Allen Shadd is a contest flatpicker from Florida who now lives in South Carolina. He won the National Flatpicking Championship at Winfield, Kansas, three times: 1997, 2013, and 2019. Winfield’s records show him in the top three nine times between 1996 and 2019.
Why Shadd matters
Contest flatpicking is its own craft. A player gets two tunes and a few minutes to prove clean tone, steady time, and a good arrangement. Shadd has done that at the top level from 1996 to 2019. For a jammer, his fiddle tune arrangements are a good model: clear melody first, then variation.
Life and career
Shadd grew up in Florida. He started guitar at age seven and taught himself by playing along with the radio and records. At fifteen he toured between school years with groups that included Claire Lynch and the Front Porch String Band.
He first went to Winfield in 1979, at age fourteen, after hearing Mark O’Connor’s championship performance on record. He began competing in the mid-1990s. He placed second at Winfield in 1996 and won in 1997. He won the MerleFest Doc Watson Guitar Championship in 1998. In 2005 he moved to the Carolinas.
Shadd won Winfield again in 2013 and a third time in 2019. He also won guitar contests at RockyGrass, the Wayne Henderson Music Festival, and the New England Flatpick Championship. He released A Cut Above in 1995 and Miles from the Hard Road in 2015. From 2019 to 2021 he played with the Charlotte-based WBT Briarhoppers.
Playing style
Shadd builds his arrangements around the melody. On Miles from the Hard Road he plays fiddle tunes like Old Joe Clark and Alabama Jubilee with the tune out front, then adds variations that keep its shape. His tone is clean and even, which is what contest judges reward.
He has won 21 guitars in competitions. He plays Collings guitars and a Preston Thompson dreadnought, his 2019 Winfield prize.
Influences and legacy
Mark O’Connor’s Winfield record pulled Shadd into contest flatpicking. He has performed or recorded with Tom T. Hall, Claire Lynch, Norman Blake, and John Cowan. On Miles from the Hard Road he played with Aubrey Haynie and Rob Ickes. He has taught at Steve Kaufman’s camps, the Alabama Folk School, and the Swannanoa Gathering. In 1999 he released Flat Picking Champions: Live from Winfield with fellow champions Cody Kilby and Mark Cosgrove.
Signature tunes and songs
Miles from the Hard Road Old Joe Clark Alabama Jubilee Little Rock Getaway.
Essential recordings
A Cut Above (1995) Flat Picking Champions: Live from Winfield, with Cody Kilby and Mark Cosgrove (1999) Miles from the Hard Road (2015)
Awards and honors
National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, first place (1997, 2013, 2019) National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, second place (1996, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012) National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, third place (2011) MerleFest Doc Watson Guitar Championship, first place (1998) Steve Kaufman Flatpick Camp Guitar Championship, first place (1997) RockyGrass guitar championship, first place (2007) Wayne Henderson Music Festival guitar competition, first place (2007, 2013, 2023) New England Flatpick Championship, first place (2006)
Watch and listen
Shadd plays the title track from Miles from the Hard Road for Dream Guitars. Watch how he keeps the melody clear while the right hand stays relaxed.
What to learn from Shadd
Learn Old Joe Clark the way a contest player would. Play the plain melody first, then write one variation for each part that keeps the melody’s shape. The technique to steal is his contest discipline. Pick two tunes and play them start to finish without stopping. Fix only the spots that broke. That habit builds the clean, steady playing that wins at Winfield and holds a jam together.
Sources
Winners archive, alphabetical, Walnut Valley Festival Allen Shadd, Pickers Paradise Allen Shadd, three-time National Flatpicking Champion Contests, Allen Shadd Miles from the Hard Road, Allen Shadd, Bluegrass Today Allen Shadd, Preston Thompson Guitars Flat Picking Champions, Live from Winfield, Bandcamp
Related players
See the guitar players hub and the guitar guide for more flatpickers. Other Winfield champions on this site include Mark Cosgrove, Cody Kilby, and Tyler Grant. Steve Kaufman runs the camp where Shadd teaches.