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| Reverend Zen Receives Finalist Kudos From Unisong Contest The multi-award winning rock/jazz/blues group Reverend Zen has just received two Finalist Awards from the 12th annual Unisong International Song Contest in California for their songs "Boy Genius" and "My Sigmund Freud". "Boy Genius", Reverend Zen's slamming ode of a larger than life prodigy, was named a Finalist in the Jazz/Blues Category of this year's Unisong Contest. "My Sigmund Freud", the band's rocking tales of a humorous psychotic and his psychiatrist, received Finalist accolades in the Specialty Category of the awards. Unisong remarks, "Everything on these songs is tight with good writing and great performances. These guys can play." This marks the second consecutive year that Reverend Zen has been honored by a prestigious panel of Unisong judges, made up of music industry professionals including A&R heads, executives, publishers, recording artists, songwriters and record producers. Last year's 2007-08 contest saw the genre stretching group's "Magdalena" and "Bad Attitude" receive Finalist Awards in Unisong's Lyric and Jazz/Blues Category respectively. The Unisong International Song Contest was established in 1997 in Los Angeles by music industry veteran's David Stark, Brett Perkins and Alan Roy Scott. The event is presently headed Mr. Scott, a Grammy Award winner whose resume includes staff writer for EMI Music and Motown Records, and whose songs have been recorded by everyone from Cyndi Lauper and Stevie Wonder to Cher. With its inception Unisong has grown to become one of the largest and most respected songwriting contests in the world. This year's Unisong Contest received thousands of entries from four continents and ninety countries including the U.S., Denmark, the U.K., Australia, Germany, Iceland, France, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Singapore, Spain, Japan, China and New Zealand. Two thousand nine has also seen Reverend Zen receive a 2008-09 Artist of the Year Nomination and seven Finalist Awards from ABC Radio Network's Fame Games Effigy Awards in Costa del Sol, Spain. Preceding those honors the band received 2008's Golden Wave Artist of the Year Award in Denver, along with Best Song Nominations from the 2008 Los Angeles Music Awards for "Her Love" and the 2008 Toronto Exclusive Magazine Awards for "Bad Attitude". In 2007, after receiving four Best Song Nominations for "Dangerous Times", "Don't Try to Tell Me", "Bad Attitude" and "The Boston Shakedown", Reverend Zen was named 2007 Artist of the Year by the Los Angeles Music Awards in Hollywood. The period also saw the band named 2007 Artist of the Year by WCH Radio in St. Louis, as bandleader-songwriter Jack Evans received 2007-08 and 2008-09 ASCAP Plus Awards in New York. In early 2008 Reverend Zen's "The Boston Shakedown" received five Finalist Awards, going on to be named 2007-08 Song of the Year by ABC Radio's Fame Games Effigy Awards, again in Europe. Two thousand eight also brought Reverend Zen Finalist accolades from France's 100% Song Contest in Paris for "Dangerous Times". Along the way the group received four Semi Finalist Awards from 2008's Australia Song Contest in Sydney and 2008's U.K. Song Contest in London. In 2006 the band took home 5 Runner Up Awards, with "Dangerous Times" named a 2006 Finalist in the VH-1 Song of the Year Contest in Houston. They ended the year as recipients of RGW Radio's 2006 Bronze Artist Award in Norfolk, U.K. Additionally Reverend Zen has received multiple awards from the Billboard World Song Contest in New York, the Mid Atlantic Song Contest in Washington, D.C. and the U.K.'s Singer-Songwriter Awards in London. Over the past three years Mr. Evans and Reverend Zen has received fifty-four music industry awards from around the world. All of Reverend Zen's award winning songs are from the band's debut cd Angels, Blues & the Crying Moon. The release features a stellar group of musicians who've performed with John Mayer, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, David Sanborn, Annie Lennox, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion, B.B. King, Donald Fagen, Shawn Colvin, John Scofield, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Elvis Costello and Paul Schaeffer. Since the CD's release Reverend Zen has received air play and coverage in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Japan. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Jazz News :: home page |