SONGWRITERS NOTES ISSUE #236 MARCH/APRIL 2023

Happy Spring! 

            Yes, St Patty's Day is just around the corner and then Easter. The redbuds are blooming here in Texas. I have one white Iris blooming among the redbuds and forsythia. Music festivals also bloom at this time of year, starting with the Ft Worth Music Festival, then SXSW during spring break, Dallas Guitar Festival, Wildflower Fest, Deep Ellum Community Arts Festival, and Kerrville Folk. 

Waiting for the winner

Besides our regular monthly events, our big event for March is the DSA Members and Community Virtual Awards on March 25 where we will honor songwriters with the Song of the Year Award and the Vern Dailey Songwriter of the Year Award. There will be performances by our member contestants Wayne Willingham, Troy Enslee, Ace Pounder, Alexis Tapp, Wayne Gathright, Rio King, Bill Martin, Michael Brandenberger, Michael Roth, Harry Wolf, and Barbara McMillen. Community partners, Opening Bell, Tone Shop, Patty Allen Driver, and Guitarlington. I hope you will tune into our facebook page for the live stream and later watch it on our youtube channel. While you're there, please subscribe to our channel. https://www.youtube.com/@dallassongwriters_official2702 - Thanks to our judge Jamey Shannon who had a hard job. The scores were very close.

For a list of the competing songs go to the Best Songs of the Meeting Page: https://bestsongsofthemeeting.blogspot.com/2022/03/

Also, our special event for April is the DSA Hall of Fame 2023 - 

The 2023 Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 15 at Love and War in Texas, streamed live to Facebook. Inductees are Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, Sly and Family Stone (Dance to the Music), Roger Miller, Jim Collins (Damn Strait), Selena Gomez and Buddy Magazines Ron McKeown and Stoney Burns. see who is performing what songs form our inductees as the program develops. https://dallassongwritershalloffame.blogspot.com

We celebrated our song contest winners on Saturday, January 14 live streamed to Facebook. The awards were presented by Barbara McMillen, Alexis Tapp, Bob Ehlert, Bill Martin, Dorinda Duncan, Bobby Smith, Bobby Montgomery, Michael Brandenberger, and Roy Elkins. Performances were by Emma James, Joli Reiman, Rick Valente, Kent Strong, Kevin Toqe, Wayne Gathright, Ava Della Pietra, Rio King, Mike Ryan, Michael Roth, and Harri Wolf. Our technical staff is Harry Hewlett and Troy Enslee.

You can now view this on our youtube channel: https://fb.me/e/2u00tel0K

Press release on Winners: https://dsapress.blogspot.com/2023/03/dsa-international-2022-song-contest.html

Press release on the Grand Prize Winners: https://dsapress.blogspot.com/2023/03/32nd-annual-song-contest-awards-grand.html

REGULAR EVENTS

The FIRST THURSDAY VIRTUAL MEETING WORKSHOP is held monthly and features a guest speaker and song critiques. It is streamed live to facebook. Our guest speaker is Tony Ramey. See below for details and the Zoom meeting link.

Our virtual open mic is still occurring every Wednesday 7 - 9. Join us via the Zoom meeting number. 617 432 0082 or just watch on the Dallas Songwriters Facebook page as we stream live. Some of our members, who are home bound or from out of town depend on this weekly opportunity to share their songs. The hosting duties are shared by Bill Martin, Allen Larson, Seth Ginsberg, Keith Dodson and Barbara McMillen.

Love and War wants you to perform at our 4th Thursday open mic 7 - 9. Rickey Gene Wright hosts with a
songwriters round format. Come out and sign up with RGW.  

Quick look events page: https://dallassongwriters.blogspot.com

DOWN THE LINE

Wildflower Arts and Music Festival - May 19-21. DSA Members perform on the Cityline Stage.

Deep Ellum Community Arts Fair - May 26 - 29. DSA Members perform.

