The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at

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Kerrville, Texas Kerrville is a city in, and the county seat of, Kerr County, Texas, Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population of Kerrville was 24,278 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Kerrville is named after James Kerr (Texas politi ...

. The Kerrville Folk Festival was founded in 1972 by the husband-wife team of Rod Kennedy and Nancylee Davis. 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. 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. 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 official website. In past years, the event has also featured well known artists, including

Peter, Paul and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's repertoir ...

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and relea ...

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

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Mary Chapin Carpenter Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Robert Earl Keen Robert Earl Keen (born January 11, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and entertainer. Debuting with 1984's ''No Kinda Dancer'', the Houston native has recorded 20 full-length albums for both independent and major record labels. His songs ha ...

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...

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Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'' starting in 1985 (season 10). In 1994 she won a Grammy Award fo ...

. 2020 saw the festival go virtual.

The Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition

There is a yearly 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 these 32 finalists, six winners are selected by a small group of well-established performing songwriters. In addition to cash and other tangible 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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

2007 New Folk Competition

The 2007 New Folk Competition was held May 26 & 27.

2006 New Folk Competition

The 2006 New Folk Competition was held on May 27 and 28.

2005 New Folk Competition

The 2005 New Folk Competition was held on May 28 and 29.

2004 New Folk Competition

The 2004 Competition was held on May 29 and 30.

2003 New Folk Competition

The 2003 Competition was held on May 24 and 25.

Kerrville Wine and Music Festival

The Kerrville Wine & Music Festival, called "Little Folk" is also hosted by the ranch over Labor Day Weekend, and the two share a website.

List of past performers

This list of past performers at the KFF is incomplete.For more artists performing at KFF, see Kerrville Folk Festival
Artist Biographies (Performers)
utexas.edu *

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* The Belleville Outfit *

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* Dana Cooper *

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Cypress Swamp Stompers
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* Jonathan Edwards *

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(as part of Bluegrass ReVue, in 1975) *

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* Patricia Hardin *

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* Jitterbug Vipers *

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*John A. Lomax Jr. *

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* Peter Paul & Mary *

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* Tom Prasada Rao *

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(died on

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after performing in 1983) *

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* Shake Russell *

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* Peter Madcat Ruth *

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*Eric Taylor *

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* John Vandiver *

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* Rusty Wier *

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References

External links

Official Website for the Kerrville Music FestivalsA History of New Folk Competition winners and finalistsOfficial Website for the Texas Folk Music FoundationTexas State Historical Association: History of the Festival''Kerrville Kronikle'', 1988-2004 on-lineArthur 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
{{Music venues of Texas Music festivals established in 1972 Folk festivals in the United States Music festivals in Texas Tourist attractions in Kerr County, Texas 1972 establishments in Texas