PHOTO PROVIDED
A crowd enjoys music at a previous Smoked Country Jam.
CROSS FORK — Smoked Country Jam Bluegrass announces the winners of the 17th Annual Pennsylvania Heritage Songwriting Contest (PHSC).
Winners are invited to perform their work at the Smoked Country Jam Bluegrass Festival, June 19-21, at the Quiet Oaks Campground, Cross Fork, Pa. Pennsylvania Heritage Songwriters perform on the main stage around 5 p.m. Saturday kicking off the final evening of great music.
In an unprecedented turn of events, the initial top finisher, Ryan Saupp, of Smithmill, Pa., honorably withdrew his well-crafted entry, “Bull’s Fiddle” due to a misunderstanding of the evaluation criteria.
This year’s winners are:
— First Place: Kevin Neidig, Dillsburg, Pa., for the entry “Miner John”
— Second Place: Andrew Portz, Emmaus, Pa., for the entry “Mahanoy City”
— Third Place: Leo DiSanto, Washington Boro, Pa., “Oh Conestoga Town”
Fewer than three and a half points out of a possible 300 separated the top three finishers this year, a testament to the quality of the entries. Coal mining was again the predominant theme, common to slightly more than 40 percent of entries with mention of trains not far behind. “Centralia,” the most common placename theme over the now 17-year history of the event, was mentioned in this year’s Second Place entry.
Entries were received from many regions in Pennsylvania, as well as one from New Hampshire and one from Utah.
2025 Top Finishers
Kevin Neidig, an award-winning Americana singer/songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist based in Mechanicsburg, Pa., graced us with the first-place entry “Miner John.” John was the powder man on a blasting crew in a coal mining operation who perished in a blast.
Lyric Excerpt:
“One last thing before I go
What I’d like for you to know
Don’t risk your life, don’t risk your soul
Digging up a rich man’s coal.”
The 2025 second place slot, “Mahanoy City,” was submitted by a seasoned multi-instrumentalist, singer songwriter, Andrew Portz. In an interview, Andrew shared that the song inspiration came from providing transportation services from an old timer” who lived in Mahanoy City.
From Verse 2:
“There’s a fire ragin’ deep beneath the underground
Throwing embers of the earth on Centralia town
Ragin’ waters, they’ve been floodin’ out the old coal vein
Blue Ridge Cable boys run wires just to ease our pain
Ease our pain”
In “Oh Conestoga Town,” the third-place finisher, Leo DiSanto, chronicles the demise of the Pennsylvania Conestoga tribe with historical accuracy. The notorious Paxton Boys, a group of vigilante settlers from Cumberland County were largely responsible for vanquishing the remnants of the tribe. Leo place second in 2021 with the entry “Letters from Centralia,” Leo also performs with the band Vinegar Creek Constituency.
From the first verse followed by the chorus:
“Chief Pontiac was making noise, up north
and soon the Paxton Boys, rode out collecting scalps in Pennsylvania.
Conestoga Town, Oh Conestoga Town
Where used to dwell our gentle friends and neighbors.
Conestoga Town, been gone a long time now
Been gone such a long time now Oh Conestoga Town”
Last year’s first and second place finisher, Christopher Carithers, of Williamsport, was just outside of the running with his entry “Deerskin Slippers.”
Special congratulations to Victoria Guthrie, Central Mountain High School Class of 2025, as the recipient of the 2025 Craig “Bubba” Bowman Memorial Award. This award is presented annually to a graduating senior demonstrating promise in songwriting, folk or related roots related musical genre.
About PHSC:
The Pennsylvania Heritage Songwriting Contest (PHSC) was launched in 2008 to celebrate the State of Pennsylvania, its people, its places, and its history in song. It is a non-profit event intended to provide a venue for amateur songwriters to display their talent and artistry while fostering appreciation for, and study of Pennsylvania’s Heritage. The contest was created, in part, to become a funding source for the Craig “Bubba” Bowman Memorial Award. Bubba was a celebrated PA regional musical performer who lost his life in a car crash in 2006. The award was first funded in 2024.
The contest welcomes amateur songwriters of any genre to submit songs having a PA theme or reference. The top three finalists are invited to perform their entry on the Main Stage at the Smoked Country Jam Bluegrass Festival and are awarded cash prizes and full festival passes.
In 2023, the event released Pennsylvania Heritage Songwriters Volume 1, a 15 track compilation of winning songs from the first five years of the contest which can be purchased at the Smoked Country Jam Bluegrass Festival. As the event progresses, additional recordings will be compiled and produced for fundraising and a Pennsylvania Heritage Songwriters tour of performances in schools, community centers, public libraries and venues will be organized. To achieve these goals, the event welcomes sponsorship from individuals, civic organizations, and Pennsylvania Heritage branded businesses and corporations.
The Smoked Country Jam Bluegrass Festival takes place each June at the Quiet Oaks Campground on a picturesque mountaintop near Cross Fork, Pa. (just inside the Clinton County line).
For more information, contest rules, and entry form visit: smokedcountryjam.com/
Songs from this year’s winning songs can be heard on Facebook: Search PA Heritage Songwriters.