Wild Dawgs

Oh Yeah, and the Wild DAWG deep sea fishing adventure in Port Aransas June 15 - 18 will be an awesome weekend. Join our Facebook Wild Dawg group and posting some photos and videos. If you have been on this trip you will want to join and post to share your photos of your past trips. Also, if you plan to go next year, this is a great way to connect for info. https://www.facebook.com/groups/486583939901589

SONGWRITERS NOTES ISSUE #232 JULY/AUG 2022

 HELLO SONGWRITER,

The Wildflower Festival City Line Stage in May was a huge success. 22 DSA members performed over the course of 3 days, plus the finalist of the Al Johnson Song Contest. Thanks to Michael Brandenberger and Harry Hewlett for booking DSA members and thanks to Ian Dickson for managing the stage. Ian was a WF contest winner a while back and has been involved with the Wildflower Festival since. He's been the DSA liaison all these years and thanks to his dedication DSA has had great performance opportunities each year. Harry also gave us a number of years of hard work and dedication with WF and Deep Ellum before he recently stepped down due to health. DSA really appreciates the dedication of time and expertise from both Harry and Ian. Thank you for helping us to shine at our spring festivals! 

Tim York

Tim York won the BW Stevenson Song Contest at Poor Davids Pub on June 29th this year. Your's truly was a judge again this year. There was a lot of talent on that stage. The semifinalist were Ronnie Duwe, John Jaggers, Rick Babb, Baylis Laramore, Travis Smith, along with Tim. Half of which are or have been DSA members. My fellow judges were Tom Faulkner and Julie Jean White. Yup, both have been DSA members in the past. Julie Jean is having a CD release party at Poor Davids on July 15, so come on out to see her. She is permanently living in Nashville now.

July brings Eric Ramsey as our meeting guest speaker on July 7 (see below for details). He's the DSA 2021 Song Contest 1st runner up for Grand Prize with his song "Gone, Gone, Gone". He was also runner up for Song of the Year with his song, "That's The Kind of Love I'm Talking About". He's won a lot of other awards and is an incredible performer too. You may have seen him on some of the DSA virtual events. Tune in via zoom or watch on Facebook.

Wild Dawgs

Oh Yeah, and the Wild DAWG deep sea fishing adventure in Port Aransas in June was an awesome weekend. We're building a Facebook Wild Dawg group and posting some photos and videos. If you have been on this trip you will want to join and post to share your photos of your past trips. Also, if you plan to go next year, this is a great way to connect for info. https://www.facebook.com/groups/486583939901589

EVENTS - 

Our virtual open mic is still occurring every Wednesday 7 - 9. There is a new Zoom meeting number. 617 432 0082. Some of our members, who are home bound or from out of town depend on this weekly opportunity to share their songs. The hosting duties are shared by Bill Martin, Allen Larson, Kim Cotton, Seth Ginsberg and Barbara McMillen.

Love and War wants you to perform at our 4th Thursday open mic 7 - 9. Rickey Gene Wright hosts with a songwriters round format. Come out and sign in. 

Opening Bell, on the 2nd Thursday, 6 - 8pm, has been cancelled.

Blues guitarist Texas Slim will preform at the Blue Christmas in July event on July 23rd at Sons of Hermann Hall. This event supports our favorite charity toy drive so come on out. https://dallassongwriterstoydrive.blogspot.com/2022/06/blue-christmas-in-july-toy-drive.html

Here's the list: 

REGULAR EVENTS

1st Thursday Meeting and Critiques, Every Wed. Virtual Open Mic, 2nd Thursday showcase and open mic at Opening Bell, 4th Thursday Open Mic at Love and War. 

SPECIAL EVENTS: 

NO 1st THURSDAY MEETING IN AUG - POOL PARTY INSTEAD AUG 6

 SONSSTOCK,  AUG 13 has been cancelled, but will resume next year on Aug 19, 2023
A mini Woodstock at Sons of Hermann Hall

Quick look events page: https://dallassongwriters.blogspot.com

 DOWN THE LINE

DSA Song Contest 2022 Awards Program - January 14, 2023

 DSA Hall of Fame 2023 - 

The 2023 Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 22 at Love and War in Texas, streamed live to Facebook. Inductees announced soon.

