Originally conceived of and launched in 2010 by comedy legend and banjo player Steve Martin, the Banjo Prize has put half a million dollars into the banjo community over the past decade with an unrestricted $50K award given annually to a master bluegrass or old time banjo player. Past winners are some of the instrument’s brightest stars and include Rhiannon Giddens, Noam Pikelny, Jens Kruger and Kristin Scott Benson. 

At the end of 2019, having fulfilled its initial mission of giving ten awards, Martin and the board determined that the Banjo Prize needed a new vision and infrastructure to move forward. That’s when the Freshgrass Foundation stepped in to co-fund the prize and provide the administrative backend to help carry the prize into its second decade. FreshGrass is thrilled and honored to play a part in this next iteration of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize.

The Prize selection process is conducted on an invitation-only basis by our esteemed group of board members, which includes Steve Martin, Bela Fleck, Alison Brown, Chris Wadsworth, Noam Pikelny, Anne Stringfield, Tony Trischka, Pete Wernick, Johnny Baier, Kristin Scott Benson, Roger Brown, Jamie Deering, Dom Flemons, Paul Schiminger, and Garry West.

As a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to preserve, support and create innovative grassroots music, we can’t think of a better way to fulfill our mission than to assist in carrying on the amazingly generous and cool tradition that is the Steve Martin Banjo Prize.

Learn more about all our Prize winners below!