Silver Dollar City's Bluegrass & BBQ Winner Announced

We are pleased to announce that Wayne Wehrspann of Jenks, Oklahoma is the winner of our Bluegrass & BBQ Sweeptakes sponsored by Silver Dollar City. Wayne's name was randomly drawn from more than 50,000 entries.

Wayne tells us he listens to Into The Blue every Sunday beginning at noon on KUSH in Cushing, Oklahoma and online at bluegrassmix.

Congratulations to Wayne and a special thank you to everyone who entered. Stay tuned for more great contests on Into The Blue.

---

Wichita's Bluegrass Seeds

Wichita Rutherford, the venerable Mayor of Bluegrass, has reportedly formulated a super strain of bluegrass seed with the potential to feed the hungry, heal the sick and solve America's political divide. Check it out for yourself and let us know what you think. Click Here

25 Years And Still FREE

A quarter of a century is a milestone for any festival and 2010 will mark the 25th annual Free Bluegrass in the Park Folklife Festival in Henderson Kentucky.

Recognized as one of the largest on-going free festivals in the nation, Bluegrass In The Park runs August 12-14.

Patty Loveless will officially open the event with a performance at the Henderson Fine Arts Center. This is the only portion of the event that is not free -- tickets may be purchased here.

Headliners this year include: The Boxcars, Lou Reid & Carolina and Claire Lynch & the Claire Lynch Band. A full schedule can be viewed here.

---

Hillbenders Single Mic Champs

21 hopeful bands from all over the country converged at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO recently to take part in the 4th Annual National Single Microphone Championship. Each band was required to perform a total of 4 songs over the 2 days of competition in front of two sets judges and over 500 eager observers with nothing but a single condenser microphone between them and the audience. Song selection, audience response, appearance, technique, musicianship, and dynamics were all part of the criteria for the judges, and they had their work cut out for them with all of the incredibly talented groups that took the stage. But after the dust settled and the scores were tallied, Springfield, Missouri's "HillBenders" came out on top. Congratulations to the Hillbenders and all those who competed.