ANNOUNCEMENT – THE GRAND MASTER FIDDLER CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO A TWO- DAY EVENT FORMAT FOR 2025.

The competition again returns to the Factory at Franklin - but we have a gained an additional new sponsor and venue. The Mockingbird Theater will be the venue for the Youth Competition on Saturday NOV 8. The Open Competition (both Preliminaries and Championship) will complete on Sunday NOV 9 in the Turner Theater (same as 2024).

The Mockingbird Theater is located just outside the Turner Theater across a grassy area (where many of the children in attendance last year played). That area will also be turned into a JAM Session venue - complete with food and drink vendors suitable for All ages! You can expect food, drinks (non-alcohol and alcohol), local Tennessee merchants and A LOT more. PLUS - there is no "time limit" for jamming - play or listen all day  or all night, Saturday and Sunday! We are Very Excited about this and owe our thanks to Will Jordan (owner of the Mockingbird Theater) for making this happen.

The 54th Annual Grand Master Fiddler Championship will be held on Saturday and Sunday November 8 and 9, 2025 at the Mockingbird Theater and the Turner Theater in the Factory at Franklin. Contestants from all over the world will be competing for the Champion titles in Youth and Open categories. The contest is Free to attend. There is no entry fee and parking is free. 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS - SATURDAY AND SUNDAY NOVEMBER 8 and 9, 2025 – at The Mockingbird Theater and the Turner Theater in the Factory at Franklin (same venue as 2024).

Note: Due to loss of funding from our West Virginia sponsor, the Traditional contest will not be held, We hope to bring it back when funding is available. 

LIVE STREAM the contest on YouTube and Facebook - click here GMFCLIVE

 “The Factory at Franklin”, is a lively hub for shopping, dining, events, and more located in a charming historic building, one mile north of downtown Franklin, TN at 230 Franklin Rd, Franklin, TN 37064. There 21 shopping places and over 13 restaurants and eateries. A few pictures we took are attached. Please check out the website at https://factoryatfranklin.com/

The Grand Master Fiddler Championship Inc. is organized as a Tennessee nonprofit and U.S. IRS 501(c)(3) charitable corporation, formed to educate about and perpetuate fiddling as an art form and cultural treasure. The corporation's primary focus is holding the annual Grand Master Fiddler Championship competition - an event that has started many young musicians on their way to a career in music. As a 501(c)(3) entity, all donations are tax deductible, and we welcome your support to promote and educate about fiddling. Fund-raising efforts are being planned in order to expand the competition, enhance our educational efforts, and to further the awareness of fiddling around the globe.

Fiddling laid the foundation of the WSM Grand Ole Opry and remains important to country and bluegrass music today. For a quarter-century, the contest was sponsored by WSM, the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Association, and later by Gaylord Entertainment.  When financially able, the GMFC makes donations to such charities as the Grand Ole Opry Trust Fund and the Bluegrass Trust Fund which benefit musicians in need.  We do this in honor of the contributions of the pioneers to country, bluegrass and traditional music. Many of these pioneers such as Roy Acuff, Porter Wagoner, "Uncle Jimmy" Thompson, Bill Monroe, Howdy Forrester and Tommy Jackson played the fiddle or were very involved with fiddling. We have also donated fiddles/violins to the W. O. Smith Community Music School in Nashville.

Please tell all your fiddle music friends, websites, discussion lists and other music sites about this web page! Let us hear from you and we will add you to the GMFC email list.



2025 Dr. Perry F. Harris Distinguished Fiddler Award Recipient

BOBBY TAYLOR

Bobby Taylor is a fourth generation West Virginia fiddler. He plays several styles of old-time and contest fiddling, but got his early start from the legendary Clark Kessinger, who influenced a world of fiddlers. He has a melting pot of old-time fiddle styles including the styles of his father Lincoln Taylor (1911-1995), Ed Haley, Mike Humphreys, Benny Thomasson, Reece B. Jarvis, Doc Roberts, French Carpenter, and scores of others to name a few. He was the 1977 West Virginia State Open Fiddle Champion. In 2003, Bobby received the FOOTBRIDGE AWARD, presented by FOOTMAD (Friends of Old-Time Music and Dance) for his contributions to old-time music. Bobby was presented The 2010 VANDALIA AWARD, West Virginia’s highest folk-life honor, by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Bobby was honored to play West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd ’s favorite fiddle tunes during the public visitation in the West Virginia Capitol Rotunda and private funeral services. He was inducted into the Mountain State Art and Craft Fair Hall of Fame in Ripley, WV in July of 2012 for his musical contributions to West Virginia.

Bobby has been the coordinator of WV’s Vandalia Gathering contests at the State Capitol in Charleston since 1979. He was the contest coordinator of the Appalachian Open Contest from 1984 through 1987 and the contest coordinator of the Appalachian String Band Music Festival contest since 1990. Bobby retired as Library Manager of the West Virginia Archives and History Section of the WV Division of Culture and History, after 37 years of service.

Bobby has judged the Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia state championships, the Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax, Virginia, and the  Grand Master Fiddle Championship. He was selected to judge the 2007, 2010 and 2012 Western Open Fiddle Championship in Red Bluff, CA. He was a judge at Jana Jae’s Grand Lake National Fiddle Fest in 2006, 2007 and 2009 in Grove, OK. He was selected as a judge at the Grand National Fiddle Championship in Weiser, ID in 2008. Bobby is a certified national fiddle judge. He is a nationally recognized consultant on rules and judging procedures for heritage music competitions. He has taught fiddle workshops at the Augusta Heritage Center, Allegheny Echoes in West Virginia, the 2012 and 2015 Midwest Banjo Camp in Michigan and at the 2013 Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, WA. He has performed on musical tours in Australia and Ireland and was a featured performer at the National Folk Festival in Australia in March of 2008. He was a featured performer at the Library of Congress and at the Kennedy Center on August 16, 2012. The Library of Congress show was recorded for their permanent collection.

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