13-Year-old Kentucky Boy Wins Grand Champion Fiddle-Off at Jamboree

July 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

13-year-old Noah Goebel has claimed the Grand Champion Fiddling Title at the 51st edition of the Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival.

The Elkton, Kentucky resident, who also won the Junior Fiddling contest here Saturday night, beat out the Senior Fiddling Champion Heather Brown Currie of Springfield in the showdown for the Berry C. Williams Memorial Award. Currie claimed the Grand Champion Fiddling Title in 1999 and 2001.

As the 2022 Grand Fiddle Off Champion, Goebel will be invited by the Grand Ole Opry to play a ‘fiddle tune’ for the Opry square dancers’ LIVE performance during a selected show TBA.

Only last year, Goebel competed as a child in the Fiddlers Jamboree’s National Championship for Country Musician Beginners and won the Beginners Fiddling Title.

This is the 11th year in a row (not counting the 2020 virtual jamboree) that a Junior Fiddler has beaten the Senior Fiddler for the Grand Championship of the Festival.

Sam Stout, President and Coordinator of the Fiddlers Jamboree presented the award to Goebel at the conclusion of the festival which ended at 11: 30 p.m. Saturday evening.

By winning the Junior fiddling contest, Goebel edged out two other competitors for a right to advance to the fiddle-off.

Winners in the Saturday session of the Fiddler’s Jamboree are as follows:

Junior Old-Time Appalachian Flatfoot Dance (Ages up to 39): First Place- Jacob Fennell of Dickson; Second Place- Treble Chunn of Greenbrier; and Third Place Matthew Campbell of McMinnville.

Senior Old-Time Appalachian Flatfoot Dance (Ages 40 & Over): First Place- Bridget Esterhuizen of Murphy, North Carolina; Second Place- Anthony Harrell of Mount Juliet; and Third Place- Tim Hartman of Lyles.

Senior Buck Dancing (Ages 40 & Over): First Place-Ben Heithcock of College Grove; Second Place-Tammy Scruggs of Lebanon; and Third Place- Anthony Harrell of Mount Juliet.

Senior Clogging (Ages 40 & Over): First Place-Ben Heithcock of College Grove; Second Place-Tammy Scruggs of Lebanon; and Third Place- Anthony Harrell of Mount Juliet.

Bluegrass Banjo: First Place-Trenton Tater Caruthers of Cookeville; Second Place- Axel Rico of Smithville; and Third Place-Noah Goebel of Elkton, Kentucky

Junior Fiddlers (Ages 13-39): First Place-Noah Goebel of Elkton, Kentucky; Second Place- Tyler Andal of Nashville; and Third Place-Trenton Tater Caruthers of Cookeville

Flat Top Guitar: First Place- Tylar Andal of Nashville; Second Place-Noah Goebel of Elkton, Kentucky; and Third Place-Brock Ealey of Cookeville.

Contest Fiddle (Neil Dudney Memorial Award): First Place- Justin Branum of Murfreesboro; Second Place-Noah Goebel of Elkton, Kentucky; and Third Place- Tyler Andal of Nashville. The Neil Dudney Award was presented to Branum by Dudney’s daughter Janet England and two of his grandchildren, Ethan and Brandon Shaw. Dudney, who passed away in October, 2018 served as President and Coordinator of the Fiddlers Jamboree for 16 years until he stepped down in 2008.

Bluegrass Band: First Place-Mountain Cove Bluegrass Band of Chattanooga; Second Place-Clearview of Hilham; and Third Place-J.D. and the No Crowes of Rockvale

Senior Fiddlers ( Ages 40 & Over): First Place- Heather Brown Currie of Springfield; Second Place-Sarah Harris of Rockvale; and Third Place- Billy Gene Hazlewood of Spring Hill

Square Dancing: First Place-Rocky Top Revue of Franklin; Second Place- Step Aside of Dickson; and Third Place- Tennessee Dance Alliance of Mount Juliet

July 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The Kody Norris Show took downtown Smithville by storm Saturday afternoon with a crowd-pleasing mini concert on the stage of the Fiddlers Jamboree just before being presented the festival’s 2022 Blue Blaze Award.

The Jamboree’s Blue Blaze Award is designed to honor a group or individual that ‘keeps the embers of bluegrass music glowing for future generations.’

