A Georgia contestant took home this year’s top Jamboree award as the best fiddler in the National Championship for Country Musician Beginners.
Alex Thomlinson of Suches, Georgia was crowned the Grand Champion fiddler Saturday 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.
Meanwhile, Grant Rigney of Normandy, Tennessee 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-Alex Thomlinson of Suches, Georgia. Second Place- Cole McCracken of Floyds’s Knob, Indiana. Third Place- Ruby Jane Smith of Columbus, Mississippi.
Buck Dancing: First Place- Rachel Huddleston of Livingston. Second Place- Ty Jackson of Springfield. Third Place- Caroline Dean of Springfield.
Clogging: First Place- Caroline Dean of Springfield. Second Place- Kelsey Tomlin of Springfield. Third Place- Sierra Tomlin of Springfield.
Dobro Guitar: First Place-Grant Rigney of Normandy, Tennessee. Second Place- Wesley Keckritz of Tullahoma. These were the only two contestants in this category.
Mandolin: First Place-Grant Rigney of Normandy. Second Place- Ruby Jane Smith of Columbus, Mississippi. Third Place- Bethany Ward of Columbia.
Five String Banjo: First Place- Aaron Thompson of Benton, Kentucky. Second Place- Alex Thomlinson of Suches, Georgia. Third Place- Dallas Gaynor of Apison, Tennessee.
Flat Top Guitar: First Place- Tyler Sellers of Springfield. Second Place- Grant Rigney of Normandy. Third Place- Abigail Ward of Columbia.
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