Contest

BOB WILLS FIDDLE CONTEST

ONE DAY ONLY – Saturday Nov 5th, 10am at The Texan Theater 2712 Lee St,
Greenville, Texas – 7 divisions and over $8500 in prize money!
*Friday Nov 4th – 6pm pre-registration & jam at the Texan Theater Annex (2411 Wesley St, this is the side entrance of The Texan Theater, parking across in the lot on Wesley)
*Saturday Nov 5th – 8am registration, contest 10am to 6pm – contest rounds and awards
*The Annex is the location for registration, jamming, warmup room on both days.

In addition to the traditional complementary festival tshirt, registered
contestants will receive a $25 gas card to help offset travel expenses. (First 40 contestants, limit one per family).

Jr Jr (12 & under) $150-125-100-75-50
Junior (13-17) $225-200-150-125-100
Adult (18-59) $225-200-150-125-100
Senior (60 & up) $225-200-150-125-100
Accompanist (any age) $225-200-150-125-100
Open (any age) $1000-800-600-500-400-300-200-100
Bob Wills Swing Division (any age) $400-300-200-150-100

Order will be posted approx. 15 minutes before division begins and
contestants must be ready to play when called.

Fiddle contestants have the option to enter TWO divisions — their age division or the Open division, in addition to the Bob Wills division. Jr Jr contestants will play a breakdown, waltz and any tune of their choice. Junior, Adult, Senior, Open division contestants will play a breakdown, waltz, and tune of choice other than a breakdown or waltz. In the event that any fiddle division has a large number of entrants, we reserve the right to ask for 2 tunes – breakdown and waltz. There will be no formal timing of rounds, however we SUGGEST that 3 tune rounds be under 7 minutes and 2 tune rounds be under 5 minutes, to help maintain the overall schedule. Contestants in the Royce & Ray Franklin Accompanist division will play 1tune in the preliminaries and 1 tune in the finals.

Bob Wills division contestants must play tunes associated with our heroes –
Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys! Judges ask contestants to play reasonably within the boundaries of Western swing style (disco, hip-hop, Justin Bieber, etc versions of ‘Take Me Back to Tulsa’ will probably not be scored very high!!) – however, contestants will have the freedom to play it straight or swing like crazy! We ask that contestants keep the fiddle as the only lead instrument (singing will be allowed, but only the fiddling will be judged). Contestants will play 1 tune in the preliminaries and 2 tunes in the finals. We suggest a 6 minute or less time limit.

The Top 5 contestants in the Jr Jr, Junior, Adult, Senior, Bob Wills, Accompanist divisions will play in the finals. The Top 8 contestants in the Open will play in the finals. In the event of a tie in any preliminary round involving prize money, both tied contestants will play in the finals. In the event of a tie in any final round, judges will decide what they’d like the fiddlers to play. If a tied contestant is not available for playoff, the contestant ready to play shall be declared the winner of the tie.

Contestants may play without accompaniment or with a maximum of 4 accompanists. If a string breaks, the contestant will have the option to continue or stop. If the contestant stops due to a broken string, they will not be penalized.

Contact microphones and amplified instruments will not be permitted and no sheet music shall be displayed on stage.

Any contestant winning a trophy or money must appear on stage to receive their awards or the awards will be forfeited, unless discussed in advance with contest officials. Decisions of the judges will be final. Good luck to all!

HOTEL: Fiddle contestant rate of $109 at Comfort Suites! Contact fiddlesaregood.com with your room request. Best Western also has a similar rate, contact them directly. (903) 454-3700. There are several other options for lodging in the area.

If questions feel free to ask – fiddlesaregood@gmail.com.