July 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
13-year-old Noah Goebel has claimed the Grand Champion Fiddling Title at the 51st edition of the Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival.
The Elkton, Kentucky resident, who also won the Junior Fiddling contest here Saturday night, beat out the Senior Fiddling Champion Heather Brown Currie of Springfield in the showdown for the Berry C. Williams Memorial Award. Currie claimed the Grand Champion Fiddling Title in 1999 and 2001.
As the 2022 Grand Fiddle Off Champion, Goebel will be invited by the Grand Ole Opry to play a ‘fiddle tune’ for the Opry square dancers’ LIVE performance during a selected show TBA.
Only last year, Goebel competed as a child in the Fiddlers Jamboree’s National Championship for Country Musician Beginners and won the Beginners Fiddling Title.
This is the 11th year in a row (not counting the 2020 virtual jamboree) that a Junior Fiddler has beaten the Senior Fiddler for the Grand Championship of the Festival.
Sam Stout, President and Coordinator of the Fiddlers Jamboree presented the award to Goebel at the conclusion of the festival which ended at 11: 30 p.m. Saturday evening.
By winning the Junior fiddling contest, Goebel edged out two other competitors for a right to advance to the fiddle-off.
Winners in the Saturday session of the Fiddler’s Jamboree are as follows:
Junior Old-Time Appalachian Flatfoot Dance (Ages up to 39): First Place- Jacob Fennell of Dickson; Second Place- Treble Chunn of Greenbrier; and Third Place Matthew Campbell of McMinnville.
Senior Old-Time Appalachian Flatfoot Dance (Ages 40 & Over): First Place- Bridget Esterhuizen of Murphy, North Carolina; Second Place- Anthony Harrell of Mount Juliet; and Third Place- Tim Hartman of Lyles.
Senior Buck Dancing (Ages 40 & Over): First Place-Ben Heithcock of College Grove; Second Place-Tammy Scruggs of Lebanon; and Third Place- Anthony Harrell of Mount Juliet.
Senior Clogging (Ages 40 & Over): First Place-Ben Heithcock of College Grove; Second Place-Tammy Scruggs of Lebanon; and Third Place- Anthony Harrell of Mount Juliet.
Bluegrass Banjo: First Place-Trenton Tater Caruthers of Cookeville; Second Place- Axel Rico of Smithville; and Third Place-Noah Goebel of Elkton, Kentucky
Junior Fiddlers (Ages 13-39): First Place-Noah Goebel of Elkton, Kentucky; Second Place- Tyler Andal of Nashville; and Third Place-Trenton Tater Caruthers of Cookeville
Flat Top Guitar: First Place- Tylar Andal of Nashville; Second Place-Noah Goebel of Elkton, Kentucky; and Third Place-Brock Ealey of Cookeville.
Contest Fiddle (Neil Dudney Memorial Award): First Place- Justin Branum of Murfreesboro; Second Place-Noah Goebel of Elkton, Kentucky; and Third Place- Tyler Andal of Nashville. The Neil Dudney Award was presented to Branum by Dudney’s daughter Janet England and two of his grandchildren, Ethan and Brandon Shaw. Dudney, who passed away in October, 2018 served as President and Coordinator of the Fiddlers Jamboree for 16 years until he stepped down in 2008.
Bluegrass Band: First Place-Mountain Cove Bluegrass Band of Chattanooga; Second Place-Clearview of Hilham; and Third Place-J.D. and the No Crowes of Rockvale
Senior Fiddlers ( Ages 40 & Over): First Place- Heather Brown Currie of Springfield; Second Place-Sarah Harris of Rockvale; and Third Place- Billy Gene Hazlewood of Spring Hill
Square Dancing: First Place-Rocky Top Revue of Franklin; Second Place- Step Aside of Dickson; and Third Place- Tennessee Dance Alliance of Mount Juliet