Ten singer-songwriters have been named as finalists in the 2009 Telluride Troubadour Competition. They will vie for instruments, cash prizes, recognition and the opportunity to perform on the main stage during the 36th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado, June 18-21.

Recognized on the basis of the quality of their songs’ composition, vocal delivery and the overall performance were Mitch Barrett (Berea, Kentucky); Reed Foehl (Lafayette, Colorado); Paul Jacobsen (Salt Lake City, Utah); Pete Kartsounes (Boulder, Colorado); Jessica Kilroy (Driggs, Idaho); Colin McGrath (Brooklyn, NY); Laura Meyer (New York, NY); Mike Morris (Strafford, New Hampshire); Kerri Powers (Boston, Massachusetts), and Nora Jane Struthers (Nashville, Tennessee). Selected as alternates were Rita Hosking (Davis, California) and Ana Egge (Brooklyn, New York).

The 10 finalists will each perform two original songs during a preliminary round on the festival’s Elks Park Stage on Thursday afternoon, June 18. Then the top five finalists will each perform two different original songs during a final round the following afternoon. The Troubadour winner performs a 15-minute set on the festival’s main stage on Saturday evening, June 20.

Previous winners of the Telluride Troubadour Competition, which has been held in conjunction with the Telluride Bluegrass Festival since 1991, include Larry Good (1991), Cosy Sheridan (1992), Dan Sheridan (1993), Catie Curtis (1994), LJ Booth (1995), Michael Lille (1996), Jonathan Kingham (1997), Eugene Ruffolo (1998), Libby Kirkpatrick (1999), Mary Coppin (2000), Kris Delmhorst (2001), Deb Talan (2002), Rachel Davis (2003), Brian Joseph (2004), Keith Greeninger (2005), Nels Andrews (2006), Gregory Alan Isakov (2007), and Nathan Moore (2008).