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| Great Lakes Song Contest As the Great Lakes Songwriting Contest opens for submissions, three of last year's winners will perform in concert on Saturday, Feb 16, at the Trinity House Theatre in Livonia, Michigan. Headliner Billy King, a singer-songwriter from Brooklyn, Michigan, won the 2007 Grand Prize for his song, "I Don't Write Love Songs." Jordan Keller, of Vicksburg, won first place with "My Brother's Hymn." Roger MacNaughton, a jazz pianist from Ada, won both second and third prizes respectively for "Samba for a Rainy Afternoon" and "Charlevoix Keepsake, " two instrumental compositions. The theater is located at 38840 W. Six Mile, just west of I-275 in Livonia. Doors open at 7:30 pm and the concert starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance and at the door. Reservations can be made by phone at (734) 464.6302 or on-line at www.trinityhouse.org. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Great Lakes Songwriting Contest is celebrating its fifth year of operations with a lower entry fee and a larger Grand Prize. It will honor the best original music of the Great Lakes region with eleven prizes in 2008. The Grand Prize is $2, 000 cash, plus a free songwriting weekend retreat and a chance to headline next year's Winners' Concert. Songs can be entered by mail or on-line through Sonic Bids. Entries must be postmarked on or before April 25, 2008. More information is available at the website, www.GreatLakesSongs.com. Concert headliner Billy King taught himself to play guitar while being home-schooled on his family's organic farm in southeast Michigan. He began performing while still a pre-teen after he and his younger brother, Kenny, formed the King Brothers band. Their first release was a recording of Elvis cover songs, called "The King Brothers Play the King." Since then, Billy King has released five albums of mostly original material. Along with the Grand Prize-winning song, King was also a finalist in the 2007 Great Lakes Songwriting Contest for "Can't Stop the Learning." Billy now plays throughout Michigan and beyond, solo and with his band, the Idylls. Jordan Keller's describes the writing of "My Brother's Hymn" as taking "… dozens of re-writes, eight (maybe even ten) white-knuckled trips back to the studio … laced with all the self-loathing, self-doubt, and discouragement you would expect from a 20-year-old college student." Keller is a sophomore at the University of Michigan. A self-taught musician, Keller's talents on guitar, piano and banjo are coupled with a Swiss Army knife collection of instruments including harmonica, glockenspiel, accordion, violin, and the occasional wine glass filled with water. He also plays forward for U-M's Wolverines Club Hockey team. He was also a finalist in the 2007 Great Lakes Songwriting Contest for his song, "The Riverbanks." Ten of the compositions by virtuoso jazz pianist Roger MacNaughton have been recognized in both the 2006 and 2007 Great Lakes Songwriting Contests. His repertoire ranges from straight-ahead jazz, such as his 2007 second-place winner "Samba for a Rainy Afternoon, " to popular/new age compositions like his 2007 third-place winner, "Charlevoix Keepsake." The latter song, from MacNaughton's "Winter Canvas" release, was also named Best Composition in the USA by the International Music Aid Awards 2006 and was the January winner in the 2007 Song of the Year competition. He is also a wonderful performer. As the director of the Lowell Area Arts Council said after a recent performance, "The audience was spellbound! Whether performing sumptuous piano originals or engaging everyone's attention with stories about the pieces, Roger MacNaughton's exquisitely composed songs deserve their multiple awards and the ovation following his soaring performance …." MacNaughton will be accompanied by bassist Charlie Hoats, who has played or recorded with many jazz greats, including Marcus Roberts and Michael Brecker. The Great Lakes Songwriting Contest is the creation of a group of southeast Michigan songwriters, with sponsorship by four independent music companies from the Great Lakes region: Elderly Instruments of Lansing (MI), The CD Seller of Minneapolis; Lamb's Retreat for Songwriters of Royal Oak (MI), and The Songbridge of Ontario, Canada. Through a new partnership with SonicBids, the contest now offers on-line entries, as well as mail-in entries. The contest is approved by the Better Business Bureau. Interested persons can contact the contest organizers by e-mail at michigansongwriters@juno.com. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |