Saturday, January 30, 2010

DSA E-News #104 February 2010

Hello Songwriter,

Our song contest deadline is fast approaching: February 15th. We will NOT be extending our deadline.

We have moved the First Monday SongSwap Workshop to Half Price books just down NWHwy near 75. We'll be in the community room in the back left of the building. Roger Russell & James Pappas with help from Karen High (She is still hoping to get a mid-cities group going). There are other SongSwaps now: 2nd Monday in Duncanville and 3rd Monday SongSwap at Tino's in Plano. Check below for details.

Make plans to attend the Folk Alliance in Memphis this coming February 17th - 21st. I'll be presenting Song Evaluation and Garageband workshops. For more details go to events. http://songwriterevents.blogspot.com/

QUICK LOOK CALENDAR OF DSA MONTHLY EVENTS - put this in your bookmark.
http://calendar.yahoo.com/dallassongwriters

This is heart month. So write something from the heart!

Songcerely,
Barbe McMillen
Founding President Emeritus
Editor, Songwriters Notes
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1. 2009-10 SONG CONTEST - OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS - Deadline Approaching

Http://www.dsasongcontest.blogspot.com

Feb 15th DEADLINE APPROACHING . You can upload your songs online via Sonicbids.com and Broadjam.com or mail in your entries.

Wanna help the song contest committee? 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 - February, 9

GUEST SPEAKER

MARY DAWSON, Music publisher, author, and teacher.

Critiques follow.

Sign in & Netowrking begins at 6:30
Announcements at 7PM
Guest Speaker about 7:15

NEXT MONTH A SPECIAL MEETING

MARCH MADNESS DEMO CONTEST AT DSA


Join us March 9 at 6:30pm. The stakes are higher than usual this month because the winner of the monthly critique will win a free guitar/vocal demo at a professional Nashville demo studio! That's a $250+ value!


So bring that CD or tape and your lyric sheets. Judging and comments will come from your peers and not from a panel of judges. Read the rules below carefully.


Rules

  1. This contest is limited to the first 10 song entered.
  2. Preference will be given to the first 5 DSA members to enter. The remaining 5 entries are open to anybody.
  3. All entries must be received by 7pm on March 9th. Entries will be considered on a first come, first served basis.
  4. Entries are $20.00.
  5. Bring at least 25 lyric sheets. Lyric sheets must not have any identifying information (do not include writer's name or phone numbers, etc.). We want all lyrics to be uniform in appearance. Use Courier New font (size 10 or 12) (e.g. looks like typewriter font). NO BOLD or INDENTS in the lyrics. DO NOT use all caps.



Our March lecture

Have you ever wondered how to make a great sounding home recording? Do you think you need expensive hardware and software to do it? Have you ever tried, but found the learning curve too steep? If so, then you'll benefit from our March speaker. Joining us from Nashville will be the independent producer, Fett* from Azalea Studios. He’ll share the secret of making high-quality, yet inexpensive demos without needing gobs of technical knowledge.


Doors open Tuesday, March 9, at 6:30pm for networking. The meeting begins at 7pm. The March Madness Demo Contest begins afterward, concluding by 9:30pm.


If you haven’t been to a 2nd Tuesday meeting for a while, then what are you waiting for? Join us at the Center for Community Cooperation, 2900 Live Oak, (just east of the intersection of Live Oak and Good Latimer).

*Fett is an independent producer and engineer with more than 40 albums to his credit, owner of Azalea Studios in Nashville, former Technology Editor for Performing Songwriter magazine, and contributing technology author for the Country Music Association' s CMA Close Up magazine. He has worked in the music industry for nearly 30 years, as a touring musician, session player, manager, booking agent, songwriter and music photographer. His clients include Davy Jones of the Monkees, Grammy-winning songwriter Don Henry, and international guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel. Fett is co-author of the Songwriter's Survival Kit audio education series, a SongU.com faculty member and TAXI affiliate, and a featured speaker at numerous national music industry events each year. He holds a degree in International Studies from The American University in Washington, DC.


Have questions? Email Program Chair Bob Paterno - walkslots AT yahoo DOT com, or Buck Morgan, wmsmorgan AT verizon DOT net


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


FIRST MONDAY in East Dallas - Feb. 1st, March 1
5803 E Northwest Hwy Dallas, TX 75231-6519 (214) 379-8000
Roger Russell, Karon Hi & Jame Pappas coordinating.
We'll be in the Community Room at the back left in the building.

SECOND MONDAY SOUTH - Feb 8th
Home of Sharon Pisors
1203 Shawnee Rd.
Waxahachie, Tx
469 556.0253
sharon at shootfirephoto.com
THIRD MONDAY in PLANO -
Tino's at Collin Creek Mall- Anna Terry, coordinator.
Tinos Mexican Restaurant Collin Creek Mall, Plano, Tx 972 2572

BEDFORD - Karon Hi has found a place, but need the bodies to form a group.

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.
Please email DSA or talk to a board member if you'd like to start one in your neighborhood.
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4. SHOWCASES & OPEN MICS -
http://www.dallassongwriters.org/showcasesblog.htm

OPEN MICS

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.