SONGWRITERS NOTES ISSUE #219 JUNE 2020

Hello Songwriter,
           I hope this newsletter finds everyone safe and well. There are lots of changes going on in June starting with the roll out of our new blog site on the DSA website. Ben Halim has worked hard to set up the beautiful site and some DSA board members have contributed to the premier articles. It's a place where folks in the music community can express themselves and contribute by writing articles in the categories of Songwriting Tips, General, Humor, My Lyrics, Music Business, Music Promotion, Music Technology and Inspirational. I hope you will check out the blog site and read the new articles. Check it out here: https://blog.dallassongwriters.org

June is the month that our Annual International Songwriting Contest opens. The contest which offers more than $5,000 in prizes with winners in 8 categories will kick off on June 1.   In 2019, we had entries and winners from Iceland, Sweden, the UK, and all over the United States. https://dsasongcontest.blogspot.com  We have a new category this year which will include our new Young Songwriters Song Contest for 18 and under. Entries can be submitted through the https://dallassongwriters.org/dsa-annual-song-contest/ website or through our Song Contest Submission Partner, https://broadjam.com.  A complete breakdown of the rules, and details about the 2019 winners can be found at https://dsasongcontest.blogspot.com/

Barbe presents TK Brown with Rising Star Award

The International Song Contest helps to fulfill the DSA mission to promote the craft of songwriting, provide realistic, educational opportunities to better navigate the music industry, and to provide exclusive performance opportunities, both LIVE and VIRTUAL.  It provides a benchmark for popular song writing competency.  The new “DSA Global” initiative is also a way to connect the international music community to the Texas music scene.  

The 2019 Grand Prize Judge, Roy Elkins, wrote, “It seems that every year the songwriters are ‘upping’ their game and the entries are getting better and better.” Elkins ranks the top songs based on specific criteria, including Lyric, Melody, Hook, Structure, Truth, and Originality.    

The 2019 Grand Prize Winning song, “Unless” was written by Dam Stasi and Kickbend with Mesus, who won a Casio Privia PX-S1000 Keyboard.  https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=444966422937309

Semifinalists will be invited to play live at the DSA Song Contest Awards Dinner, which is scheduled to be held on January 16, 2021 at Sons of Hermann Hall in Dallas. Last years event was attended by more than 70 people. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69Ov2xo-Acs

In addition to our International Songwriting Contest, members can enter the Quarterly Lyric Contest https://www.facebook.com/DSALyricContest/, and monthly song critiques.  The DSA currently offers members 2 virtual workshops each month, 2 virtual showcases, a virtual open mic, as well as special events.  https://www.facebook.com/dallassongwriters/

DSA Hall of Fame - call for Rising Star performers

This year, our annual DSA Hall of Fame Event, which honors outstanding songwriters with North Texas ties, has been postponed until Sep 19, 2020.  Live performances of the inductees songs by DSA Rising Star Students, DSA Members, and the BYO Musicians Network will be broadcast LIVE to a global audience.  We've opened up the audition process again because we have more planning time for the event. If you are interested go to the Hall of Fame website for audition procedures. Rising Stars who would like to perform can send audition videos to DSA HOF Audition Video.
2020 Hall of Fame inductees: John Denver, England Dan Seals, John Ford Coley, Steve Wiseberg, Janie Fricke, and Gregg Smith. Last year, DSA initiated a new Rising Star program to encourage young aspiring musicians to celebrate our legends with performances of songs by our inductees. DSA is reaching out to the local music schools and asking for auditions at each school for the honor to perform. These students will be backed up by the BYO Hall of Fame band consisting of highly respected local musicians. The band members and special guests will also perform songs by our inductees.

WHAT: DSA Hall Of Fame
WHERE:  Sons of Hermann Hall
WHEN: Sept 19th, Doors open 6:30PM  Show Starts at 7PM
TICKETS: General Admission - 15 in advance, 18 at the door
                   Students:   10 in advance,  12 at the door
More Info: http://dallassongwritershalloffame.blogspot.com

Ticket link 

https://squareup.com/store/dallas-songwriters-association/item/dallas-songwriters-hall-of-fame

Monthly Events 

Recently DSA went back to being physically live in our partner venue, Love and War, and also live streamed on Facebook with a watch party. You can see it here: https://www.facebook.com/dallassongwriters/videos/759687511526432/  

