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FLORENCE--To see him at school, Dillon Hodges is just another student, preferring to blend in the crowd.

In jeans, a short-sleeved polo shirt and a pair of well-worn leather loafers, the Florence High School senior certainly seems to fit the part.

But get him in the midst of master guitarists from all over the United States and he's anything but an average guy. He's noted as the nation's flat picking guitar champion, a title he earned two weeks ago at the National Flat Picking Guitar Championship in Winfield, Kan.

It's a title he still can't believe he won.

"It was my fourth year there and I never thought I'd make it past the first round," said Hodges, whose guitar skills have earned him numerous awards at bluegrass and flat picking festivals around the country.

Now 17, Hodges has been playing for six years, earning national endorsement by the Gibson Guitar Corp. four years ago.

The four-day festival involved Hodges playing four songs. The judges didn't see the contestants - among the 40 of them were six past national champions.

"It was a blind judging so I'm sure that worked to my advantage because they couldn't see how young I was," Hodges said. "Yeah, had the judges seen all those incredibly talented musicians, I'd probably not have won."

It's that humble attitude that has kept Hodges well grounded despite all his musical success and accolades throughout his teen years.

"This was the biggest competition I've won," he said. "It paid $2,000 and I won a Collings guitar valued around $6,000. I was really excited to make enough to pay for my travel expenses. But then, a few days later I was in a (fender bender) so I figure that will take everything I made."

His father, Jeff, the sports information director for the University of North Alabama, attended the festival with Dillon, along with Dillon's mom, Karen, and two younger sisters.

"It was like the Woodstock of bluegrass," Jeff Hodges said. "It was an amazing experience for him and us. I've always had to work during the other festivals. It was awesome that I got to see him be named the number one acoustic guitar player in the country. I'm not sure it has really hit him yet."

Dillon said he doesn't know how long he'll continue doing competitions. For now, he's focused on keeping his grades up and then college is in the plans. He'll likely attend UNA since, "I'm already established pretty well (musically) here in this area and I know I need a college education so I have something to fall back on in case this music thing doesn't work out."

The "music thing" seems to be benefitting him educationally, also. His talent has come in handy with his choral program at school, where he has honed his vocal skills.

He is also learning about music production, knowledge that could be of significant benefit in the future, he says.

As a student, Hodges has likewise impressed school officials.

"There's no doubt he has tremendous talent as a musician but even more importantly he has tremendous character," said Florence High School Principal Mike Lewey.

Hodges said staying humble despite the accolades hasn't been difficult.

"I've been around some very talented people who aren't humble at all and I don't want to be like that," he said. "When you're around outstanding musicians all the time, it pretty much keeps you humble."

Though he listens to all kinds of music, his most recent leaning when it comes to playing music is toward jazz.

"You have more freedom for improvisation in jazz," he said.

As for his future in music, he's taking one day at a time, still playing on weekends only and abiding by the one rule his parents demand: that school work comes first.

"I'd love to go to Nashville and hit it big on the music scene, but I've had many friends try that and it didn't work out," he said. "The Gibson company wanted me to travel with a band after I got my endorsement including doing tours in other countries like Australia. My dad's response to that was, 'He really needs to finish eighth grade.' "

Lisa Singleton-Rickman can be reached at 740-5735 or lisa.singleton-rickman@timesdaily.com.

DILLON HODGES WINS GUITAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Florence High School senior Dillon Hodges won the title as Flat Picking Guitar National Champion at the 36th Annual Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kan., on Saturday, Sept. 15. The contest annually features a field of 40 of the top guitar players from across the United States. Hodges was selected as one of five finalists after the first round in the event, then claimed the title as National Champion with his performance in the final round. Hodges became the first left-handed guitar player to claim the national title in the 36-year history of the event. He is also the first flat picking champion from the state of Alabama, and, at 17-years old, he is the second youngest winner ever (second only to Mark O'Connor). Carl Miner of Austin, Texas was second and Roy Curry of Hixson, Tenn., finished third. Both are previous winners of the contest.  Dillon is also a featured artist in Sept./Oct. issue of  Flat Picking Guitar Magazine, a national publication published in California.

DILLON WINS INDIANA STATE TITLE

PRINCETON, Ind. --  Dillon Hodges won the 2007 Indiana State Flatpicking Guitar championship on Sept. 1 at the Gibson County Fairgrounds. Hodges won the competition with his arrangements of Red Haired Boy and Beaumont Rag. He also combined with fiddler Olivia Smiley and mandolin player Solly Burton, both Indiana natives, to win the Indiana State Bluegrass Band title. After backing up numerous competitors throughout the two-day event, Hodges was also awarded the "Best Rhythm Player" award by the festival's organizers. In all, Dillon won seven awards in the two-day event.  See Photos

DILLON PART OF KENTUCKY STATE CHAMPION BAND; TAKES THIRD IN STATE GUITAR CHAMPIONSHIPS

FALLS OF ROUGH, Ky. -- Dillon Hodges took third place in the guitar competition and was part of the state champion band at the 33rd Annual Official Kentucky State Bluegrass Championships at Rough River State Park.

