Tag Archive: songwriting


DSA Song Contest Awards

Filed under: Current events, Dallas Songwriters Association, Music, Songwriting, writing — Leave a comment
December 24, 2015
Dan Roark and Roy Elkins

Dan Roark and Roy Elkins

People began to arrive at Sons of Hermann Hall at 6:30 on Tuesday, December 8 for the Dallas Songwriters Association (DSA) Song Contest Award Ceremony and Christmas party. Board members Barbe McMillen, Bobby Montgomery, Ken Duren, and Dan Roark, with member and SOHH employee, Lisa Byrn, David Lewis (SOHH), and the sound man, Logan Hughes, had arrived early to set up the hall. Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Roy Elkins, CEO of Broadjam.com, pitched in to help Bobby set up the food tables. Board member, James Pappas, owner of Dallas Ice Sculptures, supplied the Christmas tree sculpture for the table.
Christmas Tree Ice Sculpture
The ceremony began promptly at 7 p.m. with a welcome from Barbe McMillen, DSA Founding President Emeritus and an explanation of the song contest process and breakdown of prizes. She then introduced MC Roy Elkins. As mentioned earlier, Roy is founder and ceo of Broadjam.com. He came down from Wisconsin a day early to present a free workshop the night before at Tone Shop Guitars in Addison. The workshop was called Your Music and Your Business. Elkins shared from his experiences in the music business and Broadjam, as well as information from music contacts. More information about the workshop can be found here.

AudienceAfter a few opening comments, Roy introduced Dickey Johnson. Dickey, along with Mary Guthrie and Mary Hestand (Sugar Daddy and the M&Ms), played his winning critique song, Alone with Alone. Then Elkins introduced Dan Roark, Showcase, Workshop, and Lyric Contest Director. Dan gave a short bio of the Americana judge, Kendra Terry, booking manager at Uncle Calvin’s Coffee House. He read the list of semifinalists and announced the winners.

Roark then introduced Katie Riley, with her mother and sister. They played both of Katie’s Dan Roarksemfinal songs, I Believe (Christian), and Dry Bones (Pop/rock). After which, Dan gave a short bio of the Christian/Inspirational judge, Scott Dicken, currently music director at Christ United Methodist Church in Farmers Branch. He then read the semifinalists and announced the winners, before introducing Rio King. Rio played his four winning critique songs, Sweet Rolls and Cream, Boogie Woogie Rhythm, Boomer Boogie, and The Old Wrecked Vet.

Roy Elkins stepped back up and introduced Bobby Montgomery, DSA Executive Vice President, and 2014 Songwriter of the year. Bobby gave a short bio of Larry Beaird, owner of Beaird Music Group, and judge of the country category. After reading the semifinalists and announcing the country winners, Montgomery introduced M’Lynn Musgrove. M’Lynn played her two semifinalist songs, Healed, and Preaching to the Choir, both in the singer-songwriter category.

M'Lynn Musgrove

M’Lynn Musgrove

Elkins then introduced Michael Brandenberger, DSA President. Michael gave a bio of the Instrumental judge, Tony Hakim, owner of jazz venue, Kitchen Café, and a positive force in the Dallas-Ft. Worth jazz scene for over 25 years. After reading the semifinalists and announcing the winners, Brandenberger introduced Dori Weavers, who played her winning critique song, Waiting to Breathe. He then read the Love Songs/Easy Listening semi-finalists and announced the winners.

Barbe McMillen came back to the podium to give a bio of the Children’s/Novelty judge, Monty Harper, who has been on the Oklahoma Arts Council Touring Roster since 1995. Barbe read the semifinalists and announced the winners. She then introduced, Jon Storm. Jon played his semifinalist song in the Pop/Rock category, Love Me Now.

Roy Elkins returned to the podium and introduced Harry Hewlett, co-director of the song

Warren Hanson

Warren Hanson

contest this year and director next year. Harry gave a short bio of Pop/Rock judge Kathy Forste, who has worked in television and radio for the past 30 years in various capacities. He read the semifinalists and announced the winners. Then he introduced Warren Hanson, who performed his semifinalist song in the singer-songwriter category, Just Lucky I Guess.