Live performances and camaraderie with fellow songwriters make up the soul of DSA.  Last months events have shown us that reaching out to the global community is hugely important to our mission to promote the craft of songwriting, provide realistic, educational opportunities to better navigate the music industry, and to provide exclusive performance opportunities, both LIVE and VIRTUAL.  For a quick look at our virtual events this month we have provided an events list at 

 https://dallassongwriters.blogspot.com or you can tune into our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pg/dallassongwriters/events/  You'll find videos of last months meeting there from Harry's talk on Zooming on your iPad, our meetup group which was attended by Stephen Houpt, Harry Hewlett, Don Wall, Bobby Montgomery, Beau McDermott, Barbe McMillen, Alexis Tapp to the Zoomers on iPad showcase with Host Harry Hewlett HOST, Stephen Valenzuela,  John Jaggers, Cat McGee, Rickey Gene Wright, Michael Roth.

On June 4 at this month's 1st Thursday guest speaker is Sam Moore, who will talk about the state of the songwriting business.  At last month's first Thursday Meeting, on May 7, Harry Hewlett taught us all how to use Zoom with an iPad for the best performance experience.  To fulfill our mission, the Dallas Songwriters Association invites guest speakers to address our virtual audience for now, and to join our monthly workshops in the future.  These workshops offer educational information from accomplished songwriters and industry professionals, everything from jingle writing, to do it yourself videos, to the new economics of the music industry.  If you would like to conduct a workshop, please contact: info@dallassongwriters.org.   

Our regular DSA MONTHLY EVENTS have gone virtual
* First Thursday Monthly Meeting, with guest speaker and song critiques.
   https://zoom.us/j/907852000
* Songwriter Meetup, 1st Monday, at Half Price Books on NWH in Dallas
   https://zoom.us/j/881960764
*  3rd Thursday Open Mic at Dunn Brothers Coffee in Addison has ben discontinued
*  Every Wednesday Virtual Open Mic 
   https://www.facebook.com/events/717703665629658/
ZOOM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86341155881*  4th Thursday Showcase at Love and War in Texas in Plano
   will be live at Love and War and streamed to FB
•  DSA Global Virtual Open Mic - every Saturday 12 - 2 CT
  https://www.facebook.com/events/385918485667970/
  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87932958559

Here's a list of monthly events and the Facebook event links: https://dallassongwriters.blogspot.com
Wanna join us online for our events? It's easier than you think ! Here is a how to video:

ZOOM’S JOIN A MEETING VIDEO (Watch this video first!)
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362193-How-Do-I-Join-A-Meeting-?zcid=1588

Special Workshop

 On June 20 there will be a virtual Financial Planning For Creatives workshop at 9:30AM

It's conducted on Zoom and for more info: www.MusicMeetsTheBoardroom.com The workshop is hosted by Latoya Cooper, with Regina Diann and Candace Clark. DSA members were sent a code via the google member group to access the workshop for free. You can REGISTER HERE

https://www.facebook.com/MusicMeetsTheBoardroom/

Life is starting to open up but you decide whats bess for you. We have really enjoyed our virtual events.

SPECIAL EVENTS DOWN THE LINE

DEEP ELLUM DALLAS SONGWRITERS SPOTLIGHT STAGE -has been rescheduled SEPT 11 - 12, 7-11pm
Check out the line up on the event page.
https://www.facebook.com/events/624936004966130/

STATE FAIR SHOW#CASE - OCTOBER

We are migrating our member forum from yahoo to google groups. Here is the new google group. https://groups.google.com/d/forum/dallas-songwriters-members

We still count on you for support with your membership and donations. But most of all we want you to take advantage of the educational opportunities and participate. 
There is still a chance to donate for the new year. Your generosity keeps our organization going. Just go to www.dallassongwriters.org and click on the donation link. 