On Friday, July 20, Hodges finished third in the Kentucky State Guitar Championships, finishing behind former national champion flat-picker Adam Wright and Rob Pearcy.

On Saturday, Hodges combined with fiddler Olivia Smiley of Greensburg, Ind., mandolin player Solly Burton of Sullivan, Ind., and banjo picker Will McMeans of Lester, Ala.  A blazing version of Big Mon helped the group advance to the finals where they performed Windy City and EMD to claim the title of 2007 Kentucky State Champion Bluegrass Band. 

DILLON HODGES RELEASED HIS DEBUT CD "STORMY WEATHER"  on July 14, 2007 at a release party at Cold Water Books in Tuscumbia, Ala.  The event was attended by a crowd of more than 200 that packed Cold Water to listen to live entertainment by Dillon and Ag'inst the Grain....Click Here for Pictures

DILLON HODGES CD RELEASE JULY 14

Admission to the event is free and Dillon will be performing live, along with special guests. The CD, recorded earlier this year in Nashville, includes seven original vocals, written and performed by Dillon. There are also three instrumentals and a jazz version of Autumn Leaves sung by recent Florence High School graduate Rachel Pochop.

Performing on the CD with Hodges are members of his Smokin Strings Quartet - which includes Tim May of Nashville (mandolin, dobor and guitar), Mark Evitts of Independence, Ky. (fiddle) and Brad Leiter of Summertown, Tenn. (bass).

Center stage
Local musician to perform at awards program

Published on May 10, 2007; Times Daily

Although there are no local winners, the Shoals will be center stage -- literally --Wednesday night in Montgomery as the Alabama State Council on the Arts presents its annual awards.

Opening the awards program, "Celebration of the Arts," at the Davis Theatre will be 16-year-old musician and songwriter Dillon Hodges, of Florence.

"It is such an honor that the arts council selected Dillon," said Mary Settle Cooney, executive director of the Tennessee Valley Art Association, in Tuscumbia. "He represents young up-and--coming talent, and it is so appropriate that he'll be representing our area and the youth of our state."

Hodges, a junior at Florence High School, is a Shoals-audience favorite. He started with bluegrass but went on to embrace several musical styles, including jazz, country and alternative.

He's performed at local festivals, concerts and other events as well as the Aaron's 499 race at Talladega Superspeedway. He's won several youth and adult guitar championships and recently placed second in guitar in the State of Tennessee Old-Time Fiddlers' Championships in Clarksville, Tenn.

In fact, Hodges' flat-picking style so impressed Gibson Guitar Corp. that the company put him on its list of Gibson-playing artists, making him the youngest acoustic guitarist Gibson has endorsed.

In July, Hodges will release his first CD. Recorded in Nashville, Tenn., it features four instrumentals with his band Smokin Strings Quartet and seven original songs.

At the arts-council awards program, Hodges will perform onstage for about 800 people, including legislators, arts organization representatives, artists, arts patrons, educators and community leaders.

"The program is designed to be not only a tribute to award recipients but also a showcase of Alabama performing artists," said Al Head, executive director of the Alabama arts council. "Dillon is one of the finest young artists in Alabama and one of the best guitar players in the state, period."

Members of the arts council first heard Hodges at a meeting they attended at the Tennessee Valley Art Center in Tuscumbia.

"I was so impressed by his virtuosity that we have been looking for an opportunity to present Dillon to a broader audience," Head said. "The statewide arts awards program is a perfect time to do that."

After the awards ceremony, Hodges and brother and sister Brad Leiter and Amy Leiter of Summertown, Tenn., will play at a reception at the Alabama Artists Gallery as the bluegrass and jazz trio Ag'inst the Grain -- Hodges' other band.

For the past several weeks, Hodges has been rehearsing for his parts in Florence High School's annual show-choir production -- he sang, played guitar and danced -- and finishing his CD.

But he's been thinking about the upcoming arts-council program.

"I'm really excited about it," he said. "I've done a lot of concerts before, but I don't know if I've ever done anything as prestigious as this. I might focus on my original songs and do more traditional songs -- I'm not sure. I'll just see how it goes."

He's proud to be representing the Shoals, he said, and he credits growing up in the area with some of his musical inspiration.

