A Nashville boy won the top Jamboree award Saturday as the best fiddler in the National Championship for Country Musician Beginners.
Giri Peters was crowned the Grand Champion fiddler and 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 the Driver family made the award presentation including Driver’s sons Jim and Mickey Driver and great grandsons Logan Beauchamp, Brandon Turrentine, and Ashton Campbell.
In addition to winning the top fiddler prize, Peters also captured first place in the Dobro Guitar, Mandolin, and Flat Top Guitar competition.
Peters also received the “Entertainer of the Year” Award, which is presented to the best overall instrumental entertainer among winners in the dobro guitar, mandolin, five string banjo, and flat top guitar competition.
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- Giri Peters of Nashville; Second Place- Uma Peters of Nashville; and Third Place- Kate Ward of Kuttawa, Kentucky
Buck Dancing: First Place- Isabella McCoy of Brush Creek; Second Place- Kaelin Wade of Paris, Tennessee; and Third Place- Gracie Parrish of Pleasant View
Clogging: First Place- Kaelin Wade of Paris, Tennessee; Second Place- Isabella McCoy of Brush Creek; and Third Place- Lexi Huntley of Loretto.
Dobro Guitar: First Place- Giri Peters of Nashville; Second Place- Maddie McKenney of Cullman, Alabama.
Mandolin: First Place-Giri Peters of Nashville; Second Place-Isabella McCoy of Brush Creek; and Third Place- Evan Morse of Smithville.
Five String Banjo: First Place- Uma Peters of Nashville; Second Place- Lexi Huntley of Loretto; and Third Place- Noah Aikens of Cookeville
Flat Top Guitar: First Place- Giri Peters of Nashville; Second Place- Noah Aikens of Cookeville; and Third Place- Robert Wheeler of Smithville.
The remainder of the day’s on-stage events are as follows:
Preliminaries in the following categories:
*Junior Old Time Appalachian Flatfoot dance (ages up to 39)
*Senior Old Time Appalachian Flatfoot dance ( ages 40 and over)
*Senior Buckdancing (ages 40 and over)
*Senior Clogging (ages 40 and over)
*Bluegrass Banjo
*Junior Fiddlers (ages 13-39)
*Flat Top Guitar
*Contest Fiddle for the Neil Dudney Award
*Bluegrass Band*
*Senior Fiddlers (ages 40 and over)
*Square Dancing (4 Couples-8 Total Dancers).
Preliminaries will be held in each event and then the top three finalists will be called back tonight to compete for first, second, and third place.
The winners of the Junior and Senior Fiddling competition will square off for the Grand Champion Award, the Berry C. Williams Memorial Trophy at the conclusion of the festival.
WJLE is broadcasting the on-stage entertainment LIVE on AM 1480/ FM 101.7 and LIVE streaming at www.wjle.com.
In addition to music and dancing competitions onstage, the Fiddlers Jamboree also features dozens of crafts displayed along the downtown streets, plenty of delicious foods for sale at local food booths, and lots of shade tree picking under tents around the town square.
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