Thursday, November 5, 2009

DSA E-News #101 November 2009

Hello Songwriter,

Guess it's time for smashing pumpkins. I hope everyone had a great Fall Festival, October Fest, or Halloween.

Here's what's happening in a nutshell:

The SongSwap Workshops are evolving into small neighborhood workshops as a grass roots movement. Since our membership is so logistically vast, we hope to bring these educational workshops close to you to give you more opportunities to participate. Please take advantage of these small groups. The most recent addition at Tino's in Plano was well attended. Our staple at White Rock is still active. A new one is starting in Waxahachie in January. Please email DSA or talk to a board member if you'd like to start one in your neighborhood.

Our annual membership meeting is at the November 2nd Tuesday meeting. Also, I will present the Ultimate Songwriting Checklist as a short program. We'll also, have the drawing at the meeting this coming Tuesday of our Arlington Guitar Show visitors sign in sheet for a free membership.

Third Thursday in November we are celebrating our big FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION at the Dunn Brothers Open Mic. Thanks to Craig St. Clair for being a great range tender. DON'T MISS THIS CELEBRATION.

Deadline for submissions to showcase at the Folk Alliance is coming up November 19th. For more details go to events. http://songwriterevents.blogspot.com/

Last issue's feature article was about our 2008 Best Songs of The Meeting Winner, Ray Phillips. Those of you who are still attached to paper can download a pdf hard copy of the Oct 2009 Songwriters Notes with 2008 best songs of the meeting winners announced. Also, it has the last two Lyric contest winning songs listed:
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=1520070&da=y

QUICK LOOK CALENDAR OF DSA MONTHLY EVENTS - put this in your bookmark.

http://calendar.yahoo.com/dallassongwriters

I hope to see you at the meeting Tuesday or our big 5th anniversary event at Dunn Brothers.

Songcerely,
Barbe McMillen
Founding President Emeritus
Editor, Songwriters Notes
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ATTENTION ARTISTS AND COMPOSERS !!
NOW YOUR MUSIC CAN BE HEARD WORLDWIDE !!


DIAMOND BACK compilations are distributed to country radio worldwide every two months. Diamond Back came into existance in January 2006 and is highly accepted by radio stations. Many of the songs appearing on our compilations have made both U.S. and international charts, giving deserved recognition. If you have songsyou feel are air-worthy, we welcome your material for review. For only $100 per song, you will receive a million dollars worth of exposure on our Diamond Back Compilations.
WE WILL NEED THE FOLLOWING FOR REVIEW: Your name, mailing address and email adderess. Titles of your songs, name of writer and, if published, name of the publisher. We need to know if you are affiliated with BMI or ASCAP. All songs must be submitted on CD format. Genre of music may be country, gospel or middle of the road. The singer may be you or another artist. Dust off your material and mail it to us. Lets get your songs to radio stations for the world to hear.
B. Jeff Stone, CEO

Diamond Back Records Of Texas
725 SE County Road 3122
Corsicana, Tx. 75109
EMAIL: bjeffstone@att.net
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1. 2009 SONG CONTEST - OPENING FOR SUBMISSIONS

Http://www.dsasongcontest.blogspot.com

Submissions begin on November 15th by mail, You will be able to upload your songs online via Sonicbids.com and Broadjam.com

We are still looking for committee members to help with the 2009 song contest. Reply to this email.

2008 SONG CONTEST - WINNERS

Compare your songs against our winners last year.
http://www.dallassongwriters.com/songcontest/2008/2008winners.htm

Here is winning songs in a series of three podcasts at:
http://www.dallassongwriters.podomatic.com
2008 SEMIFINALISTS
http://www.dallassongwriters.org/semifinalists.htm

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2. SONGS FROM THE SOUL OF SERVICE
http://www.songssoulservice.org


The Cd of the winning songs, Songs From the Soul of Service Vols. 1 & 2 are available online at: http://store.kagi.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?storeID=7TE_LIVE&page=SSS4

If you missed the concert, you can catch the Tribute to our fallen soldiers from DFW at our Podomatic site:

You Know Me Tribute to Fallen

URL: http://dallassongwriters.podOmatic.com/entry/2009-05-21T21_14_44-07_00


Read the latest story about this years winners
http://songssoulservice.blogspot.com/

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3. DSA MEETINGS

MONTHLY MEETING - http://www.dallassongwriters.com/meetingblog.htm

2nd Tuesday - NOVEMBER 10

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING & ELECTIONS


Barbara McMillen will present THE ULTIMATE POP SONGWRITING CHECKLIST

BARBARA MCMILLEN Associate Professor of Songwriting at Collin College's Commercial Music Department is also the founder of the Dallas Songwriters Association. More about Barbara on myspace.com. http://www.myspace.com/barbaramcmillen


Sign in & Netowrking begins at 6:30
Announcements & Membership Meeting at 7PM
Guest Speaker 7:45
Critiques will follow:


Have any suggestions? What kind of programs would you like?

