Entries are now being sought in the 2019 Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest that is held in conjunction with the annual Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival, May 17-19, in Richardson, Texas, just a few minutes north of Dallas.
Singer-songwriters who perform in the acoustic, Americana, blues, Celtic, country, rock, indie, or pop genres are invited to submit recorded songs (two per $20 entry) in mp3 format via email. The application deadline is March 1. Only the first 300 submissions will be accepted.
Using a blind-screening process, a panel of judges will choose ten finalists to perform two songs each on the Singer-Songwriter Stage during the 27th annual event that is billed as North Texas’ largest music festival. The ten finalists, who will be notified by April 16, will compete for cash prizes and be judged based equally on the quality and presentation of their songs. The first-place grand-prize winner will receive $1,000 plus two full consecutive days of recording at Audio Dallas Recording Studio and a travel allowance, while both the second-place and Michael Troy People’s Choice Award winners will each receive $500. All performing finalists will receive festival passes for themselves and a guest, lodging, green room access for food and beverages, and the opportunity to perform solo sets on the festival’s Courtyard Stage. The winners will also be featured in a spotlight round on Sunday afternoon.
Last year’s winners were Eric Bettencourt (Austin, TX), Kristen Granger (Salem, OR), Brian Pounds (Austin, TX), and Kyle Donovan (Boulder, CO).
Recordings submitted must be representative of the artist’s live performance and include only one instrument, the songwriter’s vocal and no backup harmonies. Produced recordings and instrumental songs will not be accepted. Although co-written songs are acceptable, only one of the songwriters may submit an application and perform the song on the recording. Submitted songs must have been written after December 2017 and not exceed five minutes in length. For more information and detailed contest rules, visit http://www.wildflowerfestival.com/songwriter-contest/.
Feb. 28 is Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition Entry Deadline
First reported on AcousticMusicScene.com last December [http://acousticmusicscene.com/2018/12/02/2019-kerrville-new-folk-competition-opens/], entries also are now being accepted for the 2019 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters, to be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 25 and 26, 2019, during the first weekend of the 48th Annual Kerrville Folk Festival in the Texas Hill Country near Austin and San Antonio. The first 800 entries postmarked or submitted online by February 28 will be judged, and 32 finalists will be named in April.
Six songwriters will be chosen as 2019 New Folk Award Winners after performing, along with the 26 other finalists, at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds. A Kerrville New Folk Award Winners concert is slated for Sunday, June 2.
Official guidelines, along with entry information and forms, are posted at www.kerrville-music.com/new-folk.
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