The 2019 International Songwriting Competition closed recently and quite a few Canadians, including some local artists, got accolades for their fabulous work.
There's also People's Voice award in almost every category that's voted on by the public so here's your change to help out some area artists. Deadline is April 3, 2018.
The only local 1st place winner was Hamilton's Lava Dollswho took the top spot of the Unsigned Only category. As a result, they'll be getting musical gear, CD duplication, free music distribution and more. They also received honourable mentions in Folk/Singer-Songwriter and Unpublished categories.
The big winner was also from Canada. Manitoba's Matt Epp ft Faouzia won the Grand Prize. They'll gain $25,000 (US), recording time, CD duplication, musical gear and much more.
We all know there's world-class music in our own backyard but now the world is aware too thanks to the prestigious International Songwriting Competition. After thousands of submissions, many deserving local musicians were chosen as semi-finalists.
Kitchener's Alysha Brilla has her song Immigrant in two categories:Unsigned and Lyrics. JD Yanik, also from Kitchener, is up for best Latin tune with Ganas De TÃ
Brantford's Benjamin Rogers was listed for three tracks: Pendulum (Instrumental), Move Ben Move (Teen) and Wayfarer (Teen).
Cambridge boy (who now resides in Kitchener) Robbie Hancock has his song, Into The Bright (co-written by Andy Gabrys) in the running for the folk category.
Dundas songstress, Maggie Szabo has two songs in the Pop/Top 40 category: Tragedy (co-written by w Lee Miles) plus Tidal Waves And Hurricanes (co-written by Andrew Allen)
Hamilton's Steve Strongman continues to rack up the kudos for his incredible work. His duet with Suzie Vinnick, Leaving (co-written by Rob Szabo) has landed him a spot as one of the finalists in the International Songwriting Competition (Blues category). He will be up against musicians from around the world including Canadian blues performers 24th Street Wailers, Layla Zoe, and Bob Tunnoch. Good luck Steve!
25 Places - Tim Lothar (Denmark)
Devil In Me - Oli Brown (England)
Don't Blow My Cover - William Troiani, Haykon Haye, Ian F. Johannessen, Alexander Pettersen(Norway)
High Gas Prices - William Morganfield - Big Bill Morganfield (Stone Mountain, GA,)
How Long To Heal - Nicolas Toussaint (France)
I'm So Shallow - Darren Watson (New Zealand) Leaving - Steve Strongman, Rob Szabo (Hamilton, ON) Let's Get Crazy - Layla Zoe, Henrik Freischlader (Montreal, QC)
Longtime - Ash Grunwald (Australia)
Love Spell - Teeny Tucker, Robert Hughes (Columbus, OH)
Nothin' In Your House - Gina DeLuca (Baltimore, MD) On A Mission - Lindsay Beaver (24th Street Wailers) (Toronto, ON) She's Trouble - Bob Tunnoch (Toronto, ON)
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FOLK/SINGER-SONGWRITER
Be Kind To Boston - Thomas Smith - An Atlas to Follow (Knoxville, TN)
Before My Time - J. Ralph (New York, NY)
Blood And Bone - Wes Carr (Buffalo Tales), Eric Silver (Australia)
Burning Daylight - Sam Eliot (England)
Dreams And Country Lanes - Russell Joslin (England)
Festival Song - Tim Easton (Nashville, TN)
Fire Escape - Matthew Mayfield, John Paul White (Birmingham, AL)
Golden Hearts - Teejay Terblanche (Black Handed Kites) (South Africa)
Happiness Comes In A Box - Joshua Hanson (Yellow Red Sparks) (Yellow Pine, ID)
Hell And Back - J. Ralph (New York, NY)
Hit Me With Your Heart - Sam Buckingham (Australia)
Jesus Was A Rollin' Stone - Tony Villiers (Ireland)
Mercy - Ben Kyle (Minneapolis, MN)
Monsters With Misdemeanors - Joshua Hanson (Yellow Red Sparks) (Yellow Pine, ID)
One Little River - Clare Bowditch (Australia)
The Calendar - Kara Francavillo (Nola Wren) (New York, NY) Tinman - Andy Brown (Fredericton, NB)
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AMERICANA
All I Recall - Catherine Britt (Australia)
Audrey's Song - Harry Hookey (Australia)
Circus Comes To Town - Sara Petite (San Diego)
Collide With Me - Rebecca Haviland (Mamaroneck, NY)
Dangers Of The Night - Matt Ellis (Australia)
I Can't Stop Thinking About You - Marshall Chapman (Spartanburg, SC)
La La Blues - Pokey LaFarge (St. Louis, MO)
Learn Those Lessons - Kieran Glasgow (Australia)
Love Inside A Jar - David Garnham - (Australia)
Not In Kansas Anymore - Jokull Jonsson (Iceland)
Pieces Of My Mind - Philip Beach (Southbury, CT)
Roots - Brandon Clark (Cumming, GA,)
Sally Bones - Catherine Britt (Australia)
The Devil Drives - Stuart Earl (England)
When You're Dreamin' - Ed Romanoff, Josh Ritter (Brooklyn, NY) You Might Come Around - Dale Boyle (Dorval, QC, Canada)
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COUNTRY
Anonymous - Rachel Honza (Nederland, TX)
Bone Dry - Marc Christian and J.C. Andersen (Brother Slade), Victoria Shaw (Franklin, TN)
Car That Runs - Lisa Torres, Karleen Watt (Nashville, TN)
Classic Rock And Jesus - Jon D'Agostino, Jason Eustice, Adam Searan (Holmdel, NJ)
Cold October - Savannah Berry, Zac Maloy, Kevin Griffin (Houston, TX)
Coming Home - Paul Cowderoy, David Carter, Jane E Robertson (Australia)
Find A Way To Fly - Bill DiLuigi, Mark Carson (Nashville, TN)
He Said - Tiffany Kuenzi, Liz Rose, Keith Follese, Adrian Follese (Silverton, OR)
Home - Troy Cassar-Daley (Australia)
I Wish I Could Hate You - Jaylene Johnson, Heather Longstaffe, Wendy Wills (Winnipeg, MB)
I'm A Dreamer - Lee Bowman, Paula Bowman, Julian Sammut, Simon Ross, Jason McCoy - Jetty Road (Australia)
It Gets To Me - Kirsty Akers (Australia)
Prove You Wrong - Chelsea Gill (Grand Ledge, MI)
The Suitcase - Liz Hengber, James Dean Hicks, Anthony Smith (Franklin, TN) This Ain't A Love Song - Denis Dufresne and Lynae Dufresne (Pear), Bryan Wayne (Calgary, AB)
Wings - Brad Cunningham (Columbia, MO)
As part of the Toronto area Johnny Max Band, Hamilton's own Jesse O'Brien added his usual flair to their newest CD, It's a Long Road.
As a result of the great job Johnny, Jesse and the gang did, the disc was nominated for both a 2011 Juno and Indie award. The lead off track, Daddy'sLittle Girl (co-written by Jesse) won the International Songwriting Competition (blues category).
All these accolades are well deserved as It's a Long Road is an incredible release. The band show great versatility - handling blues, funk, rock, R&B, soul and rock with tremendous talent. One song, they get you grooving and the next they have you basking in a slow number.
The CD is available at their live shows and as a download on iTunes.
Below is the promo video for the album.
These next videos are live performances of the songs from the CD at a recent Royal Botanical Gardens event. We'll be posting more footage from this show later.
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