Mike Auldridge Instrumental Composition Contest
Entries Must Be Entered Between August 18, 2024 and October 14, 2024.
The Mike Auldridge Instrumental Composition Contest honors the life and musicianship of one of America’s greatest bluegrass players. His smooth and effortlessly tasteful Dobro guitar work borrowed from Josh Graves, but added swing, blues and horn influences to arrive at a uniquely new sound. By the time Mike co-founded the Seldom Scene in 1971, his musical touch was unmistakable – and over the next 40 years Auldridge became a pillar of Washington bluegrass history.
Mike Auldridge was born in 1938 in Washington, DC. He spent his life in the Maryland suburbs but his musical influence went far beyond the Beltway. Aside from his own solo recordings and those with the Seldom Scene, Mike was in heavy demand as a session player and appeared on recordings by Emmylou Harris, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, Jonathan Edwards, and Ry Cooder, among many others. Auldridge received the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship Award in 2012, the last year of his life.