Jason Shaw is a flatpicker and fiddler from Lincoln, Nebraska. He has won the National Flatpicking Championship at Winfield, Kansas, four times, in 1993, 2004, 2010, and 2021, and the Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championship four times, in 1991, 2008, 2018, and 2024. The festival’s records show him in the top three of one contest or the other 19 times between 1990 and 2024.
Why Shaw matters
Few players have placed at Winfield on two instruments for this long. Shaw has won the guitar contest in four different decades. He is also a working fiddler, and that shapes his guitar playing. His flatpicking comes from the fiddle side of the tune, with the bowing rhythm built into the pick hand. For a jammer who plays fiddle tunes on guitar, he is the model for phrasing them the way a fiddler would.
Life and career
Shaw started violin at age four. He grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and has played in regional fiddle contests across Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. He has entered the Walnut Valley Festival contests every year since 1990.
His first placing came in 1990, with third in the fiddle contest. He won the fiddle championship in 1991. In 1993 he won the National Flatpicking Championship and took home a Martin HD-28 custom. His brother John Shaw won the same contest the year before, in 1992.
Shaw won the guitar contest again in 2004 and 2010 and the fiddle title in 2008. From 2014 to 2019 he placed in the top three at Winfield every year on one instrument or the other, including three straight guitar seconds from 2016 to 2018 and the fiddle title in 2018. In 2021 he won his fourth National Flatpicking Championship. His prize was a PK Thompson D-SMA. In 2024 he won his fourth fiddle championship.
Shaw plays with his brother John in the Sandy Creek Bluegrass Band. He has released a solo CD, Flatpicker’s Reel, and recordings with the band. He also plays mandolin and drums.
Playing style
Shaw plays fiddle tunes on guitar the way he plays them on fiddle. The melody leads, the phrasing follows the bow, and the tempo stays put. In videos with his brother John he takes tunes like Little Rock Getaway and Brilliance at contest speed with clean articulation on every note. He plays a French-made fiddle about 100 years old.
Influences and legacy
Shaw’s closest musical partner is his brother John Shaw, a Winfield guitar champion (1992) and fiddle champion (2011). Both brothers have won the festival’s guitar and fiddle titles. Jason has also played Ashokan Farewell as a duet with Steve Kaufman. He has traded placings at Winfield with Allen Shadd, Steve Lewis, and Eric Hardin.
Signature tunes and songs
Little Rock Getaway Brilliance Ashokan Farewell.
Essential recordings
Flatpicker’s Reel
Awards and honors
National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, first place (1993, 2004, 2010, 2021) National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, second place (2016, 2017, 2018) National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, third place (2003, 2019) Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championship, first place (1991, 2008, 2018, 2024) Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championship, second place (1998, 2002, 2014, 2015) Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championship, third place (1990, 2001)
Watch and listen
Jason and John Shaw play the fiddle tune Brilliance as a guitar duet. Listen for the fiddle phrasing in the pick hand.
The brothers flatpick Little Rock Getaway. Watch how the tempo never moves during the trades.
What to learn from Shaw
Learn a fiddle tune you already know on guitar, such as Ashokan Farewell, and play it with a fiddler’s phrasing. Hold long notes their full value and slur where a bow would. The technique to steal is his two-instrument ear. Sing or hum the tune before you pick it, and match your pick strokes to the bow strokes you hear. That is how Shaw makes a guitar break sound like a fiddle break.
Sources
Winners archive, alphabetical, Walnut Valley Festival Jason Shaw, Pickers Paradise Winfield competition winners for 2021, Bluegrass Today 2024 Winfield competition results, Bluegrass Today 2016 winners at Walnut Valley Festival, Bluegrass Today Shaw’s flatpicking guitar, YouTube Little Rock Getaway flatpicking, John and Jason Shaw, YouTube Steve Kaufman and Jason Shaw, Ashokan Farewell, YouTube
Related players
See the guitar players hub and the guitar guide for more flatpickers, and the fiddle contests page for the fiddle side of Winfield. Other Winfield champions on this site include Allen Shadd, Steve Lewis, Eric Hardin, and Steve Kaufman.