Barbara McMillen will be featured in March.

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

Scott Sean White's Acoustic Songwriters Nights At Sullivan's & Reflections
Sullivan's Steakhouse (Trinity Mills and the Tollway.) This room is just incredible - a REALLY nice place with a GREAT stage and GREAT sound! It's gonna be the last 2 Wednesdays of each month starting Jan 20th and it's gonna run from 6pm-10pm each night. The best song each night wins $50 and the chance to compete for the $300 GRAND PRIZE on March 31st!
Here's how it'll work:
Email, text, or call me 972-741-3330 to sign up for one of 12 slots available each night. It'll be a first-call/text/email, first-serve booking policy. Each writer will share a half-hour on stage with another writer playing 3 songs each. At the end of the night - the judges will award the $50 prize and reserve your spot in the finals on March 31st. You can compete every week of the contest if you'd like. If you win with one song one week - you can compete with different songs the next week so you CAN win multiple spots with multiple songs in the finals!
I will be your host for the evening - along with a different "featured" co-host each week. We will perform a few songs as well but are NOT eligible to compete for the prize. If you win multiple nights, you could also earn yourself one of the paid co-host slots in future weeks!
Some basic rules, info, and requirements:
- ALL GENRES ARE WELCOME!
- Sound is provided.
- You must be able to perform your song live either by playing and singing yourself, or by singing and having an accompanist. No singing to pre-recorded tracks, sorry.
- There will be a keyboard provided.
- If you play guitar, you must bring your own.
- Unless you are booked in the 6pm or 6:30pm slot, you must arrive at least an hour before your scheduled slot. (The 6:30 slot can arrive at 6pm.)
- In order to win, you must be present at 10pm. Otherwise, the prize goes to the next best song who is still in attendance.
Dates for Sullivans
Jan 20
Jan 27
Feb 17
Feb 24
Mar 24
Mar 31

Dates for Refleactions
REFLECTIONS inside the Admiral Hotel at the corner of Brown Blvd and Hwy 360. Everything is the same except that we only do it once a month over there and the finals for the $300 grand prize are at the end of June. Here are the dates if the Arlington show is easier for ya:
Tues, Jan 19th
Tues, Feb 23rd
Tues, Mar 16th
Tues, April 27th
Tues May 25th
Tues, June 22nd

To compete, email or call Scott: profd2 at tx.rr dot com
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5. LYRIC CONTEST - FALL 2009 WINNERS ANNOUNCED

FINALISTS

Winner _ When Lambs Become Lions by John Thomas Lane
2nd place_ The Knock by Charles David Risinger
HM_From A Distance by Akin Akintola

VIEW WINNERS, LYRICS & COMMENTS AT WEBLINK BELOW


LYRICISTS GAIN RECOGNITION THROUGH COMPETITION

Next Lyric Contest Deadline is March 31st, 2010 for Winter Lyric Contest
Entry fee is $10
Please see lyric contest webpage for details.
http://www.dallassongwriters.org/lyriccontestblog.htm

October 2009 Hardcopy issue of Songwriters Notes has the last two Lyric contest winning songs listed:
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=1520070&da=y
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6. MEMBER NEWS -


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

Wanna get involved? Become a committee member. It's fun!
To view a list of the 2010 Officer & Directors and Committees go to this link:
http://dsadirectors.blogspot.com/

2010 DSA Board of Directors

Met to Elect Officers on January 12th to elect officers. Click on the link above to view your officers for 2010.


WELCOME NEW MEMBERS: Krystal Pinkins, Adrienne Wetzel, Baylee Kuss, Nathan Alan Toon, Coy Poitier

THANK YOU FOR RENEWING YOUR MEMBERSHIP: Ken Golden, James Foster, James Pappas, Morri Hartgraves, Mimi Balkey, Scott White, Michael Roth, Donna Lisa, Roger Russell, Karon High & Sharon Pisors.

TIME TO RENEW: The following members owe dues:


YOU HAVE A TWO MONTH GRACE PERIOD TO RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP OR YOU WILL BE DROPPED FROM THE MEMBER GROUP
NOV: Ian Dickson, Joni Ringo, Don Townsley, Steve Ritter, Arek Religa, Blake Milton,
DEC: Jeremy Ellis, Tommy Byrd, Adrian Hall, John Hannun, RX Bertoldi, Randy Heavin, & John Tracy Wilson
JAN: Troy Werner, Annie Benjamin, Charles Risinger, James Guittard, Warren Lett, Ryan Galloway.
Please renew THIS MONTH: John Metz, Peter Robinson, Dennis Carlan, Emile Pandolfi, Marc McClure, Darren Speed, David Firman, Kate McGunnigle, Dan Morehouse, Richard Gardzina, Jose Gomez, Noel Cohen, Bryan Bryant, Casey Desmond, Trevor Dahlen, John Chandler, Allan Von, & Jack Hackworth, Natalia Pikoul, Michael Constiatineo, Sean Murphy, Brandi Sidoryk, MarkStepakoff, Jen Carter-Kelly, Frank Fulton, Kevin McSpadden, Lisa Simmons, Bill DiLuigi, John Mears, Joey Avalos, Niel Nasset, Garrison Doles, Steven Richards

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 critique
Song 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
at Half Price Books in the Community Room in the back left of the store.