Thanks to Paul Zander, John Jaggers, Bobby Montgomery, David Lewis, Michael Brandenberger, Phillip Casteel, Alexis Tapp, Don Wall, Harry Hewlett, Kery Maddox, Ginger Stanoia, Kenneth Shoemaker, and Kristi Myers for their recent contributions to our fall fundraiser. Other contributors include Ireland, John Jaggers, Bill Kapac, Rio King, Mimi Balkey, Suzi Morse, and Jared LoStrato. Go to this link: https://squareup.com/store/dallas-songwriters-association

Thanks to Harry Hewlett you can view some of our open mics and guest speakers in a live stream on Facebook? See guest our guest speakers, and past Angela's showcases. Can't make it? Then tune into Facebook/dallassongwriters. Want to be on our facebook streams? Show up and perform.

WOW! Lot's of changes and lot's of events to keep us busy, yet safe at home.

Songcerely,
Barbe

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DSA SONG CONTEST -   June 1 - Sept 30th

http://dsasongcontest.blogspot.com      Cash Prizes +

DSA is proud to announce that this years Grand Prize Casio Privia Keyboard is the new PX-S1000. This new electronic keyboard sounds and feels like a real piano and it is lighter weight than other keyboards with the same features. This “world’s slimmest digital piano” weighs in at just 24.7 pounds. The back panel includes a USB port, an audio (stereo mini-jack) port,  and two 1/4 inch outputs, (stereo and mono). The Privia PX-S1000 contains 18 different "bread and butter" sounds, including numerous acoustic pianos, Rhodes and Wurlitzer-type electric pianos, vibes, string patches, organs, harpsichord, and acoustic bass. You can also layer and split these sounds.

Every working pianist in a metropolitan area where space and portability are paramount should try Casio's Privia PX-S1000 for themselves. From its realistic piano sound and touch, to its extreme portability and modern connectivity it’s truly a marvel.

Read full review at Keyboard Magazine.

https://www.keyboardmag.com/gear/review-casio-privia-px-s1000

THANKS TO OUR SONG CONTEST SPONSORS

GRAND PRIZE  -   A Casio Privia Piano

https://www.casio.com/products/electronic-musical-instruments/stage-pianos/px-360

1st, 2nd and 3rd place 

wins recording time at 

Grand Prize winners receive:

1 Yr. Broadjam Primo MoB Membership

($199.95 Value) 

Includes Artist Website, 1 Yr. Hosting

Category winners get cash prizes

Winners announced at our Awards Banquet.

2019 Winner

Mesus and Dam Stasi with grand. prize Casio Privia PX-S1000 keyboard 

Dam Stasi and Kickbend with Mesus is Grand Prize Winner with song "UNLESS". Runner up Comrad (Arthur Revechkis) wins with "A THOUSAND LIVES" and Debra Gussin is second runner up with 'LOVE IS NOT". Read about these winners and the interviews with these artists here on our press page.  MORE: https://dsapress.blogspot.com/2020/04/dsa-2019-song-contest-grand-prize.html

Hear the winning song, "UNLESS".
 https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=444966422937309

Hear the grand prize runner up, "A THOUSAND LIVES". https://www.broadjam.com/songs/comrad/a-thousand-lives

Hear second grand prize runner up "LOVE IS NOT".  https://www.broadjam.com/songs/debragussin/love-is-not

Here is a link to a complete list of the winners: https://dsasongcontest.blogspot.com

The DSA Song Contest Awards Dinner that was held on Saturday, January 18, at Sons of Hermann Hall was well attended with 70+. Awards were presented for the Song Contest, Lyric Contest, Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. Semi-finalists  Eddie Bowers, Charles Carter, Addison Havens, David Lewis, Bill Martin, Kyle Short and Stephanie Sammons will be performing, as well as, young songwriters Jade Nichol and TK Brown, who received 18 and under Rising Star Awards, plus Harry Hewlett and Barbara McMillen.
Robert Ehlert won the Fall lyric Contest.

Sorry you were not able to appear in person. Here is a link to a video of the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69Ov2xo-Acs

And there are oodles of photos on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/dallassongwriters/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2883673535018186
Here is a link to the pdf of the Awards Program: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12U21eMdAYS13sS4Z5smSL3AD059xYUVt/view?usp=sharing

JOHN LATINI WINS GRAND PRIZE IN THE 2018 DALLAS SONGWRITERS SONG CONTEST 
http://dsapress.blogspot.com/2019/03/john-latini-wins-grand-prize-in-2018.html

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DSA MEETINGS - http://dsameetings.blogspot.com

MONTHLY MEETING - Thursday, June 4, 6:30

Current State of Songwriting Industry with Sam Moore     

Sam Moore, a regional television executive for Associated Press International (API)and Coordinator for the Dallas Chapter of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI)  will give a perspective of the current status of the songwriting industry through his experience with the NSAI.  We are also fortunate that Sam is a new member of the Dallas Songwriters Association so you won’t want to miss what he has to say. 

