I am entering 2 songwriter contests this summer

[mcmars]

I decided I would enter the Planet Bluegrass singer songwriter contest this summer in Lyons, CO in August at the Planet Bluegrass Rocky Mountain Folk Fest and then the Telluride Blues Challenge in mid September at the Telluride Blues and Brews festival. They both require 2 songs to enter.

Here are links to the 2 events below. Maybe some others here are also going and want to hook up in the campground for some fun?

The Folk Festival has a nice campground right at the main festival grounds with really fun jamming and song circles and I always enjoy the smaller 2nd stage events. The Telluride event does not have as much jamming opportunity, but it is a wonderful event with great blues artists and microbreweries.

The Telluride Blues and Brews also has 2 stages, main one is more for the bigger mostly more electric acts and big national acoustic artists. The smaller stage is a mix of the up and coming and the older more traditional acts, many that come with assistance from the Music Maker Foundation, a non profit dedicated to providing financial aid and performance opportunity to traditional roots artists.

https://bluegrass.com/folks/lineup/songwriter-showcase

https://www.tellurideblues.com/tellu...lues-challenge

https://musicmaker.org/

I recorded a song I just finished yesterday for the Blues contest called Woman Blues, it has some roots back to the classic song, Know You Rider, that is thought to be first sung by a young gal in prison in mid 1920's for murder. My song is my interpretation of how she got there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQPqWDmlzik

[Marshall]

Originally Posted by mcmars

I decided I would enter the Planet Bluegrass singer songwriter contest this summer in Lyons, CO in August at the Planet Bluegrass Rocky Mountain Folk Fest and then the Telluride Blues Challenge in mid September at the Telluride Blues and Brews festival. They both require 2 songs to enter.

Here are links to the 2 events below. Maybe some others here are also going and want to hook up in the campground for some fun?

The Folk Festival has a nice campground right at the main festival grounds with really fun jamming and song circles and I always enjoy the smaller 2nd stage events. The Telluride event does not have as much jamming opportunity, but it is a wonderful event with great blues artists and microbreweries.

The Telluride Blues and Brews also has 2 stages, main one is more for the bigger mostly more electric acts and big national acoustic artists. The smaller stage is a mix of the up and coming and the older more traditional acts, many that come with assistance from the Music Maker Foundation, a non profit dedicated to providing financial aid and performance opportunity to traditional roots artists.

https://bluegrass.com/folks/lineup/songwriter-showcase

https://www.tellurideblues.com/tellu...lues-challenge

https://musicmaker.org/

I recorded a song I just finished yesterday for the Blues contest called Woman Blues, it has some roots back to the classic song, Know You Rider, that is thought to be first sung by a young gal in prison in mid 1920's for murder. My song is my interpretation of how she got there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQPqWDmlzik

Very cool. You've got me thinking. I've got a couple nice new songs that I'm comfortable with. Maybe I'll make a quick nice recording of them and submit to the Planet Bluegrass event.

[Marshall]

OK - I made a couple mp3s of 2 new songs. Just live kitchen recordings. I paid my $20 for entry to Planet Bluegrass. I've got a little editing to do, but I'll get them in by the Friday deadline. We'll see.

In the past I've submitted to a few Songwriting Contests and only got "selected" as a finalist on one semi-local one in Wisconsin. But I've got some new material that has been well received locally (by people drinking in the bar ). I don't hold much hope, but $20 is easily departed. And I wanted to get a decent recording of the tunes now that I play them out and am familiar with them. I'd love some "validation", but realistically I have no idea of what these judges are looking for. (And the competition is stiff I expect).

The recordings were kitchen videos, so once I get them up on youtube, I'll pop a link for what it's worth.

Thanks, Marcia. I'm not a Blues player (though I enjoy the genre), so I'll leave Telluride Blues to you.

[Marshall]

OK, here's one of the songs.

[mcmars]

Originally Posted by Marshall

OK, here's one of the songs.

Very nice song Marshall. You hit a resonant note for me with that song, I used to river guide and spend some winters out in Terlingua along the lower rio grande.

Yeah the Planet Bluegrass songwriter contest is big deal and will have many pro's entering, so I am just doing it for fun and will be overjoyed if I am lucky enough to make the top 10 that get the honor of performing 2 songs on the main stage for the festival opening. And I am betting the students that attend their song school the week before might have a bit of advantage as they get to play their songs the week before in live settings and get to know the PBG staff, assuming these are same people who are the judges (?).

I got my 2 songs back from my bass player friend who helped me record and digitize the song. Here is a link and hoping it works:

https://doc-14-14-docs.googleusercon...oad&authuser=0

[Marshall]

Oops. The link didn't work.

Yes Contests are a crap shot. But it's only $10/song to enter. Cheap by any measure. They say the "finalists" will be chosen July 8, so that's before their class. But still, there are always known people who are judge's favorites before the reviews even start.

It'd be nice, but I'm not holding my breath.

PS - I was selected as a finalist in a contest about 5 years ago. The rules said that the judges would take into account professionalism and quality of playing and singing in the live performance. I drove 4 hours to the fest to perform. A local guy got up and started with the capo in the wrong place. Stopped after the first verse and apologized profusely and started over. He was nervous and didn't do well. He walked off the stage dejected and said, "I really blew that."

He had played in a local bar the night before. The judges, of course, chose him as the grand prize winner. . . ,

[Marshall]

Marcia, your link doesn't work.

I got an email from the woman collecting songs saying she received my submission. We'll know in a week if we make the cut.

[Marshall]

Well the 8th has come and gone with no notice of "winners." So, I'm pretty certain I didn't make the cut. How about you, Marcia?

Any rate, here's the second song I submitted.


I did see some "activity" on my web site, so maybe somebody checked me out a bit. But competition is overwhelming in these kinds of things.

Oh well, I saved air fare to Denver out of the deal.

[Marshall]

They made it official. They announced 10 finalists, 2 alternates, and 11 honorable mentions, none of which were me. but I got a nice “Dear John” email. 200 entrants. I was only out $20.