Roy Curry is a contest flatpicker from Chattanooga, Tennessee. He won the National Flatpicking Championship at Winfield, Kansas, three times: 1980, 1991, and 2012. Winfield’s records show him in the top three eight times across 38 years, from 1980 to 2018. He has won 21 guitars in contests around the country.
Why Curry matters
Curry’s Winfield record covers four decades, from a first title in 1980 to a third-place finish in 2018. Few contest players stay at that level for so long. For a jammer, his videos of Red Haired Boy, Bill Cheatham, and Blackberry Blossom show how a champion plays the tunes everyone already knows.
Life and career
Curry is from Tennessee. He first won the Winfield flatpick contest in 1980 and took home a Gallagher G72 Special. He won again in 1991 with a Martin Special Edition as the prize. He placed second in 1999 and third in 2005 and 2007.
Grascals mandolinist Danny Roberts, who came up around the same time, told Bluegrass Today in 2016 that Curry was “probably one of the biggest influences on my guitar playing coming up. I wanted to be Roy. I used to try to play like him.”
In 2010 Curry taught at the Americana Music Festival and Flatpicking Guitar Camp in Steelville, Missouri. He placed second at Winfield in 2011 and won his third title in 2012, ahead of Allen Shadd and Adam Wright, taking a Collings Winfield Model guitar. By then he had entered the contest about 16 times. He placed third once more in 2018.
Curry has played guitar with the Lone Mountain Band and with the Chattanooga band Hamilton County Ramblers, whose self-titled album came out in 2015. He also plays bluegrass and old time banjo. He has taught at Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp and has appeared in an IBMA guitar workshop with David Grier and Clay Hess.
Playing style
Curry builds his contest sets on standard fiddle tunes and plays them clean at full tempo. Bluegrass Now writer Dave Higgs credited his “fanatical pursuit of excellence” for taking him to the top of the flatpicking world. He uses Blue Chip picks and has said they are easier to hold and give a good tone. Recording King filmed him playing Dixie Hoedown on its RO-328 model in 2020, and the Flatpick Nation channel has posted a lesson on Cluck Old Hen in his style.
Influences and legacy
Danny Roberts of the Grascals names Curry as a main influence on his guitar playing. His three Winfield wins put him in the small group of players, with Allen Shadd, who have won the contest three times.
Signature tunes and songs
Red Haired Boy Bill Cheatham Blackberry Blossom Dixie Hoedown Cluck Old Hen.
Essential recordings
Hamilton County Ramblers, Hamilton County Ramblers (2015)
Awards and honors
National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, first place (1980, 1991, 2012) National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, second place (1999, 2011) National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, third place (2005, 2007, 2018) New England Flatpick Championship, first place
Watch and listen
Curry plays Red Haired Boy at Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp. Watch how the melody stays clear while the tempo stays up.
Curry plays Bill Cheatham on a Ken Miller guitar, filmed by his Hamilton County Ramblers bandmate Jim Pankey.
What to learn from Curry
Learn Red Haired Boy from his Kaufman Kamp video. It is a jam tune every guitar player needs, and his version keeps the melody honest at contest speed. The technique to steal is his consistency. He placed at Winfield in 1980 and again in 2018. That comes from cleaning up the same tunes year after year rather than chasing new ones.
Sources
Winners archive, alphabetical, Walnut Valley Festival Roy Curry, Pickers Paradise Results from Winfield 2012, Bluegrass Today Grascals’ Danny Roberts receives special honor, Bluegrass Today Hamilton County Ramblers, Bluegrass Today Americana music and flatpicking guitar, Bluegrass Today Recording King introduces new 000 model guitar, Bluegrass Today Roy Curry, Blue Chip Picks
Related players
See the guitar players hub and the guitar guide for more flatpickers. Allen Shadd is another three-time Winfield champion on this site and finished second to Curry in 2012. Adam Wright took third that year. Steve Kaufman runs the camp where Curry has taught.