Asheville, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/11/2013 -- NewSong Music has recently announced the launch of its 12th annual Mountain Stage NewSong Contest – one of North America’s premier showcases of emerging performing songwriters that spans an array of genres, and includes Regional rounds.
In the Regional rounds, which have an application deadline of July 31, 10 finalists will be chosen from each of the six regions. All sixty regional finalists will then participate in a ‘People’s Choice’ award – which last year drew votes from over 10,000 people for their favorite regional finalist.
Twelve finalists in this year's overall contest will be invited to perform in the live performance finals on Saturday, October 19 at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ David Rubenstein Atrium in New York City. There, a panel of music industry judges will select the 2013 grand prize winner, who will then receive a suite of career-advancing recording and performance opportunities that include:
- A fully-funded EP, produced and mixed by producer, musician and songwriter Charlie Sexton at Asheville, NC's Echo Mountain Recording Studios
- An appearance on National Public Radio's highly acclaimed Mountain Stage show
- His/Her own featured performance at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City during the 2014 season.
- A Sonus Musician's Chair, custom made to the winner's specs by Brian Boggs Chairmakers
- A fully-funded EP release PR/publicity campaign, courtesy of PledgeMusic
- A featured showcase spot at the 2014 Sundance ASCAP Music Café
- Cool new gear from Moog Music.
“This is a unique opportunity for artists to work with one of the top producers in the industry,” said Gar Ragland, director and co-founder of NewSong Music. “And, we’re also proud to continue our long relationship with Mountain Stage. For nearly 30 years, they’ve been showcasing some of the world’s best music performers and songwriters.”
NewSong is an independent music organization. Its mission is to build a supportive community of performers and songwriters across all genres of music and levels of skill, while identifying truly exceptional artists within this community and introducing their music to a broader, international audience.
For the third year in a row, NewSong contestants not only have the unique opportunity to perform at Mountain Stage, Lincoln Center and Sundance, but to work with an esteemed music producer to record and release a potentially career-busting project.
The 2010 grand prize winner Amber Rubarth won the opportunity to record Grammy winning producer Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Norah Jones, Modest Mouse, Cold War Kids, Tom Waits). The 2011 winner Arthur Alligood worked with hit songwriter and producer Mikal Blue (Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat), and last year’s winner Lora-Faye recently finished recording her grand prize recording with producer and mixer Iestyn Polson (David Gray, Patti Smith, David Bowie).
“The things that are unique and special about the NewSong Contest is that it seemed to be connecting people and has community atmosphere,” said producer King. “It’s nice that there’s a network, and that the NewSong Contest is part of furthering that in the music community and among singer-songwriters.”
“The Mountain Stage NewSong Contest has brought a lot of exceptional talent to our attention,” said Larry Groce, Mountain Stage Host and Artistic Director. “And, it’s not only the winners – but many finalists have appeared on Mountain Stage over the years including Ingrid Michaelson, Diana Jones, Antje Duvekot and Meg Hutchinson. The fact that the contestants are judged by their songs as well as their performances equally makes it very appealing to us.”
The NewSong Contest is officially accepting submissions at http://newsong-music.com/contest. Submissions start at $35 per song, with discounts for multiple submissions and members of songwriting organizations. The contest features both a general and regional rounds, with an upcoming regional round submission deadline on July 31. The final deadline to submit to this year’s contest is September 15, 2013.
About NewSong Music
NewSong Music is an independent music organization with the following two-fold mission: to build a supportive community of performers and songwriters across all genres of music and levels of skill, and to identify the truly exceptional artists within this community and to work closely with them to develop their careers and introduce their music to a broader, international audience. You can find out more about NewSong at www.newsong-music.com
About Mountain Stage
Mountain Stage is a two-hour live performance showcase distributed each week by NPR and Voice of America and featuring some of the world’s greatest singers, songwriters and musicians in a relaxed atmosphere. Guests are musical legends, well-known artists, and emerging performers. Each week five acts perform on Mountain Stage, usually two or three who were not born when the show began in 1983.
Mountain Stage hosted the first national media performances of Lyle Lovett, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Sheryl Crow, Barenaked Ladies, Alison Krauss, Ani DiFranco, Phish, Counting Crows, Ben Harper, Ryan Adams, Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Keb’ Mo’, Lucinda Williams, David Gray and many others. Musical pioneers Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Pops Staples, Odetta and Brownie McGee graced the Mountain Stage.
About Charlie Sexton
Charlie Sexton is a highly acclaimed solo artist, sideman, producer and composer. Raised in Austin, Texas, Charlie Sexton made his debut at the young age of sixteen with the Top 20 Hit “Beat’s So Lonely” from his debut album Pictures for Pleasure (Geffen). He went on to create three more albums as a solo artist: Charlie Sexton (Geffen, 1989), Under the Wishing Tree (MCA Records, 1995), and Cruel and Gentle Things (Back Porch Records, 2005). From 1992 to 1993 he was also a member of the Austin super group Arc Angels, who released one self-titled record on Geffen before disbanding.
Simultaneous to pursuing a career as an artist, Sexton quickly built a reputation as a go-to session guitarist. His dynamic entry onto the music scene and prodigal guitar chops led to sessions with Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Jimmy Barnes and Bob Dylan while still only a teenager. In 1999 Dylan reconnected with Sexton and invited him to join his band, where he held guitar duties until 2002.
His performance as a studio musician eventually led to work out from behind the guitar, producing albums for notable artists including Double Trouble, Lucinda Williams, and Edie Brickell, and making contributions to various Hollywood movie soundtracks. Songs written by Sexton can be found on the soundtracks to Quentin Tarantino’s True Romance (1993) and Air America (1990) starring Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. In 2009 he composed and performed the score to The Open Road starring Jeff Bridges and Justin Timberlake.
After 15 years apart, minus scattered live performances, Sexton and the Arc Angels reunited in 2009 for a world tour, including joining Eric Clapton through England. In the same year they released a live DVD, mixed by Sexton. Around this time he also resumed guitar duties for Bob Dylan, both in and out of the studio. Sexton’s playing is featured on Dylan’s latest record, 2012’s Tempest (Columbia), and he joined Dylan on his 2012 World Tour before leaving the band again to focus elsewhere.
Despite maintaining a busy schedule as a guitarist, Sexton still frequently finds himself behind the console. He produced and played on Jackie Greene’s American Myth (Verve, 2006) as well as Marc Cohn’s Join The Parade (Decca, 2007), amongst others. In 2010 he produced the debut record from Matt Morris, When Everything Breaks Open (TennMan/Interscope), along with Justin Timberlake. The release followed on the heels of Morris’s performance of “Hallelujah” with Timberlake and Sexton on the Hope for Haiti Now telethon, the most downloaded song from the broadcast reaching #1 on the iTunes chart. Most recently Sexton finished mixing the forthcoming album from fellow Austin natives Nelo.
The Mountain Stage NewSong Contest
‘Where Great Artists Are Discovered’
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MEDIA: Ford Willis; ford@newsong-music.com; call (828) 232-4314