Critiques will follow:

As usual, for members we will also have song critiques by industry pros Barbe McMillen and Joe Milton.  Play your song live, from your computer, or your phone or email an MP3 to Harry Hewlett at hhhewlett@gmail.com, and also you can display your lyrics from your computer so the members can give comments as well.  You will also be entered into the DSA Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year contest. The cost is $10 per song.

Location: Your home
6:00 pm: Doors Open/Networking and visiting
7:00 pm: Program followed by song critiques for members only
Pay online for critique. https://squareup.com/store/dallas-songwriters-association or

https://dallassongwriters.org/shop/dsa-meeting-song-critique-entry/
Each song is entered into the Song of The Year and Songwriter of the Year Competition which is awarded at our December Awards Banquet. 

DOWN THE LINE:

JULY 2 - Producer and Recording Artist, Brad Davis
             http://www.braddavismusic.com/bio/
AUG 8 -  Pool Party
SEPT 3 -  Brianna Ruelas  https://www.briannaruelasmusic.com/
              Empowering Indie Performing Artists With Online Business Strategies and A Clear Plan for Their Personal Music Career Success.
OCT 1 - TBA
NOV 5 - Annual Membership Meeting and Elections
DEC 3 DSA Christmas Party

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VIDEO OF PAST MEETINGS
Don Wall about DIY Music videos, Feb 6, 2020
https://www.facebook.com/dallassongwriters/videos/564837404103111/

John Jaggers about the Colorado capo, January 6, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/dallassongwriters/videos/615703919198867/

JANA STANDFIELD: JUNE 6, 2019 Half Price Books

https://www.facebook.com/dallassongwriters/videos/2413755892187746/ 

ED BURNET:  May 2, 2019 Half Price Books
https://www.facebook.com/groups/242191552781160/permalink/839986039668372/

BRUCE CHANNEL : https://www.facebook.com/dallassongwriters/videos/1820749174645104/

Thanks to Harry Hewlett we have a video of the Sept 6th 2018 meeting with Bruce Channel. Bruce received an award from BMI for two million radio performances of Hey! Baby. His original record of Hey! Baby is featured in the hit movie, Dirty Dancing, and on the international sound track album, listed in BILLBOARD’s Pop Album for over three months with sales of over twelve + million units.

___________________________________________ 

BEST SONGS of the Meeting -  2020

https://bestsongsofthemeeting.blogspot.com

There is a comprehensive list on this website of all submitted. Also, past winners can be located at the above url.

2020

JAN
Take Another Chance by  David Lewis
Must Be Present to Win by  John Jaggers

Light On The Sand by  Beau McDermott

FEB

Full Moon by  Barbe McMillen

Red White and Blue by  Don Wall

The Forgotten Vet by  Don Wall
Another Whiskey by  David Case

MARCH
I Can't Breathe by Allen Larson
I Could Never by  Bill Martin
Humble Refugee by  Kerry Maddox
Home in My Dreams by  Don Wall

APRIL
Don't Sweat Tomorrow by Don Wall

I Don't Know Much About Love by Bill Martin
That Summer Song by Bill Martin
Old Lubbock Lover 2 by Harry Hewlett

? by John Jaggers

MAY 
Cape Cod by Don Wall
Keanu Reeves by Beau McDermott

2019 SONG OF THE YEAR WINNERS

THE STORY OF BONNIE and CLYDE - Barbe McMillen

WATERING HOLE - Harry Hewlett

 MONAHANS by Randy Overton

WINNER OF BEST SONGS OF THE MEETING

SONG OF THE YEAR

THE STORY OF BONNIE AND CLYDE - Barbe McMillen

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR - Harry Hewlett

Jack Allday, Judge, Barbe McMillen, Harry hewlett

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