Steve Lewis is a flatpicker and banjo player from Jefferson, North Carolina. He won the National Flatpicking Championship at Winfield, Kansas, in 2016. He had won the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship there twice before, in 2003 and 2009. Winfield’s records show him in the top three of one contest or the other eleven times between 1999 and 2016.
Why Lewis matters
Few players place at Winfield on two instruments. Lewis placed in both contests in the same year five times (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2016). For a jammer, he is a model of a player who understands both sides of a bluegrass band: the guitar that holds the rhythm and the banjo that drives it. His contest tunes are standards, played clean.
Life and career
Lewis started guitar at age eight. He took up banjo later and has played it for about 40 years. He worked as a house painter before he began teaching guitar and other stringed instruments in the school system.
He first placed at Winfield in 1999, with third in flatpick guitar and second in banjo. He took second in both contests in 2001 and third in both in 2002. In 2003 he won the banjo championship and placed second in guitar. He won banjo again in 2009. In 2016 he won the flatpick guitar championship and took second in banjo the same weekend.
Lewis released a CD called Appalachian Rain. He played banjo on Jack Lawrence’s album Arthel’s Guitar, reviewed in 2013. He competes at MerleFest and the Wayne Henderson Festival. He was a runner-up in the Winfield flatpick finals in 2024. At the Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention he placed fifth in banjo in 2015, third in guitar in 2024, sixth in banjo in 2025, and second in guitar in 2026.
Playing style
Lewis plays fiddle tunes the way contest judges like them: melody first, steady time, and no wasted notes. In videos of Blackberry Blossom and Angeline the Baker the melody stays out front through every variation. He keeps the right hand relaxed and lets the rhythm player carry the drive.
His Winfield prizes include a Collings Winfield Model guitar (2016), an Ome Gold Odyssey Megatone banjo (2009), and a Deering Gold Plated Calico banjo (2003).
Influences and legacy
Lewis taught Eric Hardin, who went on to win the Winfield banjo championship in 2004 and the flatpick championship in 2024. Hardin finished ahead of Lewis in the Galax guitar contest in 2024 and 2026. Lewis has also recorded with Jack Lawrence.
Signature tunes and songs
Blackberry Blossom Angeline the Baker Red Haired Boy Clinch Mountain Stepback.
Essential recordings
Appalachian Rain Arthel’s Guitar, Jack Lawrence, banjo on selected tracks (2013)
Awards and honors
National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, first place (2016) National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, second place (2001, 2003) National Flatpicking Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, third place (1999, 2002) National Bluegrass Banjo Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, first place (2003, 2009) National Bluegrass Banjo Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, second place (1999, 2001, 2016) National Bluegrass Banjo Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, third place (2002) Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention, guitar, second place (2026) Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention, guitar, third place (2024)
Watch and listen
Lewis plays Blackberry Blossom on guitar. Listen for how the melody stays clear in the low strings.
Here he plays Clinch Mountain Stepback on banjo in a contest round that won first place.
What to learn from Lewis
Learn Blackberry Blossom from his video. Play the A part as a plain scale run, then add his small variations one at a time. The technique to steal is his balance between guitar and banjo thinking. Spend a week playing rhythm behind a banjo player and notice what the guitar needs to do. Your lead playing will get steadier.
Sources
Winners archive, alphabetical, Walnut Valley Festival Steve Lewis, Pickers Paradise 2016 winners at Walnut Valley Festival, Bluegrass Today Walnut Valley Championships 2024, Bluegrass Today Arthel’s Guitar, Jack Lawrence, Bluegrass Today Winners from the 88th annual Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax, Bluegrass Today 2025 Galax Old Fiddlers Convention results, Bluegrass Today 2026 Galax Old Fiddlers Convention results, Bluegrass Today Galax results for 2015, Bluegrass Today Eric Hardin, Pickers Paradise
Related players
See the guitar players hub and the guitar guide for more flatpickers. Lewis’s student Eric Hardin won Winfield in 2024. Other Winfield champions on this site include Allen Shadd and Jason Shaw, who placed second to Lewis in 2016. Jack Lawrence is the Doc Watson partner Lewis recorded with.