Merlefest Songwriting Competition Winners Announced

Each year during Merlefest songwriters from around the country submit their songs to the Chris Austin Songwriting Competition, hoping to be acknowledged for achievements in their craft. It's split into four categories, with one inner for each: country, bluegrass, gospel, and general.

According to the press release:

A panel of professional songwriters and others from the Nashville music industry evaluated the 983entries and selected three finalists from each category to perform their songs on the Austin Stage at MerleFest. The panel is chaired by songwriting legend Jim Lauderdale and this year’s judges were Ryan Shupe, Laurelyn Dossett & Tish Hinojosa.

Merlefest was held last weekend, April 24-27, 2008, and the winners were:

Gospel: Phil Ruff (Rutherfordton, NC) - "Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John"

Bluegrass: Brandon Story (Bristol, TN) - "Famous for Doing Something Bad"

General: David Myles (Halifax, Nova Scotia, CA) - "When It Comes My Turn" (purchase/download)

Country: Wendy Newcomer (Nashville, TN) - "Runaround" (purchase/download)

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