About
As a 2026 Kerrville Grassy Hill New Folk Winner, and the Grand Prize + People’s Choice Award recipient in the 2026 Wildflower Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest, Stephanie Sammons has been on a roll. She’s also a two-time Telluride Troubadour Finalist (‘25, ‘26), and 2026 Songwriter Serenade Finalist.
Her 2024 debut album, Time and Evolution, produced by acclaimed folk artist Mary Bragg, is a tender and deeply introspective exploration of faith, longing, and identity. Praised for its emotional nuance and lyrical clarity, the album marks a compelling entrance into the Americana and folk songwriting landscape.
The 2026 Wildflower Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest has crowned many talented artists over its storied history, but few have arrived with the momentum Sammons carries. The 1st-place winner and People's Choice Award recipient at that contest, and a 2026 Kerrville New Folk Winner, she has built a reputation in the Americana and Folk worlds not through noise, but through precision.
Sammons has been described as a singer of subtle emotion — a voice that communicates ache without raising its volume. Her delivery is restrained but never distant, each lyric a quiet revelation. This thoughtful, introspective style reflects her nature as an empath and an introvert: someone who chooses clarity over clamor and substance over spectacle. Listeners drawn to authenticity and vulnerability find something rare in her music — the feeling of being genuinely understood.
That depth of craft is no accident. Sammons has studied with some of the most revered songwriters in her genre, including Mary Gauthier, Emily Saliers, Jonatha Brooke, Beth Nielsen Chapman, and Gretchen Peters. Their mentorship has sharpened her storytelling instincts and deepened her commitment to lyrical precision and emotional truth.
Her songs offer space — to reflect, to heal, to feel less alone. "With my songs, I try to get to the heart of those stories and experiences we all share, either personally or tangentially," she says. It's a quiet mission, but a powerful one.
Sammons's full-length debut, Time and Evolution, released in May 2024 and produced by Mary Bragg, maps personal growth through melody and narrative. The ten-song collection opens with a journey and closes with a reckoning, balancing melancholy with acquiescence in language that is at once searingly poetic and emotionally precise.
Her second full-length album, again produced by Mary Bragg and recorded in Nashville, arrives in August 2026.
Accolades
2026 Kerrville Grassy Hill New Folk Winner
2026 Wildflower Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest — 1st Place & People's Choice Award
2026 Songwriter Serenade Finalist
2026 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Showcase Finalist
2025 & 2026 Telluride Troubadour Finalist (Planet Bluegrass)
2024 Rocky Mountain Folk Festival Songwriters Contest Finalist — Red Lodge, MT
2024 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Honorable Mention