SECOND MONDAY - SOUTH of DALLAS

Home of Sharon Pisors, coordinator
1203 Shawnee Rd.
Waxahachie, Tx
469 556.0253

sharon at shootfirephoto.com


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


MIDCITIES SONGSWAP


Karon High has found a perfect place for a song swap in Bedford.
Cornejo's Food and Drink
3314 Harwood Road
Bedford, Texas 76021
(817) 358-9100
(Next to Tom Thumb, corner of Hwy. 121 and Harwood)
She is looking for songwriters in the area to meet, and offer any weeknight as an option.
Please contact her with your suggested evening. karonhi at flash.net

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.

FEB
Folk Alliance, Memphis - workshops galore http://www.folkalliance.org/


Barbe will be talking on a song evaluation checklist and Using Garageband for song demos.


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/


FEB 2010
2 Rod Kennedy's 80th Birthday Celebration, Austin, Tx
17-21 Folk Alliance, Memphis -

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

APRIL
2-4 Deep Ellum Festival http://www.meifestivals.com/
14 Grammy Advocacy Day in Washington DC
16-18 Dallas Guitar Show http://www.guitarshow.com
22 - 24 I Create Music ASCAP EXPO http://www.ascap.com/eventsawards/events/expo/

MAY
9-16 Listening Room International Songwriter Retreat
14-16 Wildflower Festival http://www.wildflowerfestival.com/

OCT
11-16th Texas Songwriters Cruise www.txsongwriterscruise.com
For more details visit the events page.
Also, hear the song contest winners podcast from this page.

http://songwriterevents.blogspot.com/


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:

Man Wins Grammy Award and Then Racks up Seventy-Eight Plays on My Space the Next Day.
By Bruce Warila -- Several days ago, Allan Shadow published
a colorful tribute post about David "Honeyboy" Edwards and how he received a Lifetime Achievement (Grammy) award last week. Here's a ninety-four year old man that has given his life to songwriting and music. How could we (humans) not be somewhat interested in this story?

The Advantages of Using Session Musicians on Your Song Demo
By Cliff Goldmacher -- While I am a big proponent of wearing as many hats as you can in your musical career, there are certain areas where it makes much better sense to rely on experts.

Revisiting the Click Track
By Paul Lamere -- One of my more popular posts from last year was '
In Search of the Click track' where I posted some plots showing the tempo deviations from the average tempo for a number of songs. From these plots it was pretty easy to see which songs had a human setting the beat and which songs had a machine setting the beat (be it a click track, drum machine or an engineer fitting the song to a tempo grid). [I have absolutely no idea if anyone will find this the least bit interesting ... I'm just fascinated by the fact that this fellow went to all this trouble to compile the information.]

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.

The #1 Reason Your Music Promotion Fails
CDbaby -- With all the hard work the indie music community puts into promotion and marketing of music, it's amazing how often key information is missing from the message.

Social Networks for Things
By Richard Macmanus -- At the recent DLD Conference (Digital - Life - Design) in Munich, Germany, Esther Dyson moderated a panel on the Internet of Things. The subject of the discussion was giving identity to things, just as people have an identity. In essence, creating social networks for things.

Social Networking Your Songs Part 2

Twitter Currently enjoying its status as a media giant, Twitter recently topped the annual list of the most popular words and phrases within the English language, as compiled by language trend tracker Global Language Monitor, and rated #2 (behind “Michael Jackson”) in Microsoft search engine Bing’s list of the year’s…


CMA RELEASES NINTH "CMA INDUSTRY
INSITE" EPISODE TOPIC: "GETTING TO
KNOW THE P.R.O.S"; Monthly Online Educational
Series Can Be Found On CMA's Member Web Site
http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=126772



What's Your Copyright Worth If It's Not Registered Prior to Someone Stealing Your Work?
By Cheryl Hodgson -- While a copyright is valid without registration, the very statement is misleading. Copyright registration is essential to preserve key remedies for infringement. Unless registered prior to infringement, attorney's fees and statutory damages are not available. It is often difficult, if not impossible, to prove actual damages or profits attributable to theft of a copyrighted work. For example, if the work is used on a product that doesn't sell millions of copies, how do you prove your damages?

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

LITERARY DEVICES - Part 1 Metaphors Let's look at some tools and formulas help you build metaphors.


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
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

JAN 2010
Man Card by Brooke Malouf
By Myself by Nancy Rynders


Download a pdf hard copy of the Oct 2009 Songwriters Notes with 2008 best songs of the meeting winners announced.
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=1520070&da=y

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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I've talked about the musical that I've been working on for it seems like an eternity.

You can listen to the musical numbers from the show at:

Classes have started back at Collin College. I have 40 songwriting students combined from my classes on the Preston Ridge and Spring Creek campuses. It's keeping me very busy.

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

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