FRESHGRASS AWARDS

The FreshGrass foundation celebrates and reward emerging artists who offer innovative interpretations of bluegrass and roots music traditions. With five categories and prizes totaling more than $20,000 cash — plus brand new instruments and studio time at Compass Records — we’re proud that our awards are among the most ambitious of their kind.

FreshGrass Awards. If you are an up and coming band, banjoist, fiddler, or guitarist, have wicked skills, and are performing music that’s deeply informed by bluegrass even as it tests boundaries, we want to hear you. Once you’ve submitted and been pre-screened, a panel of judges will invite three finalists in each category to participate in a head-to-head performance at the FreshGrass Festival. Each finalist will need to perform one standard or traditional tune and one original composition.

The grand prize winner in each category — selected on the basis of compositional originality, instrumental and vocal skills, stage presence and performance, and proficiency in the tradition — will take home an array of additional prizes, including a large grant, the opportunity to perform at the following year’s festival, recording sessions at Compass Records, and hand-crafted instruments.

To get more information or submit for consideration, please see the FreshGrass Awards homepage at the Freshgrass Festival website by clicking the button below. If you have any questions, feel free to send us an email: info@freshgrass.com

Learn more about our Awards in the Fall 2023 issue of Berkshire Magazine