“I am truly honored and humbled to be the 2022 recipient of the prestigious Blue Blaze Award. Organizations like the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree embody so many of the same values that the band and I work so diligently to pass on to the next generation. By preserving ole’ time country & bluegrass music and presenting it in a positive manner, it is my hope that bluegrass and pure country music will last through the ages.” said Kody Norris of The Kody Norris Show. “Receiving an award given previously to many of my bluegrass friends and heroes is one of the most humbling experiences of our lives.”

Call it retro, hillbilly, bluegrass or rockabilly, the group strives for something Kody simply calls “dern good entertainment.” Deeply rooted in North American folk music, Norris has crafted a performance that harkens back and tips a hat to the traditions created by Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin’s showmanship, the Stanley Brothers’ harmonies, performances of the Grand Ole Opry and a bit of Vaudeville. Top notch picking is center stage, but humor and visual flash are part of the entertaining package. Always clad in colorful, tailored suits adorned with rhinestones, ties, classic hats and ornate boots, the band earns its moniker as a “show.” The brand is traditional, clean cut, acoustic and always entertaining.

The foursome is fronted by Norris on guitar and his fiddling “sweetie,” Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris, Josiah Tyree on banjo and Cousin Charlie Lowman on the bass!

The band’s album, When I Get the Money Made, was named 2017 Bluegrass Album of the Year by the National Traditional Country Music Association. The Kody Norris Show was honored with seven SPBGMA nominations in 2018 and four nominations in 2022. In addition to winning Fiddler performer of the year, the Kody Norris show was also named the 2022 Entertainer of the Year!

Playing 90+ dates a year, The Kody Norris Show covers the road from Canada to Mexico, only missing two states to date. They’ve been part of the University of Chicago Folk Festival and have performed at the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center and are part of two weekly programs on the acclaimed RFD-TV’s network, The Cumberland Highlanders Show and The Bluegrass Trail. For more than 3 years, The Kody Norris Show has been the host of the Farm and Fun Time Noon Show. This is also a weekly broadcast through The Birthplace of Country Music Musuem and Radio Bristol, hitting over 5 million Views collectively.

The Kody Norris Show signed with Rebel Records from Charlottesville, VA in 2019 and has since then released, All Suited Up which debuted #7 on the Billboard Charts!

July 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

A Normandy Tennessee boy earned the top Jamboree award Saturday as the best fiddler in the National Championship for Country Musician Beginners.

Finley Reed won the coveted James G. “Bobo” Driver Memorial Award, named for the man who started the children’s competition during the 1980’s as part of the annual Fiddler’s Jamboree and Crafts Festival.

Members of Mr. Driver’s family presented the award to Reed including Mickey and Jimmy Driver, sons of Bobo, and Adam Driver, his grandson.

Meanwhile Reagan Brown of Springfield was named winner of the Nolan Turner Memorial Entertainer of the Year award. The honor is presented to the best overall instrumental entertainer among winners in the dobro guitar, mandolin, five string banjo, and flat top guitar competition. Turner, who died in October 2017, was a long time Fiddlers’ Jamboree supporter and photographer. Brown won the Dobro Guitar competition, received second place in the Mandolin category, and Third Place in both the Five String Banjo and Flat Top Guitar Contests.

The National Championship for Country Musician Beginners showcases the talents of children up to age twelve in seven categories of competition.

This year’s winners are as follows:
Fiddle: First Place- Finley Reed of Normandy; Second Place- Ace Walters of Lebanon; and Third Place- Deacon Collier of Gallatin.

Buck Dancing: First Place- Colleena Ralston of Lebanon; Second Place Trebel Chunn of Greenbrier, and Third Place- Elizabeth Clark of Barren Plains, Tennessee

Clogging: First Place- Colleena Ralston of Lebanon; Second Place Trebel Chunn of Greenbrier, and Third Place- Aaliyah Flynn of New Johnsonville, Tennessee

Dobro Guitar: First Place- Reagan Brown of Springfield; Second Place- Eden Harris of Rockvale; Third Place-No Winner.

Mandolin: First Place-Ace Walters of Lebanon; Second Place- Reagan Brown of Springfield; and Third Place- Ty McMeans of Athens, Alabama.

Five String Banjo: First Place- Alex Davis of Madison, Alabama; Second Place- Will Turner of Brentwood; and Third Place-Reagan Brown of Springfield.

Flat Top Guitar: First Place- Ty McMeans of Athens, Alabama; Second Place-Regan Ray of Bloomington; and Third Place- Reagan Brown of Springfield.

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