2011 National Thumbpicking Champion Crowned

I made my annual trek to the National Thumbpicking Championship on May 13 & 14, 2011 at the Ozark Folk Center’s Tribute to Merle Travis Festival in Mountain View, AR.  The approximately 2300 resident town of Mountain View sits atop an Ozark mountain and hosts musicians from all over the area who gather in the town square at all hours to play music together.  At the edge of Mountain View lies the Arkansas state park, the Ozark Folk Center, which is dedicated to keeping alive folk traditions from making musical instruments and music to making brooms and knives.  In addition to the contest, there were concerts Friday and Saturday night featuring former thumbpicking champions, Moon Mullins and Ben Hall, and folk duo Eddie and Martha Adcock.  Friday afternoon players signed up to jam with Moon, Ben and Eddie while an appreciative audience looked on.  Saturday morning Moon, Ben and Eddie provided a workshop in which they played requests and gave serious (or sometimes not) responses to questions. 

The main event was the thumbpicking contest which began with a preliminary round Saturday afternoon.  The entry fee is only $10.  Contestants are expected to play three tunes in the preliminary round.  Judging is conducted by experienced musicians familiar with this style of guitar playing.  Three judges are sequestered in a listening booth.  The top five contestants play another three tunes in the final round on Saturday night.  The top three contestants win a trophy and cash prize.  The five finalists this year were:

Mike Lennier

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dean Phelps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Randy Buckner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fred Preinz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And

Shannon Stine

 

 

A respectful and appreciative audience were treated to interpretations of Walking the Strings, I’ll See You In My Dreams, Cincinnati Flow Rag, I Am a Pilgrim, Cannon Ball Rag, Bluebell, Nine Pound Hammer, Windy and Warm, among others.  This year 3^rd place honors went to Dean Phelps, 2^nd place to Randy Buckner and Shannon Stine repeated as the champion for the second year in a row. 

 

I would love to see some of the players adept in this style of playing in the Acoustic Guitar Community take part in this event next year.  Having participated in this event myself, I can assure you it will be a memorable experience and you will make many new friends in the process.  Ya’ll come!