Roy Elkins returned to introduce Michael Waid. Michael performed his singer-songwriter semifinal song, Lost and Found. Roy then introduced Jennifer Marler, who, joined with her husband, Justin, played her semifinalist song, Memories Don’t Burn. Then Elkins called Barbe McMillen back to the podium.

Harry Hewlett, Dori Weaver, and Michael Brandenberger

Harry Hewlett, Dori Weaver, and Michael Brandenberger

Barbe gave a brief bio of singer-songwriter judge, David Card, owner of Poor David’s Pub, one of Dallas’ best listening rooms. David also founded the BW Stevenson Memorial Singer-Songwriter Competition. Then Barbe read the semifinalists and announced the winners. She then announced the winner of the iPod for which each contest entrant received an entry. The winner was Samuel Miller from Chico, California. Miller’s song, Can’t Get Enough, was a semifinalist song in the singer-songwriter category.

McMillen explained the judging process – which can be found on the DSA website – and introduced grand prize judge, Roy Elkins. Roy talked about the song entries and announced the Grand Prize winner. He then introduced Buck Morgan, who played his winning critique song, Jimmy Loves Jesus. Elkins then introduced Bobby Montgomery, who played his winning critique song, Give ‘Em Time, Lord.

Harry Hewlett, Rio King,Barbe McMillen

Harry Hewlett, Rio King,Barbe McMillen

Roy brought Harry Hewlett back to the podium. Harry explained the process for song of the year. Then he gave a short bio of the song of the year judge, Ian Dickson, a singer-songwriter having performed for a number of years. Then Harry announced the Song of the Year winner. Harry made some closing remarks and then Michael Brandenberger started the open mic. A list of semifinalists can be found here and the a list of winners can be found here.

Although time and space did not allow me to elaborate more, all the performances were wonderful and the evening was a huge success.

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

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Come Into The Father’s House

Filed under: Communications, Current events, Music, Songwriting, Theology, writing — Leave a comment
December 21, 2015

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Carlos Sanchez Receives DSA Sound Man of the Year Award

Filed under: Current events, Music, Recording, Songwriting, Sound, writing — Leave a comment
December 11, 2015

Carlos and Dan Monday, November 30th, at Poor David’s Pub, was not only the regular open mic, but a birthday party for the sound man, Carlos Sanchez. Even though his birthday was actually on Sunday. Open mic started a little late, giving some of the band members time to get there and set up. There was to be a featured artist, Daze of the Moon at 8:30, with Carlos and the Ghoulies playing at 9.

The open mic started about 8 – rather than the customary 7:30 – with the host, Mr. Troll. He played two songs, one of which was Cry. It is my favorite of Troll’s songs. Cyndy made a point of telling Troll how much she liked the song – not knowing it was my favorite.

Troll then introduced PDP owner, David Card,

David Card

David Card

who played a song for Carlos. He had just finished the song a couple of hours earlier. It was a humorous, as well as touching, tribute to Carlos. Craig Langford played next. Craig is a good songwriter with a unique voice. Follow the link to hear his music or check out his music on iTunes.

I followed Craig. Before I played my two songs, I ask Carlos up to the stage. As Showcase Director for the Dallas Songwriters Association, I presented Carlos with the inaugural DSA Sound Man of the Year Trophy for his sound work on the DSA quarterly showcase/fundraisers and his work in general. Carlos recorded the shows and gave them to us on cds. He is easily one of the best sound men in Dallas.
Dan Roark 1
One of the songs I played was a new song I wrote with Carlos in mind, called the Sound Man. When Daze of the Moon finally came on they played a tight, rocking set. They call their music alternative rock, but it simply sounded like rock and roll to me. And that’s a good thing. Carlos and the Ghoulies jammed the house down, with open mic continuing after they left the stage.

It was a great night of music to celebrate Carlos Sanchez’s birthday. And his sound work. Congratulations to Carlos – DSA Sound Man of the Year!

