Welcome to the 9th annual Jimmy LaFave Songwriting Contest! After reviewing 139 song entries, contest judges have narrowed down the field to three finalists!
Vote for your favorite to win the People’s Choice prize by liking and commenting on their videos below (each counts for one vote). Voting is open until midnight on March 29th.
“Too Far” by Gracie Sparks, Oklahoma City
Gracie Sparks is an eighteen-year-old singer/songwriter based in Oklahoma City. Her passion for writing songs started at the age of ten, and she has been performed at various venues and festivals across Oklahoma, including the Paseo Arts Festival, Oklahoma State Fair, Oklahoma Opry, and Beam Entertainment. Her songs, and those she loves, explore growth, relationships, and hope in a way that feels genuine and intentional. Gracie released her debut EP “Say What’s On Your Mind” in the fall of 2025.
“I Don’t Know How To Write A Song” by Micah Felts, Sand Springs
Born and raised in Oklahoma, singer-songwriter Micah Felts is on a mission to craft songs that weave a tapestry between human experiences and the divine. Micah’s aim is to create heartfelt melodies that resonate with themes of grief, faith, yearning, and the human condition.
“Souvenir” by David Delgado, Ardmore
David Delgado is a singer-songwriter who spent more than twenty-five years writing music for church services before turning his storytelling toward the wider experiences of life. Performing as Neverdave, his songs draw from folk and Americana traditions and explore memory, grace, resilience, and the marks that shape a life. His debut album, Scars, is a ten-song collection about the moments that leave their mark and is available on all streaming platforms under the name Neverdave. Visit neverdavemusic.com for more information.
In 2017, Jimmy LaFave accepted the inaugural Restless Spirit Award at Bob Childers’ Gypsy Cafe in Stillwater. Not long after, he succumbed to a battle with cancer. The following spring, Red Dirt Relief Fund collaborated with Jimmy’s partner and some of his longtime friends to create this contest as a catalyst for young and emerging songwriters in Oklahoma. The hope was that Jimmy’s legacy could be, in part, passing on the opportunity he got in Stillwater decades before.
The contest’s first winner, Ken Pomeroy, was 15 years old when she took the stage at Gypsy Cafe to accept the award. In 2025, she performed at the historic Newport Folk Festival where Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary got their starts, and where Bob Dylan famously “went electric” in 1965.
Winners of the Jimmy LaFave Songwriting Contest have come from every genre and musical background–from a student of hip hop to a seasoned country singer. Finalists are selected blindly by a panel of songwriters and industry professionals with prizes including cash, a spot in the Gypsy Cafe lineup and a day of recording at Tulsa’s historic The Church Studio.
The Jimmy LaFave Songwriting Contest highlights LaFave’s legacy of mentorship and musical discovery that have become hallmarks of the Gypsy Café festival. Previous winners of the contest include Ken Pomeroy’s “Sidewalk Song” (2018), Dallas Parker aka Faux Draco’s “Abilities” (2019), Joe Baxter’s “Romeo’s Girl” (2020), Ahna Jennings’ “Hope & Gasoline” (2021), Branjae’s “Free Facts” (2022), Brent Giddens’ “Shades of Texas (2023), Eric Hunker’s “When it all Ends” (2024) and Jared Hard’s “Any of Us” (2025).
Jared Hard
Song: Any of Us
Check out the 2025 Contest Finalists below
Eric Hunker
Song: When it all Ends