Joe Newberry

Known around the world for his clawhammer banjo playing, Joe Newberry is also a powerful guitarist, singer and songwriter. His song “Singing As We Rise,” won the 2012 IBMA “Gospel Recorded Performance” Award, and with Eric Gibson, he shared the 2013 IBMA “Song of the Year” Award for “They Called It Music.” A long-time and frequent guest on A Prairie Home Companion, he was a featured singer on the Transatlantic Sessions 2016 tour of the U.K., and at the Transatlantic Session’s debut at Merlefest in 2017. He was for many years the coordinator of Old-Time Week at the Augusta Heritage Center, and teaches at camps at home and abroad. Newberry has the distinction of having captured each banjo prize at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, WV, over the years – from Fifth to First Place – and was just as happy with each place!