Peace be with you.

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Rusty Weir Songwriting Contest First Week Auditions

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November 10, 2015

Brett Dillon and Ian Dickson

Brett Dillon and Ian Dickson

I went last Tuesday to week one of the auditions for the Rusty Weir Songwriting Contest, put on by KHYI and Love and War in Texas in Plano. I went to support friends, and Dallas Songwriters Association (DSA) members, Mr. Troll, and Ian Dickson. All eight songwriters had very good songs to perform.

Host, Brett Dillon, introduced the songwriters two at a time and they would switch off for each song.

Mr. Troll

Mr. Troll

Each songwriter played three songs. I arrived just as Brian Lambert and Charley Smith were wrapping up their songs. Byron Dowd and Mr. Troll were the second pairing.

Ian Dickson

Ian Dickson

Trace Bivens and Alex Lease switched songs next. Then Ian Dickson and Marina Rocksu ended the auditions with their three songs. The contest, or comradarie, as Dillon put it, is enjoyable on the entertainment side, but tough on the performer and competition side. For the audience, it’s a lot of good music for no cover with good food and beer.

I won’t be going to tonight’s auditions, because of the DSA 2nd Tuesday meeting. But there are excellent songwriters again tonight. Bayliss Laramore will be playing in next week’s auditions.

Peace be with you.

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Larry Beaird “Arranging the Hit” Songwriting Workshop

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November 8, 2015

IMG_1710[Re-post from DSA blog] Larry Beaird presented his “Arranging the Hit” songwriting workshop on Saturday, October 24 at the Kitchen Café. The workshop was held from noon – 4 p.m. The start was delayed for several minutes – through no fault of Larry’s. The restaurant offered a limited lunch menu for the workshop attendees. Quite a few people took advantage of the lunch offerings. The waitress, Maria, took care of business well, while taking care not to disturb the workshop.

When he began his presentation, he introduced himself while passing out entry forms for a drawing to win a $625 demo session at his Beaird Music Group recording studio in Nashville. He charted the number one country songs for the past two years. He used standards such as the Nashville number system, and the length of time between certain components of each song, as well as the structure of those components.

It was apparent at times, from the questions, that some of the songwriters in the room were concerned about their songs. Beaird was careful to point out several times that he was just talking about songs that had reached number one on the charts.

“Write your songs for you. I’m not telling you how to write your songs. I’m just talking about number one hits. There are aIMG_1711 lot of good songs out there. They just don’t make number one for whatever reason.”

I hesitate to give too much away out of respect to Larry and those in attendance. But I will let you in on a couple of key points. Every line of a song should point to the title. And the title should be in the last line of the chorus and the last line of the song.

Larry Beaird and DSA President, Michael Brandenberger

Larry Beaird and DSA President, Michael Brandenberger

Beaird spent the last hour of the workshop critiquing the songs that he had received beforehand. After locating the songwriter, he played the song, after which everyone applauded. Larry then critiqued the song, while also telling the songwriter what he liked. He made suggestions as to what they could do to improve the song. His suggestions were very good and well received.

The workshop went past 4 p.m. with people excited about the subject of songwriting. Question after question was asked. And answered fully by Larry. An enjoyable, successful day was had by everyone in attendance, with good food, good conversation, and an informative songwriting workshop. The workshop participants and DSA want to thank Larry for coming to Dallas to present his workshop for us. We will announce the winner of the drawing for the demo session when Larry lets us know.

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

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DSA Booth at Arlington Guitar Show (re-post)

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November 2, 2015

[Re-posted from DSA blog]
Bobby Montgomery at DSA BoothThe second special event of October was the DSA booth at the Arlington Guitar Show on Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, the 18th. Bobby Montgomery set up the table on Saturday – and worked all day both days, God bless him! I joined him shortly thereafter – after waiting in line to park. I helped with the booth until about 12:30.

I was watching the booth when Bobby stepped out for a bit. I looked at my phone and saw a notification from Facebook. It was one of those “what you were doing last year” posts that Facebook does, with a picture from a year ago. It was the picture I took of Bobby behind the booth last year at the guitar show. It looked similar to the picture above, but I think the table looked better this year.

