His winning entry, “Carolina Dust,” is “kind of an angry song,” Brinkman says, half chuckling. With so many contests for aspiring songwriters, having a patron saint like Welch to loom over the proceedings each year at MerleFest hopefully brings some light of inspiration to the performers.Īfter taking first place in the Gospel category in 2009, Mark “Brink” Brinkman decided to set his sights on the Bluegrass category for the 2010 contest. That was in 1993, and it’s still an important footnote in the contest’s 17-year history. In a story often told, a 26-year-old Gillian Welch placed first in the festival’s inaugural contest. Austin was a Boone, North Carolina, favorite son, and MerleFest, held in nearby Wilkesboro, decided to name a contest in honor of the songwriter. Chris Austin is perhaps better known today for the contest that bears his name than for being the graceful singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who died in the plane crash that took the lives of several members of Reba McEntire’s touring band in 1991.
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