Kerrville's Grassy Hill New Folk
2023 Award Winners Tour
- April / May 2024 -
Each year the Kerrville Folk Festival Foundation invites songwriters to submit two original songs for Kerrville’s Grassy Hill New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. From more than 900 entries in 2023, 24 finalists were selected and invited to present their 2 songs at the 2023 Kerrville Folk Festival. A panel of professional touring songwriters selected 6 award winners who will perform a series of concerts around Texas in spring 2024. Thank you to Grassy Hill and All our supporters who help make this program possible.
2023 New Folk Award Winners
Nashville based singer/songwriter Katie Boeck's career has been wildly varied. After graduating with a degree in Theater from UCLA, Katie carved her niche as the guitar-slinging actress of Los Angeles which led to a starring role as the Voice of Wendla in the acclaimed Broadway revival of "Spring Awakening" produced by Deaf West Theater. The play’s success occasioned an appearance on the NBC Nightly News and a 2016 Tony nomination for Best Revival of a Musical. Her acoustic rendition of “Ave Maria” was featured on HBO’s “The Newsroom” and her cover of “The Sign” has been featured on multiple episodes of CBS's “Love Island”. Her 2023 album Calico was described as "beautiful, restrained folk" (Black Plastic).
(Nashville, TN)
Award-winning and Billboard-charting artist Flamy Grant is a shame-slaying, hip-swaying, singing-songwriting drag queen from western North Carolina. Her 2022 debut record, Bible Belt Baby, reached the #1 spot on the iTunes Christian Charts (the first drag performer to achieve this feat) and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the San Diego Music Awards. She is a 2023 QueerX Award nominee for Best Drag Artist and has been featured in Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, People, and more. Her music has nearly half a million streams on Spotify, Apple, and Amazon music. A powerhouse vocalist and intrepid songwriter who blends folk, gospel, and roots, Flamy drags you into a therapeutic, theatrical mix of storytelling and song.
(San Diego, CA)
Jack Summers is an award-winning songwriter from Weston, Missouri. He found his musical roots in trips to the Walnut Valley Music Festival and Bob Dylan lyrics repurposed as bedtime stories. Jack embraces these influences and is motivated by the challenge of making them resonate with a modern audience. In 2021, Jack released his debut album, No Longer and Not Yet, a reflection on transitional places and emotions. Like much of his work, this album is about searching for answers. For the past two years, Jack has served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member at Art as Mentorship, a nonprofit that organizes songwriting camps for teenagers with a focus on mental health and community building.
(Kansas City, MO)
Olivia Ellen Lloyd is a West Virginia native and proud of it. Raised by a musician and a public school educator in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, her sound is a combination of her deeply rooted past and her fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants present. After releasing her debut album, Loose Cannon, in February 2021, Olivia has been on a steady diet of writing, touring and honing her bandleading chops in every backroom from Nashville to New York. And it appears that hard work is paying off Loose Cannon has been quietly winding its way into the hearts and minds of Country and Americana music lovers all over the world. She has opened for many notable artists and continues to tour the country full time in her 2010 Toyota Sienna.
(Shepherdstown, WV)
Byron was born in the south but has spent much time in the Kanas City/Lawrence area in Kansas and Missouri. He has been performing since 1969, and has been writing off and on since then. He studied music (music theory and classical guitar) at UMKC (Kansas City) during the early 70s. He has settled in Lawrence, Kansas and is a part of the local music scene. Over the years he has played in numerous bands. He currently plays music solo and with a local band, and continues to write songs and have fun with it.
(Lawrence, KS)
Barbara Jarrell is a Louisiana native whose first career was music. For years her musical adventures took her all through the south, southwest and west coast of the U.S. In those days even as a predominantly cover artist she found herself on the radio and on the cover of the L.A. Reader and the Foothill Musician magazines. She began writing more originals in the late 90s and has been following that star ever since. Her second career as a Unitarian Universalist minister took her off the performing circuit but added new fodder for her songwriting and musical work—trying to see things from all sides. Many of her songs reflect the notions of inclusion and journeying toward healing, wholeness and deeper understanding. She writes in a broad variety of styles on multiple instruments, sometimes deeply personal, sometimes funny, always engaging.
(Shreveport, LA)
Tour Schedule
- April/May 2024 -
April 27, 2024
Dripping Springs, TX
Sycamore Creek Concerts are by invitation only. If you are on the Sycamore Creek email list, you will receive an invitation a month before the concert. If you are not on the Sycamore Creek email list you can sign up on their website: www.SycamoreCreekConcerts.com. Suggested minimum donation will be $30 and it is “pay at the door.”
April 28, 2024
New Braunfels, TX
NB House Concerts are by invitation only. You can receive an invitation by contacting Elaine Hayden at: NBHouseConcerts@gmail.com. Suggested minimum donation $30/person paid in advance. To receive an invitation and make a donation, either send Elaine an email or go to the website at www.NBHouseConcerts.com. There will be two sets of music with a potluck supper in-between. At the present time they are limiting attendance to 40 people and sign up for the show will be available approximately one month prior to the event. The event is held at Elaine’s home in New Braunfels, TX and the actual address will be sent to you once you register.
​
April 29, 2024
Milagro Springs House Concerts
Wimberley, TX
Milagro Springs House Concerts are by invitation only. You can request an invitation by contacting Candy Spitzer at: candy@spitzerassociates.com. This is an outdoor concert; however, they are able to move the concert indoors in the event of inclement weather. Suggested minimum donation is $30 per person (cash only).
​
April 30, 2024
Houston, TX
Tickets are on sale for $30/person, or you can stream the concert for $30. Information and tickets at: www.McGonigels.com
May 1, 2024
Austin, TX
6:30pm; pay at the door. The Sagebrush is one of Austin's great authentic honky-tonks who support local musicians and small businesses. It is a down-home destination that features live music plus beer, cocktails and pool tables. https://sagebrushtexas.com/
May 3, 2024
Kerrville, TX
6:00pm; free. Pint & Plow is a brewpub-shaped engine of community in our little Hill Country micropolis. Organic coffee/espresso, house-crafted beers, fresh food, and a chill inclusive atmosphere in our hometown. Beer, Food, Coffee, Sittin'. www.pintandplow.com
May 4, 2024
Fischer Hall, Fischer, TX
This will be an all day concert with a variety of artists. 2023 New Folk Award Winners will play a 2-hr slot mid afternoon. Schedule and ticket information at the Cabin 10 website: www.Cabin10.org
​
May 5, 2024
San Antonio, TX
Bowman Backyard is a laid back venue with shows in their backyard under the stars during the Spring and Fall. (Shows go on rain or shine; we have the space to move indoors if needed). Doors open 1-hour before each show allowing time to socialize with one another and also mingle with the artists before the music starts. Remember to bring your favorite adult beverage and anything else you would like to enjoy during the show! We have the tables and chairs! https://bowmanbackyard.org
​