After a couple of hours I had to leave in order to host the DSA Showcase at the Farmers Branch Manske Library. I don’t know if any volunteers showed up to help Bobby after I left. I didn’t have a chance to browse the booths before I left. I did do one thing, but that is a different post.

On Sunday, Bobby and I opened the booth again with a little help from my son, Cameron. Then I had the chance to wander around and drool at the guitars, amps, and accessories. Among the wandering and drooling, I stopped at the Guitars for Vets booth. I met George Jordan, head of the Dallas Chapter.

George told me how the program worked. They give each vet ten guitar lessons. If the vet completes all ten lessons and shows interest, they give him a guitar. When I told him I was with the Dallas Songwriters, he got excited. They were trying to come up with something, after giving the vet the guitar, to keep the interest and effectiveness going.

I told him the DSA would be happy to support them in any way we could. We have worked with many veterans over the years. If music and playing guitar can help them maintain, then surely songwriting would help. Without a doubt, they have stories to tell. For several years, Dallas Songwriters distributed a cd entitled Songs from the Soul of Service: A Collection of Songs written by U.S. Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines. Surely telling those stories through song – or even spoken word over guitar – would be comforting in nature. I will be contacting George soon. Stay tuned for future development.

Dickey Johnson and Michael Brandenberger arrived at the booth before I left in time to get Cameron back home to go to work. We talked to quite a few people at the booth over the two days. We have two pages of names and emails to enter into the mailing list and into a drawing for a chance to win a free year’s membership. If you are on that list, you should receive an email from me before too long.

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

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Turk Wilder, Writer of ‘The Eyes of a Ranger’

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October 30, 2015

11064659_10152721017857172_5984720308632017596_n [Re-posted from DSA blog] October has been a busy month for Dallas Songwriters Association (DSA). There were several special events in addition to the regular weekly events (all of which went well). The first was a visit by Skype with Tirk Wilder at the 2nd Tuesday meeting at the Center for Community Cooperation. Board member, Ken Duren, invited Wilder to speak at the meeting and Tirk graciously accepted.

Once the technical difficulties – such as they were – were worked out and we could see him and he could see us, the presentation began. Ken introduced him by saying that they had been friends since the 70s. The two of them reminisced a bit before Wilder told the story about writing the theme song to Walker: Texas Ranger. During the meeting, he told several stories about songwriting and Nashville – some hilarious and some horrifying.

After answering questions from the attending group, Tirk critiqued three members’ songs. He had offered to do song critiques and they were the songs he was sent. He had each songwriter move to a chair in front of the computer so the two of them could talk face to face. Wilder had some very helpful suggestions for the songwriters. According to the three songwriters, Tirk was right on with his critique.

Wilder also recommended Broadjam for songwriters wanting to get an honest critique of their songs. Tirk himself is one of the pro reviewers listed on the site. Then it was time to wrap things up. After those in attendance expressed our thanks to him for visiting with us, the Skype connection was broken.

As the meeting wound down, Harry Hewlett said that Wilder was right about Broadjam. Harry had paid to have Tirk review his song. While it had taken some time – he’s a busy man – his review of Harry’s song was right on the mark as well. Not only is Tirk Wilder a good songwriter, but he is a very likeable person and tells a good verbal story as well. He even took time to go into another room and come back with one of the BMI awards for the “Eyes of the Ranger” to show us.

Stay tuned for the other special events….

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

[Peace be with you.]

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Southwest Regional Folk Alliance

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October 5, 2015

Dan at SWRFA ShowcaseWeekend before last I attended the Southwest Regional Folk Alliance (SWRFA) in Austin. As a singer/songwriter, it was a fantastic experience. A weekend with like-minded souls enjoying what they do. Three and a half days of nothing to do but play music, listen to music, and “talk shop.”

An open mic Wednesday night at Threadgill’s began SWRFA. I didn’t get to that event, opting not to spend an extra night in the hotel. Except for the fact that I would have liked to have gone to Threadgill’s, it turned out to be a good decision.

