John Pape Online Blog

Here are some songwriting contests you may be interested in participating….

It’s The John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Not The John Lennon Enunciation Contest
16-year-old Eliza Callahan got a nice surprise on Good Day New York when she learned that she took the top prize in this year’s John Lennon Songwriting Contest. (She becomes the youngest winner since the contest began in 1997.) On hand as the already-declared winner in the Rock category, she performed her winning “Bridge Song,” an swinging, jazzy romp with an itchy walking bassline and solid energy throughout. It’s not a bad little song.
Keep reading …

“Platinum Hit” — “The Winner Takes it All” — Finale Highlights
The assignment for the week? To write the hit of their lives. No predetermined subject, no finished track, not even a Hook Challenge. Instead, Sonyae, Jes and Scotty get writing tips from hit writer Evan “Kidd” Bogart and production help from J.R. Rotem (Rihanna, Britney Spears.) A full backup band and backing vocalists are provided for the Final 3 when they perform their songs in front of music industry insiders, families, the jury made up of Jewel, Kara DioGuardi, RCA/Jive’s Keith Naftaly and guest judge Leona Lewis, and the eliminated contestants.
Keep reading …

Showcasing North Bay songwriting talent (Petaluma, CA)
The West Coast Songwriters North Bay Competition Playoffs is set to be a night of fresh, original music by up-and-coming musicians. Ten winners of the monthly West Coast Songwriters North Bay Competition are ready to compete for the “Song of the Year” title in the playoffs to be held Wednesday, Aug. 10 at the Mystic Theatre. For the past 20 years, the West Coast Songwriters Association has hosted a competition designed to not only showcase the best songwriting talent, but also to offer support and advice from musicians in the industry as well as networking opportunities.
Read more …

Songwriting contest’s deadline approaching (Bend, OR)
The deadline to enter the Dave Carter Memorial Song writing Contest will close Sunday. Contestants can submit up to three songs to be judged for originality, uniqueness, structure, prosity (the fit of lyrics and music) and memorability. Finalists will perform a 15-minute set to determine a winner. The contest winner will be selected mid-August and will perform a short set at the Sisters Folk Festival. The winner will also be invited to perform at the 2012 Sisters Folk Festival. Finalists will receive two nights lodging, meal vouchers and one all-event pass to the festival.
Keep reading …

Ann Hampton Callaway, Neil Sedaka, et al. to Judge Songwriting Competition
The Concerts at Tudor City Greens is sponsoring a songwriting contest of songs celebrating New York’s parks and green spaces, and the different roles they play in the lives of New Yorkers. THe jury will incude: Neil Sedaka, Amanda McBroom, Ann Hamton Callaway, Michael John LaChiusa, David Friedman, and Matt Parillo.
Keep reading …

Technorati Tags: song contest, Songwriting

C104SCE CLASSICAL GUITAR Meticulously designed to provide comfortable, easy playing for all styles, the C104 now comes standard with the B-Band™ A3 preamp. Featuring a solid cedar top and rosewood sides and back, the C104SCE has a rich, distinctive full-bodied tone. Washburn craftsmanship makes this cutaway model a favorite of classical artists, novice and expert alike.

Read These Reviews

Technorati Tags: C104SCE, Guitar, washburn

Someone named Richard W submitted a question to a songwriting forum:

“How do you deal with self doubt as a songwriter?”

Good question. It is something all creative people face.

First, let’s take a look at some of our great creative types and their battles with self doubt:

The famous painter Agnes Martin said: “An artist is the one who can fail and fail and still go on.”

The writer John Keats said just before he died, “I have left no immortal work behind me—nothing to make my friends proud of my memory.”

“A bad word from a colleague can darken a whole day,” Orson Welles once told Peter Bogdanovich. “We need encouragement a lot more than we admit, even to ourselves.”

Do these feelings go away once you achieve success or recognition? Let’s take a look:

The first time legendary jazz drummer Gene Krupa played Carnegie Hall, he said, “I never expected to get into Carnegie Hall…I never even expected to get into the front door, let alone come through the back door the way all the really great artists have.”

Jazz trumpeter Harry James, also when playing Carnegie Hall for the first time said, “I feel like a whore in church.”

After returning from his first tour of England and France in 1933, the legendary Duke Ellington said, “If they think I’m that important, then maybe I have kinda said something, maybe our music does mean something.”

Leonardo da Vinci said, “That painter who has no doubts will achieve little.”

So here’s the thing songwriters:

Doubt, while scary, is normal. Realizing it is normal can be a freeing experience. Take comfort in the fact that – as long as you are attempting to create something (i.e. working hard) – self doubt will come, and the more you push yourself the more that doubt may creep to the surface. That means you are on the right track. You are following in the footsteps of the great ones.

Songs come from a place that can’t be described logically. When an interviewer asks famous songwriters how they write songs, they often respond with jokes, or how they just let go and let the song come to them.

You see, anything creative comes from that un-explainable place, from the muse. Since it is mysterious and illogical, all you can do is channel that spirit and have faith. Yes, faith. That is how you combat the creative self-doubt.

Learn to build faith in your creative process. It is a daily, lifelong process. Think of it like yoga, a martial art, or anything that takes a lifetime to master.

It’s a practice of faith for what you believe in – that magic combination that brings together the song.

Technorati Tags: Songwriting