The Kody Norris Show Entertains Fiddlers Jamboree Crowd (View Video Here)

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.

July 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Two hundred seventy participated in Saturday’s 24th annual Fiddler 5K and One Mile Fun Run

(Click link below for all Fiddler 5K and One Mile Fun Run race results)

https://fiddler5kandonemilefunrun.itsyourrace.com/results.aspx?id=7476

The overall winner was 17-year-old Matthew Sinclair of Carthage who ran the course in 19:17 seconds. Meanwhile 16-year-old Ella VanVranken of Silver Point won the race among females. She ran the course in 20:11 seconds.

Winners in other categories were:

TOP MALE MASTERS (Age 40 and older): 40-year-old Joseph Crane of Nashville at 19:25 seconds

TOP FEMALE MASTERS (Age 40 and older): 44-year-old Kristen VanVranken of Silver Point at 22:16 seconds

One-Mile Fun Run (age 12 and younger) winners:

TOP MALE: 7-year-old Silas Richardson of Cookeville at 8:02 seconds

TOP FEMALE: 9-year-old Anna Swafford of Bell Buckle at 7:44 seconds

Funds raised will support Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County.

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