"There is no doubt that this area has shaped my music," he said. "The Handy Fest has been great for giving me exposure and (record producer) Rick Hall is cool. It's great that there are so many good musicians around here. I'm lucky to have grown up here. And, it's close to Nashville, so that's good, too."

He's not sure if he wants to follow fellow Shoals musicians Angela Hacker and Zac Hacker, the sister and brother who placed first and second respectively on this year's TV country-music competition "Nashville Star."

"I want to end up doing something in music, but I'm not sure what. I love studio stuff, because you can be so creative and do whatever you want. But I also like concerts. I'd love to play guitar with a musical artist or maybe write for him. I'm not totally set on being a solo performer, even though I enjoy it," he said.

"Dillon represents the future of music and the future of arts," said Cooney. "He has a native talent but he also works hard. He's committed to what he does and to quality, and that's what the arts council is about -- promoting and recognizing the highest level of Alabama arts."

DILLON TO BE FEATURED AT STATE ARTS AWARDS BANQUET

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Dillon Hodges, a junior at Florence High School, has been selected to be the featured performing arts entertainer at the  2007 Alabama State Council on the Arts Awards Program on May 16 in Montgomery.

Hodges will do a 30-minute performance at the start of the Awards program from 6:30 to 7 p.m. at the Davis Theater in Montgomery. The bi-annual event will be attended by 700-800 people, including Alabama Governor Bob Riley , state legislators, the members of the State Council on the Arts and members of the state's art community.

The Awards Program was initiated in 1980 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the arts in Alabama.

DILLON IS SECOND IN TENNESSEE STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Dillon Hodges took second place in the guitar competition at the 2007 Tennessee State Championships. Hodges, just 16-years-old, finished second in a field of 22 competitors from eight different states.  Matthew WIngate (Lacey's Spring, Ala.) won the competition, followed by Hodges and Joel Whittinghill (Bowling Green, Ky.). Hodges played "Angeline the Baker" as his competition tune and finished just two points behind Wingate in the final judging. Hodges also finished second at the 2006 Tennessee State Championships.

HODGES TO OPEN SONGWRITER'S SHOWCASE AT VON BRAUN CENTER

HUNTSVILLE -- Fifteen-year-old Shoals guitarist, singer and songwriter Dillon Hodges will open the August 11 Songwriter's Showcase at the Von Braun Center Playhouse in Huntsville.

Hodges, who began playing guitar at age 11 has won two flat-picking guitar National Championships and is the youngest acoustic guitar player ever endorsed by the Gibson Guitar Company. He performs around the Southeast with Ag'inst the Grain and the Smokin Strings Quartet.

He also began writing and performing his own songs two years ago and will perform several of his original tunes at the Showcase.

The monthly Songwriter's Showcase is set for Friday, August 11th at 6:30pm. Tables of 4 can be reserved at the VBC Box Office for only $60-$75 per table while they last. Tickets go on sale Mon., July 10th at 10am!!  Tickets will be available through www.ticketmaster.com

All seats are reserved for only $10 each.

The Showcase includes Dave Gibson, Aaron Barker, Daisy Dern and Jim Parker.

Individually they have written hits such as "Jukebox in My Mind" by Alabama, "Ships That Don't Come In" by Joe Diffie, "Easy Come, Easy Go" "Love Without End, Amen" by George Strait, "Carry Me Away" by Gordon Mote, "Chicken Truck" by John Anderson and many more!

Revved up; Local band to perform at NASCAR race

By Michelle Rupe Eubanks; Staff Writer

Dillon Hodges is giddy, not to mention nervous, excited and in a state of shock.  The 14-year-old Florence Middle School and Freshman Center student is experiencing his first NASCAR race, but not as a spectator.  Hodges and his band, Ag'inst the Grain, will be part of the festivities before the start of today's Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, before a crowd of 175,000 to 200,000.

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Teen Named a Representative of Gibson Guitars

Published on July 10, 2004; Times Daily

Dillon Hodges, at the age of 13, is just a normal kid in a lot of ways. He likes to hang out with his friends, search the music stores and surf the Internet.  But he is not just another kid -- just ask the Gibson Guitar Company. Officials there just signed him as a representative of Gibson acoustic guitars – reportedly the youngest acoustic guitarist to earn such an endorsement.

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September 25, 2004

DILLON WINS LINCOLN COUNTY BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

Dillon Hodges won his eighth flat-picking competition of 2004 on September 25 when he added the Lincoln County Bluegrass Festival guitar title to his list of accomplishments. Hodges won the competition with his arrangements of Blackberry Blossom and Beaumont Rag. Nic Andal of White House Tenn., was second and Rob Pearcy of Smyrna Tenn., was third.  Hodges will compete next at the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention in Athens, Ala., on October 2.

