The Lea County Fair & Rodeo drew to a close a couple of weeks back, and the Fiddler’s Contest was one of the many entertaining events during the fair. The contest took place in the Yucca building on Saturday, August 7 and drew a large crowd eager to hear the skilled musicians play.
A total of 8 fiddlers competed as well as 6 accompanists, with some overlap between the two groups. The crowd herd a variety of traditional fiddle tunes such as Down Yonder, Soppin’ the Gravy and Over the Waterfall.
The event lasted several hours with each contestant playing multiple tunes for the audience and judges. Roy Thackerson of Ranger, TX, Wes Burris of Socorro, NM and Gene Brown of Bowie, TX were the three judges for the contest. They opened up the event by showcasing their own talent and expertise before starting into the age group categories.
After going through each age group that had contestants entered, the contest moved on to the Twin Fiddling category in which two fiddlers played the same tune together and would be scored together as a duo. After that was the Accompanist Competition which also included fiddle contestants Nathan Pedno and Marty Elmore playing guitar, along with Matthew López, Cord Brown, Daron Brown and Rob Stinehart.
Finally, the fiddle contestants were invited back onto the stage to perform two songs each for a run-off in the Junior and Senior categories to determine the grand champion in each.
The event was emceed by radio host Alan Scott of KLEA.
Here are the results of the 2021 Fiddler’s Contest:
70 and Older Age Group
- Dennis Behl
- Al Dial
44 to 69 Age Group
- Marty Elmore
- Karla Stinehart
- Cindy Collins
13 to 18 Age Group
- Nathan Pedno
- Jade Throneberry
- Madison López
There were no contestants in the 19 to 43 or 12 and under age groups.
Twin Fiddling
- Marty Elmore & Nathan Pedno
- Cindy Collins & Jade Throneberry
- Karla Stineheart & Dennis Behl
- Madison López & Dennis Behl
Accompanist Competition
- Nathan Pedno
- Marty Elmore
- Rob Stinehart
- Daron Brown
- Cord Brown
- Matthew López
Grand Champions
For the Junior category, the Grand Champion was Nathan Pedno. Pedno also won the Accompanist Competition and received an award for travelling the furthest for the competition, coming all the way from Fort Worth, TX.
In the Senior category, Marty Elmore won Grand Champion. Elmore came in second in the Accompanist Competition and also received an award for travelling the furthest, coming in from Bowie, TX.
Elmore and Pedno also won first place in the Twin Fiddling competition.
As Grand Champions, each received an additional $250 prize donated by Bob’s Thriftway.
The winners of each category received a first place ribbon and a belt buckle. Others received ribbons for their respective places.
