The USA Songwriting Competition is now accepting entries for the 2006 prize awards, with a deadline for submissions of May 31. Prizes of cash and merchandise are awarded, both in 15 style categories, and for the top three songs overall.

There are three categories which may be of interest to bluegrass, folk and acoustic music songwriters – folk, country and instrumental. A song can be entered in multiple categories, but each category entry is subject to the $30 entry fee. The entry form, which can be completed and sent by email, or printed and mailed, can be found online.

Winners from the 2005 competition who may be familiar to readers of The Bluegrass Blog include Darrell Scott, who won in the country category for Good Ol USA, and April Verch & Taylor Buckley, who won an honorable mention in the instrumental category for Monarch, a tune found on Verch’s latest CD, Take Me Back.

Find all the details, and the rules of the competition on the USA Songwriting Competition web site.