July 2, 2004

DILLON WINS ADULT GUITAR CONTEST IN SMITHVILLE

SMITHVILLE, Tenn. -- Just a year after winning the title of National Champion Country Music Beginner in flat top guitar at the annual Fiddler's Jamboree in Smithville, Dillon Hodges returned as a 13-year-old to win the adult guitar competition on July 2. In doing so, he became the first person in the 33-year history of the festival to
win a junior national title one year and return to win the adult competition the next year.  It was the seventh competition title for Hodges in 2004 and his his sixth win in an adult competition this year. Rob Pearcy of Smyrna, Tenn., finished second and Corey Reed of Franklin, Tenn., was third.  After winning the competition with his renditions of Blackberry Blossom and Beaumont Rag, Hodges was invited back on to the stage - prior to the 12-and-under guitar competition - in recognition of his milestone accomplishment. He then fired off his version of Sweet Georgia Brown, backed up by accompanist Lewis Taylor.

June 26, 2004

HODGES WINS INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS MUSIC MUSEUM HALL OF FAME CONTEST

OWENSBORO, Ky. -- Dillon Hodges won the guitar competition on June 26 at the International Bluegrass Music Museum's "Future Hall of Famers" competition at the River of Music Festival.  The 13-year-old Hodges won the contest - open to teens ages 13-to-19 - and then performed again on stage at Liberty Park prior to
the concert that included Ricky Skaggs, Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs.

June 6, 2004

DILLON WINS MT. JULIET BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

MT. JULIET, Tenn. -- Dillon Hodges got his fifth festival win of the year on June 5 when he won the guitar competition at the Mt. Juliet Bluegrass Festival at Charlie Daniel's Park.  Hodges played Beaumont Rag and Blackberry Blossom as his competition tunes and advanced to the finals, where he won the competition with his rendition of "Say Old Man, Can You Play the Fiddle."  Brian Roe of Colorado was second and Nick Andal of White House, Tenn., was third. In just the last five months, the 13-year-old Hodges has won adult flat-picking competitions in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Fort Payne, Ala., Pulaski, Tenn., Dayton, Tenn., and Mt. Juliet, Tenn.

May 16, 2004

HODGES WINS FOURTH FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR

DAYTON, Tenn. -- Guitarist Dillon Hodges won his fourth flat-picking title of 2004 Saturday when he claimed first place at the Tennessee Strawberry Festival Bluegrass Showdown. With accompanist Lewis Taylor, Hodges finish among the finalists for the sixth straight time. He previously won guitar competitions in Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Fort Payne, Ala. and Pulaski, Tenn., and so far in 2004 he has competed in six festivals, winning four titles, placing second in one and fourth in the other.

April 04, 2004

DILLON WINS DEKALB COUNTY TITLE

FORT PAYNE, Ala. -- Dillon Hodges won his second flat-picking title of 2004 on Friday, April 3, taking the guitar competition at the Dekalb County Fiddler's Convention.  The competition, sponsored by the Big Wills Art Council and hosted at Fort Payne Middle School, was the first of what will become an annual festival in Fort Payne.  Hodges won the competition with performances of  Blackberry Blossom and Beaumont Rag.  The judges for the competition included two-time former flat-picking national champion Roy Curry.  He had previously taken first place in the guitar competition at the 19th Annual Fiddlin' and Bluegrass Contest in Tuscaloosa in February, and he followed that with a strong fourth place finish at the Tennessee State Championships hosted in Clarksville in March.

Dillon Wins in Tuscaloosa

Published on February 25, 2004

Dillon Hodges won first place in the guitar competition at the 19th Annual Fiddlin' and Bluegrass Contest at the McFarland Mall in Tuscaloosa on February 21. Hodges played Beaumont Rag and Blackberry Blossom as his two selections in his first festival competition of 2004.  Hodges won his first guitar competition in Columbia, Tenn., in
2002 and then claimed the National Championship in Flat Top Guitar for ages 12 and under in 2003, while finishing as a finalist in numerous adult guitar competitions.

Hits and misses

Published on July 21, 2003; Times Daily

Thumbs up to 12-year-old Dillon Hodges for winning the national championship for flat-top guitar in his age division at the 32nd Annual Fiddlers Jamboree in Smithville, Tenn. The Weeden Middle School student, who has only been playing for a year and a half, also made it to the finals in the adult division before he was disqualified for being under age 13. Just wait until next year.

Boy plays his way to championship

Published on July 13, 2003; Times Daily

FLORENCE - Dillon Hodges is a national champion at the early age of 12.

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Pickin' and Grinnin'

Published on February 10, 2003; Times Daily

On any given Friday night, the stage at J Fiddler's Cafe is occupied by an interesting ensemble belting out bluegrass and Irish tunes on their fiddles and guitars.

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