Weston Stewart is an Alabama banjo player who won both the MerleFest banjo contest and the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship at Winfield, Kansas, in 2011. He has won more than a dozen state titles and more than 50 contests. He has taught banjo as a master artist in Alabama’s folk arts program.
Why Stewart matters
Stewart is a contest picker with a long record. By 2015 he had won or placed in more than 75 banjo contests, and he placed second at Winfield again in 2019. He has passed the music on through the Alabama State Council on the Arts’ Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program.
Life and career
Stewart grew up in Anderson, Alabama. As a boy he went every year to the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention in Athens. He decided on the banjo at 10, after hearing Foggy Mountain Breakdown on The Beverly Hillbillies. He got his first banjo at 13 from his mentor, Robert “Scooter” Muse of Florence, who also gave him lessons. He won his first contest at 15.
In 2009 he joined the Bluegrass Soul Pickers, who recorded for Tom T. and Dixie Hall’s Blue Circle label. Their album If I Ever Get Home reached No. 14 on the Cashbox bluegrass chart. In 2010 he won the banjo contest at the Athens fiddlers convention he grew up attending.
In 2011 he won MerleFest with Little Rock Getaway, won the Mississippi State title, and then won Winfield. In 2013 he won the Tennessee state titles on both banjo and Dobro. By 2015 he was playing with Ricky Reece and Fast Forward. He has also won the Bobby Thompson Bluegrass contest at Uncle Dave Macon Days twice.
Playing style
Stewart likes all banjo styles but prefers melodic playing. He studied records by Earl Scruggs, J.D. Crowe, Béla Fleck, Alan Munde, Scott Vestal, Larry McNeely, and others. He plays a Nechville banjo.
Signature tunes and songs
Little Rock Getaway Shuckin’ the Corn.
Essential recordings
If I Ever Get Home, the Bluegrass Soul Pickers (Blue Circle).
Awards and honors
Banjo champion, Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention, Athens, Alabama (2010) MerleFest Banjo Contest, first place (2011) Mississippi State Banjo Championship, first place (2011) National Bluegrass Banjo Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, first place (2011) Tennessee State Banjo Championship and Tennessee State Dobro Championship (2013) National Bluegrass Banjo Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, second place (2019) Bobby Thompson Bluegrass Championship, Uncle Dave Macon Days, two times.
Watch and listen
Stewart teaches the fiddle tune Blackjack on banjo.
Stewart teaches Cripple Creek.
What to learn from Stewart
Go to contests, then go again. Stewart won his first at 15 and had more than 50 wins by 21. If you lean toward melodic banjo, study the players he studied, from Alan Munde to Béla Fleck.
Sources
Weston Stewart, 2011 champion, Athens News Courier (2011) Weston Stewart, in his own words, NEMiss.News (2015) Weston Stewart, Alabama Arts Radio (2014) MerleFest 2011 contest winners, Bluegrass Today Walnut Valley Festival winners archive, chronological (PDF)
Related players
See the banjo players hub and the bluegrass banjo guide for more pickers. Stewart learned from records by Earl Scruggs, J.D. Crowe, Alan Munde, Béla Fleck, and Scott Vestal. His Uncle Dave Macon Days wins carry the name of Bobby Thompson.