The Telluride Troubadour competition is a nationally recognized songwriting contest that has taken place in conjunction with the Telluride Bluegrass Festival since 1991. The competition is open to solo performers who write and perform original music and are not signed to a major label or a publishing deal. Acceptable styles include singer-songwriter, Americana, folk, pop, and bluegrass. Contestants are judged on the quality of the song’s composition, vocal and instrumental delivery, and the over...
The Telluride Troubadour competition is a nationally recognized songwriting contest that has taken place in conjunction with the Telluride Bluegrass Festival since 1991. The competition is open to solo performers who write and perform original music and are not signed to a major label or a publishing deal. Acceptable styles include singer-songwriter, Americana, folk, pop, and bluegrass. Contestants are judged on the quality of the song’s composition, vocal and instrumental delivery, and the overall performance.
There are 10 slots for Sonicbids members available. Finalists are awarded cash and prizes, as well as critical acclaim, well-deserved recognition, and a chance to perform on the festival main stage on Saturday evening! In addition to the competition, each finalist also receives a 4-day Town Park camping pass, an "in the round" performance slot, performance coaching, and a KOTO-FM live radio slot during the festival.
This year's event will take place June 20-23, 2013 in Telluride, CO at Telluride Town Park. Troubadours perform June 20-23 in Elks Park, and the winner performs June 22nd on the Main Stage.
When choosing songs to submit, please consider:
- Songwriting entries must be entirely written by the entering songwriter. Sorry, no co-writes.
- As this is a solo singer-songwriter contest, submissions should showcase the songwriter as the lead vocalist
- Songwriters are highly encouraged to submit new & different songs for the Telluride Troubadour and Folks Showcase contests. New songs will be given preference by the panel of judges.
Complete competition rules at www.bluegrass.com/telluride/contests.html.
Sponsors include Shanti Guitars, ASCAP, and Martin Guitars. Previous winners include Larry Good (1991), Cosy Sheridan (1992), Dan Sheridan (1993), Catie Curtis (1994), LJ Booth (1995), Michael Lille (1996), Jonathan Kingham (1997), Eugene Ruffolo (1998), Libby Kirkpatrick (1999), Mary Coppin (2000), Kris Delmhorst (2001), Deb Talan (2002), Rachel Davis (2003), Brian Joseph (2004), Keith Greeninger (2005), Nels Andrews (2006), Gregory Allen Isokov (2007), Nathan Moore (2008), Mitch Barrett (2009), Robby Hecht (2010) Matt Harlan (2011), and Reed Waddle (2012).