It’s time to register for the 2011 Oklahoma State Picking & Fiddling
Championships, Oct. 7-9 at the Tulsa State Fair.

Anyone from anywhere may enter.

Go to www.okfiddlecontest.com to register and see photos of the prizes.

There’s a lot of exciting news for you contestants. The contests are bigger
and better than ever.

More prize money. More trophy buckles. More non-cash prizes. Rule changes
that we hope you’ll like.

How about this: If you were surprised last year that you had to buy a Fair
ticket in order to compete, well, this year you don’t! Also, you can order
tickets for family members for just $6 each (instead of $10 at the door).

It begins Friday night, Oct. 7, with the String Band contest. This will be
in a tent. The remaining days’ contests will be on the big indoor stage.
There will be a slate of celebrity judges. Each band will get a total of 15
minutes on stage. Prizes are $400, $300, $200, and $100.

Saturday it’s fiddling all day long. The Championship division pays the top
SEVEN finishers. There are now FOUR youth divisions: Junior (13-16), Jr Jr
(10-12), Youth (7-9), and Pee Wee (6 and under). Nobody has to move up to
the next division just for winning last year. Either you play in your age
division, or you play in the Championship division. Score sheets will be
viewable by all at the scoring table. Also, celebrity fiddler Jana Jae will
provide youth fiddlers with a performance evaluation to help them learn to
shine in the spotlight! ALL youth division winners will receive a trophy
buckle.

Remember, our contest is WEISER-CERTIFIED! Our winners are automatically
invited to the national championships in Weiser, Idaho in mid-June.

To accommodate the growing youth divisions, the Championship division will
not start until 6 p.m.!!!!

Sunday Oct. 9 is for mandolins, guitars, and banjos. The prizes are the same
as last year, but Firey Music in Sand Springs has also donated guitars for
the first- and second-place winners of the flatpicking contest, and gift
certificats for places three – five.

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Want to advertise in this year’s program? This year the welcome page is
written by *** Roy Clark *** !!!!

There’s still time to order a full-, half-, or quarter-page ad. Call Scott
Pendleton, 918-688-7318.

Also, very popular last year were “shout-out” ads. For $25 you can write a
classified ad wishing your fiddlers good luck! E-mail sp@isystant.com with
your ad wording.

It’s going to be a great year for live music at the Tulsa State Fair!

A great weekend is planned for Labor Day weekend September 2-4, 2011.  Visit grandlakefestivals.com for a schedule and details for the weekend activities.

We look forward to you joining us for a weekend of workshops, master demonstrations and group sessions as well as special appearances by fiddle groups, master fiddlers and top contest fiddlers.

Evening activities will be at Snider’s Camp on Friday and Saturday evenings with entertainment and fun contests.  Lakeside dinners will be available for $8 a plate. Workshops, demonstrations and group sessions will be held in the air-conditioned comfort of the Grove Civic Center beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, September 3 & 4.

If you are going to be in Oklahoma (or nearby) this labor day weekend, you should make a little effort and go to Jana Jae’s Fiddle Camp in Grove Oklahoma. She has a great lineup of teachers, and really has a heart for the kids.

Below is her press release about the fiddle camp:

Acclaimed fiddler Jim ‘Texas Shorty’ Chancellor again joins Jana Jae and 18 other master fiddle coaches for the Jana Jae Fiddle Camp & Music Fest this Labor Day Weekend Sept. 2, 3, 4, in Grove, OK on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees. Chancellor and his wife Ruthie are back by popular demand for the third year. This will be a full weekend of learning, sharing, and wonderful mini-master classes by great fiddlers. Texas Shorty will be instructing and performing throughout the weekend, an opportunity to meet and learn from this legendary contest champion and recording artist.

Many other performers, contest winners, and teachers of note will be coaching, and a complete list is available online at www.grandlakefestivals.com. All levels and all ages are welcome. Not just for fiddlers, all acoustic instruments are welcome! Rex Gillentine will offer a guitar workshop, Dennis Neff offers a workshop covering harmonies, with arrangements for multiple instruments, Russ Weeks will hold a mandolin workshop, and more! This is a family weekend of great jamming, great food, great fun, right in the center of the country in the foothills of the Ozarks on beautiful Grand Lake, Grove, OK.

Register before Aug. 15 for earlybird prices, online at www.grandlakefestivals.com or by calling 918-786-8896, credit cards accepted.

Come Friday evening, Sept. 2, for kickoff party, barbecue dinner, and jam at Snider’s Camp. On Sept 3 and 4, the Grove Civic Center hosts small workshops and master classes, with new ideas and techniques for competing in contests, performing, or just to progress and enjoy making music.

Presented by Grand Lake Festivals, to promote and preserve our national musical heritage!

I’m not usually a fan of Devil’s Dream, but I can think of two people who play it pretty awesome.

The first is Jana Jae who plays Devil’s Dream so fast that fire flies from the strings. The second is the one I heard today – Jean Carignan.

This is a truly amazing version of Devil’s Dream, or as they call it in French Reve du Diable.