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DSA T-SHIRTS $10 at the meeting (you must ask me for the special) or online by mail $15

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Songwriting, Song Swap Workshops

http://www.dallassongwriters.org/2009/10/song-swap-workshops.html


White Rock Coffee in East Dallas. http://www.wrcoffee.com/ We had a great meeting with Bob Paterno & Jame Pappas coordinating. We're scheduled at this venue through the end of the year.

PLANO - Tino's at Collin Creek Mall on the 3rd Monday- Anna Terry will be coordinating this one.
Tinos Mexican Restaurant Collin Creek Mall, Plano, Tx 972 2572

WAXAHACHIE - Starting in January, Sharon Pisor will host a SongSwap on the 2nd Monday.

Are you interested in meeting in the Midcities? Let us know. Coordinator, Karon High would like to meet in Euless.

The Directors feel that DSA can support a number of these small area Song Swaps which are beneficial to attaining crucial feedback for developing your works in progress and as Annie Benjamin pointed out, works best in small groups of 10 or less. If you live in a suburb and would like to host one in your area, please reply to the group and ask for interested attendees in your area. Three people make a group for peer review or interested co-writers. I know several people who have attended the Song Swap in the past have developed beneficial co-writing relationships.

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4. SHOWCASES & OPEN MICS -
http://www.dallassongwriters.org/showcasesblog.htm

OPEN MICS

5th Anniversary Celebration on November 19th.
DUNN BROTHERS COFFEE HOUSE -
EVERY 3RD THURSDAY - 7:00pm to 9:00pm


TEXAS SONGWRITERS IN THE ROUND at Hilltop Cafe, Castell, Tx 76831
Texas Songwriters in the Round is beginning its 10th year of songwriters series.
We are currently meeting at the Hill Top Cafe on Hwy 87 9 miles north of Fredericksburg, Tx.

The Showcase is every 3rd Wednesday with our Star.
The group also meets every wednesday on the patio for songwriters support, performance and sharing.
512-217-4596

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5. LYRIC CONTEST - SPRING WINNERS ANNOUNCED

FINALISTS

The Rider by David McElhinney
Just For One Day by Amy Ralmuto
We Are The Banksters by Eddie Becker

VIEW WINNERS, LYRICS & COMMENTS AT WEBLINK BELOW

SUMMER ENTRIES ARE CURRENTLY BEING JUDGED

LYRICISTS GAIN RECOGNITION THROUGH COMPETITION

Next Lyric Contest Deadline is Sept 8th, 2009 for Summer Lyric Contest
Entry fee is $10
Please see lyric contest webpage for details.
http://www.dallassongwriters.org/lyriccontestblog.htm
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6. MEMBER NEWS -

Dear DSA member,

Your attendance is requested at our annual membership meeting coming up this November (11/10/09). We will be electing the DSA Board of Directors for 2010 at this meeting. See details below!


DSA ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Date: Tuesday November 10, 2009
Time: 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Location: Center For Community Cooperation
Street: 2900 Live Oak @ Liberty
City State Zip: Dallas, TX 75204
Phone: 214 762-1613 Barbe's cell
Notes: Nominations and Elections for 2010 Board of Directors.
Please RSVP, since food will be provided.

We are always looking for dedicated members to serve on our Board of Directors or as a committee member. Our committees include: Membership, Song Contest, Lyric Contest, Workshops, Critiques, Meetings, Marketing, Finance, fund raising, sponsorship, public relations. You can join this list of committee members by volunteering.

Best regards,
Bob Paterno


If you are not a DSA Member, you missed these tips sent out through our yahoo group:

* Publisher looking for Childrens songs

* Artists/Producers looking for original material for recording artists

* Major Brand X (To be disclosed at a later time) Seeks Independent artist for music campaign.

* Where to get your cd reviewed

* Music related job listing

* Cheap and free tickets

There are three committee seats open.
Vacant - Coordinator Song Swap Workshops
* Coordinators may open neighborhood workshops
Vacant - Librarian, workshops
Vacant - Monthly Meeting Critiques- runs the A&R at the meetings.

Please contact Steve Sullivan, sullarch at verizon dot net, to express your interest in serving.


