hubbard
- Janis Ian
- The Indigo Girls
- Flaco Jiménez
- Jitterbug Vipers
- Robert Earl Keen
- Tom Kimmel
- Jimmy LaFave
- John A. Lomax Jr.
- Lyle Lovett
- Mary McCaslin
- Mercy River Boys
- Augie Meyers
- Willie Nelson
- Gary P. Nunn
- Odetta
- Tom Paxton
- Peter Paul & Mary
- Shawn Phillips
- Willis Alan Ramsey
- Tom Prasada Rao
- Gamble Rogers
- Stan Rogers (died on Air Canada Flight 797 after performing in 1983)
- Peter Rowan
- Tom Rush
- Shake Russell
- Tom Russell
- Peter Madcat Ruth
- Don Sanders
- Mike Seeger
- Martin Sexton
- Singing Christians
- Michael Peter Smith
- Bill Staines
- B. W. Stevenson
- Eric Taylor
- Trout Fishing in America
- John Vandiver
- Townes Van Zandt
- Jerry Jeff Walker
- Susan Werner
- Cheryl Wheeler
- Rusty Wier
- Dar Williams
- Lucinda Williams
- Peter Yarrow
- Steve Young
- The Steel Wheels
- Tim York and Michael Hawthorne as T & M Express
See also
References
- Kerrville Folk Festival: Biographical Sketch, utexas.edu
- Kerrville Folk Festival: Biographical Sketch, utexas.edu
- "History of the Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Contest". kerrvillefolkfest. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
- "Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Finalist History from Happenstance a…". December 16, 2012. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2006.
- Kerrville/Silverwolf Records Collections Discography, folklib.net (The page lists all known Kerrville Folk Festival / Silverwolf Records, Various Artists Collections, and also collections of Kerrville performers on other record labels. )
- For more artists performing at KFF, see Kerrville Folk Festival: Artist Biographies (Performers), utexas.edu
External links
- Official Website for the Kerrville Music Festivals
- A History of New Folk Competition winners and finalists
- Official Website for the Texas Folk Music Foundation
- Texas State Historical Association: History of the Festival
- Kerrville Kronikle, 1988-2004 on-line
- Arthur Wood: An Inventory of His Papers, 1978-2015
Archival materials
- Kerrville Folk Festival records, 1958–2019, at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University
- Arthur Wood: An Inventory of His Papers, 1988-2004, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library
- Tom Frost III papers, 2000–2003, at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University
- Southwest Regional Folk Alliance records, 1989-2017, at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University
- Texas Heritage Music Foundation records, 1989-2017, at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University