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CLIFFTOP, W.Va. – Seventeen musicians, 12 bands and 9 dancers took home $7,450 in contest prize money during the 25th anniversary of the Appalachian String Band Music Festival at Camp Washington-Carver in Clifftop, Fayette County, from July 30 – Aug. 3. Seven of the winners are from West Virginia.
More than 2,300 musicians, dancers, fans and friends attended the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s five-day event that features some of the nation’s finest string band musicians and flat-foot dancers. Participants and visitors included folks from 44 states and the District of Columbia as well as international visitors from Australia, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Norway and Sweden, among others.
Contests were held in four traditional contests – fiddle, banjo, string band and flat-foot dance – plus one neo-traditional string band contest. Ribbons for best original song and best original tune were awarded in the neo-traditional band category.
The contest winners were:
Banjo
1st place ($400) – Bob Smakula, Elkins, W.Va.
2nd place ($200) – Dan Gellert, Dayton, Ohio
3rd place ($150) – Joseph Decosimo, Durham, N.C.
4th place ($100) – Victor Furtado, Front Royal, Va.
5th place ($50) – Brad Kolodner, Baltimore, Md.
Youth Banjo – 15 years of age and under
1st place ($100) – Victor Furtado, Front Royal, Va.
2nd place ($50) – Trevor Hammons, Marlinton, W.Va.
3rd place ($25) – Nathan Bigham, Safety Harbor, Fla.
Senior Banjo – 60 years of age and over
1st place ($200) – Dan Gellert, Dayton, Ohio
2nd place ($100) – John Morris, Ivydale, W.Va.
3rd place ($50) – Ian Alexander, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Fiddle
1st place ($400) – Aaron Olwell, Nellysford, Va.
2nd place ($200) – Joseph Decosimo, Durham, N.C.
3rd place ($150) – Rhys Jones, Warrenton, Va.
4th place ($100) – Dan Gellert, Dayton, Ohio
5th place ($50) – Charlie Hunter, Birmingham, Ala.
Youth Fiddle – 15 years of age and under
1st place ($100) – William Brauneis, Washington, D.C.
2nd place ($50) – Isabella Gorman, Charlottesville, Va.
3rd place ($25) – Kitty Amaral, Elk Creek, Va.
Senior Fiddle – 60 years of age and over
1st place ($200) – Dan Gellert, Dayton, Ohio
2nd place ($100) – Pete Vigour, Crozet, Va.
3rd place ($50) – Betty Vornbrock, Hillsville, Va.
Neo-Traditional Band
1st place ($700) – No. 46-1/2, Beckley, W.Va.
2nd place ($400) – The Buck Stops Here, Longwood, Fla.
3rd place ($300) – Poor Taters, Athens, W.Va.
4th place ($200) – Goob Youth and the Old Guy, Lancaster, Pa.
5th place ($100) – One Hundred and Eighty Proof, Asheville, N.C.
Youth Neo-Traditional Band
($300) – The Gypsy Hoppers, Urbana, Ill.
Best Original Song (ribbon and certificate awards)
One Hundred and Eighty Proof, Asheville, N.C.
Best Original Tune (ribbon and certificate awards)
The Buck Stops Here, Longwood, Fla.
Traditional Band
1st place ($700) – Bucking Mules, Durham, N.C.
2nd place ($400) – Big Foot, Marshall, N.C.
3rd place ($300) – Bass Master Pros, Winchester, Va.
4th place ($200) – Uncle Henry’s Favorites, Crozet, Va.
5th place ($100) – All Day Breakfast String Band, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Youth Traditional Band
($300) – Lost Hat, Berkeley, Calif.
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) – Sam Timmreck, Minneapolis, Minn.
2nd place ($50) – Greta Fitzgibbon, Montrose, W.Va.
3rd place ($25) – Phoebe Douthwaite, Leeds, England
Old-Time Flat-foot Dance – 41 years of age through 59
1st place ($75) – Bill McGuigan, Hellam, Pa.
Old-Time Flat-foot Dance – 60 years of age and older
1st place ($75) – Steve Green, West Fork, Ark.
2nd place ($50) – Jane Henderson, Bloomington, Ind.
3rd place ($25) – Rock Howland, Mount Airy, Md.
Grand Champion Old-Time Flat-foot Dance Winner ($100) Sam Timmreck, Minneapolis, Minn.
Next year’s festival will be held July 29 – Aug. 2.
For more information about the 25th annual Appalachian String Band Music Festival, contact Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner for the Division, at (304) 558-0220.
A beautiful retreat listed in the National Register of Historic Places and operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Camp Washington-Carver serves as the state’s mountain cultural arts center. The facility nurtures the cultural heritage embodied in the site since its dedication in 1942 as a 4-H and agricultural extension camp for West Virginia’s African Americans. The camp is located in Fayette County next to Babcock State Park, just off Rt. 60 (Midland Trail) on Rt. 41.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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