To view a list of the 2009 Officer & Directors and Committees go to this link:
http://dsadirectors.blogspot.com/


WELCOME NEW MEMBERS: Geoffrey Kern, Don Wall, & Scott Fant , Dave Sanchez, Brook Malouf, John Nitzinger, Jay Mince, Janie Stephens, Mike & Mark Stitts, Geoff Kern, George Ross, Rod Ballou, Stephen Blackwell
THANK YOU FOR RENEWING YOUR MEMBERSHIP:Bill Honker, Dave Dalton, Buck Morgan, Mary Guthrie, Annie Cornelius, Steve Sullivan, Craig St. Clair, Will Brown

TIME TO RENEW: The following members owe dues:


THESE FOLKS HAVE BEEN DROPPED FROM THE MEMBER YAHOO GOUP AND PLACED IN THE NETWORK GROUP
OCT: Judith de los Santos, Tony Burroughs, Michael Hart, Adam Donmoyer, Rich Ellis, Danny Everitt, Mathew Marsh, Brad Price
NOV: Robert Couch, Donna Aylor, Jenna Drey, Mike Hyden, Richard Kirwin, Elizabeth Kirchgatter, Al Scroggins, Ian Dickson, Will Livingston, Clif Munroe, Jan Seides, Steve Smith, Alisha Jackson, Sharon Pisors, David Carter, Tim Dawson, Terry Fann, Jason Heald, Brad Henske, Forrest Lawson, Phillip Marcus, Linda Moroziuk, Paul Reaney, Walter Sargent, Andy Taylor,
DEC: Jeff Sharp, Lisa Mickelson, Bil Basinski, Steve Hill
JAN: Jeff Moxcey, Beverly Houston, Kathy Davidson, Drew Harakal, Sidney Miller, Ann Abercrombie, Kay Seamayer
FEB: Carol Shaw, Jennifer Carson, Jason Winford & Bill Amos
MARCH: Helene Cronin, Mark Hughey, Barbara Seiler, Michael Franceus, Neal Fletcher, Troll Mallow, Rory Moore
APRIL: Mike Parrish, Stephen Boone, Ed Williams, Akin Akintola
MAY: James Cornelius, Kathy Dunn, Mark Evans, David Lott, Michael Shane Russell, Aaron Rodriquez, Jeff Odon, Alicia Smither, Grady Yates, Beth Scivally, Rick Yentsch, & Richard Pickett.

THESE FOLKS WILL BE DROPPED FROM THE MEMBER GROUP THIS MONTH
JUNE: Anna Terry, Jerome Douglas, Karen High, Mark Dittenber, Bobby McBride, Michael Hollingsworth
AUG: Phillip Cooner, Edd Haynes, Tom Carder

YOU HAVE A TWO MONTH GRACE PERIOD TO RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP
SEPT:Ken Golden, Hank Woji, Mark Crisp, James Foster, Jenna Colston, Marquel Dionne
OCT: Jerry Dobson, Kipp Brennan, Chris Albert, Paul Penrod, Morri Hartgraves, Jesse Green, Reagan Redfern, Shawn Millar, William LLoyd, Tania Cordobes, Frankie Cleary, Zach Johnson, Michael Del Palazzo, Pam Barragan, Adrian Taylor, James Cumberlain, Greg Pitchford, Robert Charles, Morgan Greene, Paul Cataldi, Taylor Houdek, Mardi Garcia

Renew your membership online,
You'll find the link to the store on the panel to the right
Or paste this link in your browser: http://store.kagi.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?storeID=7TE_LIVE&&
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7. WORKSHOPS - DSA WORKSHOPS ARE SPONSORED BY BMI
(Each month we have a workshop at our monthly meeting on the 1st Monday and 2nd Tuesday.)
Performance and Music Education.

Details here: http://dallassongwritersworkshops.blogspot.com/

If you'd like for me to add you comment, just send me an email.

SECOND TUESDAY GUEST SPEAKER & SONG CRITIQUES - see Monthly Meeting above

http://www.dallassongwriters.com/meetingblog.htm


MONDAY SONG SWAPS for peer critiqueSong Swap Workshops
Monthly 7-10 PM
Free, Visitors Welcome


Where songwriters perform their songs for peer review. Bring your guitar and a few lyric sheets. This is like an old fashioned guitar pull with comments between songs.

FIRST MONDAY - NE DALLAS
James Pappas & James Foster are coordinators.
(Look for Foster's face at start and Pappas will wrap it up)

White Rock Coffee in East Dallas
10105 E. Northwest Highway
Dallas, TX 75238
214-341-4774



THIRD MONDAY - PLANO
Anna Terry is coordinator.

