Meet the Candey Songwriting Scholarship Recipients
The Oregon Bluegrass Association scholarship committee was tasked with a difficult decision-making process as we received a handsome amount of worthy applications! After weeks of discussion, the three winners were announced on May 23rd for the 2026 Candey Songwriting Scholarships. Let us introduce you to the recipients ~
Jessilyn Brinkerhoff
Jessily grew up surrounded by bluegrass music played in her rural home in the Southern Oregon mountains. Family lore tells her that her grandfather played mandolin (her dad lets her play it every once and awhile) and her parents still play and perform bluegrass together to this day. Jessily grew up hearing her dad play the dobro that he would go on to tour and perform in contests with. Banjo, bass and guitar were also staples around the kitchen table and band practices were held in the living room.
Jessilyn shares that songwriting allows her to take the musical language she grew up with and reshape it into something personal and expressive. She’s always loved bringing fresh life to old standards and traditional forms, and songwriting gives the opportunity to step beyond interpretation and into creation.
Jessilyn’s goals as a songwriter are to foremost to develop a body of original work that reflects both her roots in traditional acoustic music and her evolving voice as a contemporary artist. She want to write songs that feel timeless in theme while still sounding fresh in melody and arrangement.
A primary challenge is balancing performance, visual art, and music creation. As an artist who also works in murals and visual storytelling, Jessilyn’s creative energy is often divided across multiple disciplines. While these practices inform one another, they can also compete for focused time and attention. Jessilyn plans to overcome these obstacles by intentionally carving out more protected time for songwriting practice and by expanding my instrumental skill set. Learning mandolin or guitar would help me more fully develop ideas independently and support a more complete songwriting process.
This scholarship will directly address her current obstacle of limited dedicated time for songwriting by financially supporting a week at Miles of Music — stepping out of her day to day workload and focusing deeply on developing skills as both a songwriter and musician. She plans to leave with a strong bank of new songs created in a focused, collaborative environment, and return with material she can continue refining and developing into a cohesive series for her band.
Tony Fuentes
Tony’s journey into music hasn’t been a straight line. It has been shaped by detours, community, and a steady pull toward storytelling. He started as a kid growing up in the south; singing, picking things out by ear, and eventually studying at Berklee College of Music. There, he learned the technical language of music, but what stayed with him is that music is a way of telling the truth. The kind that feels lived-in and honest.
Tony performed professionally on a full time a basis for almost a decade. After that, music ran alongside a career in public policy and consulting. It remained something he returned to when I needed clarity or connection. Tony now teaches K–12 music at Trout Lake School, where he sees every day how music creates belonging and builds confidence. Whether it’s a young student finding their singing voice or a middle schooler writing their first song, those moments reinforce that music is something we use to understand ourselves and each other. As a teacher, songwriting is directly connected to Tony’s work. He sees how powerful it is when students realize they can create something original and that their voice matters. Growing as a songwriter allows him to better support them in taking creative risks and telling their own stories.
One of the biggest challenges Tony facies as a songwriter is time and the life transition that’s reshaped it. Most of his energy goes to his students, and songwriting often gets pushed to the margins. Opportunities that would help Tony grow—workshops, lessons, and songwriting retreats—are harder to access right now due to discretionary income limitations. Support from this scholarship will help Tony remove key barriers—giving access to instruction and the ability to use his limited time away from the classroom with purpose. It will keep him moving forward as a songwriter at a time when continuing to grow feels both necessary and deeply personal.
Bonnie MacDonald
Bonnie grew up as one of 8 children, born to unconventional church musicians. Music was a part of her life for as long as she can remember. Her tiny church choir evolved into the MacDonald Family Singers. At 16, Bonnie’s family got a bus, fixed it up into a camper, and started touring the US. They brought over 20 instruments and performed a variety show for churches, playing in many different configurations (including a bluegrass ensemble and a trombone quintet!). Bonnie wrote several songs during this time.
Following turbulant life transition at 21, Bonnie found herself playing guitar in an all-women’s bluegrass band in Eugene, Opal Creek, which was a great musical outlet and created connections that have lasted to this very day. She then attended nursing school, and started working in critical care, where she began to be exposed to death in a very practical way. In the last decade, music has helped Bonnie heal from many broken ties and sorrows. The connections she’s made with people playing in living rooms, jamming at festivals, and performing on stages have offered not only a musical outlet but shoulders to cry on, hugs for comfort, and good souls to celebrate victories with.
Bonnie’s goals as a songwriter are to write more and to share the music she’s written. Bonnie’s written about 25 songs over the last 6 years and would love to hire someone to help her record a few of them and release them to share with people. With the scholarship, she will be able to purchase several books about song writing, including The Artist’s Way, by Cameron, and go on a solo trip where she can write in the dark in the woods with a guitar.
