The 26th annual Appalachian String Band Festival at Camp Washington-Carver in Clifftop, Fayette County, wrapped up on Sunday. Twenty-one musicians, 12 bands and 11 dancers from California to Maryland took home a total of $7,450 in prize money. Ten of the winners were from West Virginia.
More than 4,000 musicians and dancers representing 44 states and 13 countries attended the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s five-day event. 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) – Victor Furtado, Front Royal, Va.
2nd Place ($50) – Trevor Hammons, Marlinton, W.Va.
3rd Place ($25) – Joey Webb, Frankfort, Ky.
Banjo
1st Place ($400) – Victor Furtado, Front Royal, Va.
2nd Place ($200) – Seth Swingle, Earlysville, Va.
3rd Place ($150) – Brad Kolodner, Baltimore, Md.
4th Place ($100) – Hunter Walker, Beckley, W.Va.
5th Place ($50) – Jesse Pearson, Huntington, W.Va.
Senior Banjo
1st Place ($200) – Marvin Gaster, Sanford, N.C.
2nd Place ($100) – Arnie Naiman, Aurora, Ontario, Canada
3rd Place ($50) – Bertram Levy, Port Townsend, Wash.
Youth Fiddle
1st Place ($100) – Andrew Vogts, Chadds Ford, Pa.
2nd Place ($50) – Grayson Wickel, Asheville, N.C.
3rd Place ($25) – Stephanie Flowers, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Fiddle
1st Place ($400) – Jake Krack, Marlinton, W.Va.
2nd Place ($200) – Andrew Fitzgibbon, Montrose, W.Va.
3rd Place ($150) – Erynn Marshall, Galax, Va.
4th Place ($100) – Grace Forrest, Big Sur, Calif.
5th Place ($50) – Henry Barnes, Columbus, Ohio
Senior Fiddle
1st Place ($200) – Rafaello Stefanini, Elkins Park, Pa.
2nd Place ($100) – John Longwell, Gandeeville, W.Va.
3rd Place ($50) – Joe Herrmann, Paw Paw, W.Va.
Youth Traditional Band
1st Place ($300) – The Onlies, Seattle, Wash.
Traditional Band
1st Place ($700) – Buffalo Gap, Swoope, Va.
2nd Place ($400) – Old Drake, Galax, Va.
3rd Place ($300) – Donkey Nation, Columbus, Ohio
4th Place ($200) – Uncle Henry’s Favorites, Crozet, Va.
5th Place ($100) – Bill Kimmons, St. Albans, W.Va.
Youth Neo-Traditional Band
1st Place ($300) – The Psycho Exploding Orangutans, Chadds Ford, Pa.
Neo-Traditional Band
1st Place ($700) – Roochie Toochie & the Ragtime Shepherd Kings, Nashville, Tenn.
2nd Place ($400) – The Rigs, Brooklyn, N.Y.
3rd Place ($300) – Himalayan Memo, Cincinnati, Ohio
4th Place ($200) – Cameron DeWhitt & the Confirmation, Philadelphia, Pa.
5th Place ($100) – Root 2 Music, Montvale, Va.
Old-Time Flat-foot Dance – 15 years of age and under
1st place ($75) – Victor Furtado, Front Royal, Va.
2nd Place ($50) – Luke Snuffer, Beckley, W.Va.
Old-Time Flat-foot Dance – 16 years of age through 40
1st Place ($75) – Gyasi Heus, Hinton, W.Va.
2nd Place ($50) – Kathryn Cohen, Brooklyn, N.Y.
3rd Place ($25) – Jenn Gooch, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Old-Time Flat-foot Dance – 41 years of age through 59
1st Place ($75) – Suzanne Ambrose, Kendal, Cumbria, UK
2nd Place ($50) – Thomas H. Reedy, Parkton, Md.
3rd Place ($25) – Gene Worlledge, Mt. Lookout, W.Va.
Old-Time Flat-foot Dance – 60 years of age and older
1st Place ($75) – Rosie Davis, Palmerstown, Dublin, Ireland
2nd Place ($50) – William McGuigan, Hellam, Pa.
3rd Place ($25) – Jane Henderson, Bloomington, Ind.
Grand Champion Old-Time Flat-foot Dance Winner ($100) Suzanne Ambrose, Kendal, Cumbria, UK.