Tino's Mexican Restaurant in Plano
1013 Collin Creek Mall, 75 & Plano Parkway
Plano, TX 75075
972 424-2572



The Directors believe that DSA can support a number of these small area Song Swaps which are beneficial to attaining crucial feedback for developing your works in progress and as Annie Benjamin pointed out, works best in small groups of 10 or less. If you live in a suburb and would like to host one in your area, please email to the yahoo member group to state your interest and ask for interested attendees in your area. Three people make a group for peer review or interested co-writers. I know several people who have attended the Song Swap in the past have developed beneficial co-writing relationships.


http://www.dallassongwriters.org/2009/10/song-swap-workshops.html


OTHER WORKSHOPS

From time to time will let you know about other workshops.

http://dallassongwritersworkshops.blogspot.com/
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8. Events -

Featuring local and worldwide events of the songwriting community including, seminars, conferences, & showcases. Click on the link #8 to the right or copy and paste this link in your browser.
http://songwriterevents.blogspot.com/

NOV
15 5th Anniversary Celebration at Dunn Brothers Coffee Open Mic
19th Deadline for Submissions to showcase at Folk Alliance

DEC
7-12 5th Annual Texas Songwriing Cruise

JAN 2010
10-17 Listening Room International Songwriter Retreat California Sequoias
23-27 MIDEM & MIDEM+ http://www.midem.com

FEB
17-21 Folk Alliance, Memphis

MARCH
12-21 SXSWeek 2010
12-16 Interactive
12-20 Film
17-21 Music

APRIL
14 Grammy Advocacy Day in Washington DC

MAY
9-16 Listening Room International Songwriter Retreat

For more details visit the events page.
Also, hear the song contest winners podcast from this page.

http://songwriterevents.blogspot.com/

PERFORMERS NEEDED FOR SMALL-VENUE CONCERT SERIES - please see events blog for details

TEXAS CONCERT LISTINGS
http://www.dirtylinen.com/special/dl-states/TEXAS.html

Comprehensive VENUE LIST - compliments of Uncle Calvins
http://www.unclecalvins.org/OtherVenues.aspx

DALLAS TEXAS CONCERT LISTINGS
http://mojam.wolfgangsvault.com/concerts/city?city=Dallas,TX

Dallas Morning News Guide Live Music Listing ( hit search after opening the page)
http://listings.guidelive.com/portal/page?_pageid=33,97314&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
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9. Featured Articles:

The Sound of Money: That's Right, They're Playing Our Song
By Michael R. Morris --
Favorable tax law changes originally made in 2006 continue to offer significant tax planning opportunities for both songwriters and music publishers. The tax breaks for songwriters were especially groundbreaking, permitting self-created musical compositions or copyrights in self-created musical works to be electively treated as capital assets. Why does this matter?

MUSIC BUSINESS

Bob Paterno's blog Making Music Making Money
http://www.makingmusicmakemoney.blogspot.com

Bob Paterno interviews former CEO of the mega-successful Gaylord Entertainment company, Terry London.

CRAFT OF SONGWRITING
Barbe McMillen's blog, The Craft of Songwriting
http://craftofsongwriting.blogspot.com/

Ever wondered what makes a song stand out? Barbe explores the concept of contrast.


Online Thesaurus & Rhyming Dictionary

http://www.rhymezone.com/

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10. Song Contests

http://songcontests.blogspot.com/

DALLAS SONGWRITERS ASSOCIATION SONG CONTEST: Deadline Feb. 15th
SONG DOOR: Deadline Nov. 15th
more ....on song contest blog


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11. Songwriting Resources

Links to websites about songwriting, performance, music industry.
http://songwritingresources.blogspot.com/

DSA Book Store - reviews, links, lists of recommended reading, and what's in the DSA Library.

http://dsabookstore.blogspot.com/

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12. Best Songs of the 2nd Tuesday Meeting

SEPT
Things I Don't Mind by Bob Paterno (The Stitts brothers proclaimed this one a hit)
Futile Attraction by Vern Dailey

OCT
Good and Faithful by Stephen Blackwell
He Was A Soldier by Justin and Jennifer Marler

September on My Mind by Ray Phillips is Song of the Year for 2008
Ray Phillips is Songwriter of the Year 2008
see Best Songs blog for score details and judges.

To view past winners go to the Best Songs blog. http://bestsongsofthemeeting.blogspot.com/
To hear the winners go to our myspace page.

Did you know that A&R reps from labels and music publishers are listening to our Myspace page each month?

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Thanks for reading this far. If you have any suggestions for the newsletter, please let me know. Follow me on Twitter @barbemcmillen. Give me a tweet.



Songcerely,
Barbara McMillen, Editor
Songwriter Notes
Founding President Emeritus, DSA