From the Kentucky Press Association

NASHVILLE — Thirteen-year-old Noah Goebel, Grand Champion Fiddler at the 51st Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival, performed Jan. 28 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

The Elkton, Kentucky, resident, who also won the Junior Fiddling contest in Smithville, beat out the Senior Fiddling Champion Heather Brown Currie of Springfield, Tennessee, in the showdown for the Berry C. Williams Memorial Award. Currie claimed the Grand Champion Fiddling Title in 1999 and 2001.

As the 2022 Grand Fiddle Off Champion, Goebel played both shows – 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday –  a “fiddle tune” for the Opry square dancers LIVE performance. Darrin Vincent suggested this date to Dan Rogers, VP at the Ryman Auditorium.

It was Bluegrass Night with Vincent & Dailey also performing. Noah also played with Dailey & Vincent.

“Noah is one very impressive young man. He is exceptionally talented, and the Jamboree Committee is so proud that he is representing us at the Ryman – The Mother Church of Country Music,” said Jamboree President Kim Luton.

In 2021, Goebel competed as a child in the James G. “Bobo” Driver Fiddlers Jamboree’s National Championship for Country Musician Beginners and won the Beginners Fiddling Title. “I’m honored to be playing the Opry at the Ryman this weekend,” Goebel stated. “I am so grateful for the Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree, Darrin Vincent, Dan Rogers and all who made this possible.”