For one thing, I was told that it was completely packed. Come to find out that if I had played in that open mic, I wouldn’t have been able to play at either of the other two open mics. Because there were so many attendees, each act only played one song at the open mics. So I figured I made the right decision. We’ll see about next year.

On Thursday, registration was to begin at 2 p.m. I arrived about 1:30. While we waited on our rooms to be ready, a guitar was passed around the lobby. It wasn’t too long before my room was ready. I made two trips to the room, parked the car and went to register for the conference – which is, and isn’t, the right term for it.

The pool party/open mic began at 5 p.m., with Berkalin Records providing a dinner buffet and drinks. I have some pictures from the open mic that I will post on Facebook when I get a chance. Following the open mic was the official showcase alternates concert. Which would be those acts who didn’t get chosen for the two official showcase concerts on Friday and Saturday. After which, song circles popped up around the hotel. And events were just getting started. More to come.

Peace be with you.

 

 

 

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Playing at Pig ‘n’ Whistle on Hollywood Blvd.

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May 16, 2015

Dan at Pig 'n' WhistleBefore I went to the ASCAP conference, I wanted to line up a place to play while I was in LA. While I was checking,  I found that it so happened that  the Pig ‘n’ Whistle on Hollywood Blvd., a block from the hotel, had an open mic on Tuesday night.  Not having any kind of following in LA – other than fans on Reverbnation and Facebook – setting up a solo gig would have proved difficult. So an open mic was my best bet.

But it was good fortune that it was an open mic in a historical building. The Pig ‘n’ Whistle was founded in 1927, next to the Egyptian Theatre where the premiers of movies were shown.  You can imagine the movie stars and celebrities that ate there.  The restaurant  has been restored to its original glory. What is called Backstage or the Back Room is down a hall to the back of the restaurant. There was a bar, but it was only used for parties and special events.

Backstage is a funky little room with an even funkier stage. Which is a good thing. Again, you can imagine the private parties held back there over the years. Cameron and I got there before they had everything set up. I was one of the first people on the list. I prefer to go on after a couple of people or acts to get a feel for the crowd. I shouldn’t have been concerned.

When it came time to start, everyone in the room had to pay $3. Which was new for me. If Dan Roark at Pig'n' Whistle 2there is any charge at an open mic in the Dallas area, it is a request for a drink minimum. But it was also Hollywood  Blvd. – you don’t want just anybody wandering in and hanging out.  The McDonald’s has a security guard and police patrols drop around regularly.

The crowd was made up of mostly performers, although there were a few people there to listen. When the show began, the MC asked for the hands of those who wanted to play. I hesitated, to see how  it went. About three people raised their hands. They were the first three to play – with the order corresponding to the raising of hands. The next time around I raised my hand and played in the second batch of performers.

Dan at Pig 'n' Whistle 3It was an eclectic group of people and performers, to say the least. A man who sang cover tunes a capella – in stops and starts at times.  A girl playing her songs on a ukulele, and not too shabbily. A comedian who apparently calls into the Howard Stern show and had jokes that I’m surprised Stern would appreciate. One of those there to listen was a guy made up like Will Farrell in Semi-Pro. He had been out on Hollywood Blvd. near Grauman’s Chinese Theater, posing for pictures for tips.

When I played my songs, I told them I was from Dallas out for the ASCAP conference, and introduced the songs as I always do. I felt like the veteran of the group. I received a good reception from the audience. We listened to a few more performers after I played – including a blues player with an interesting style – before we headed back to the hotel.

It was a great way to end the first day in LA. It’s a more authentic trip when you get to mingle with local people as a traveler and performer. And the journey had just begun.

Peace be with you.

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Hello Out There

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March 18, 2015

Dan at CUMC 3At my one man show at Christ UMC a couple of weeks ago, I played my newest song, Hello Out There, for the first time in public. Introducing the song, I explained that there were various members of church families that were on the autistic spectrum. I was not personally familiar with autism untill a few years ago. I noticed the symptoms in a few of the children, but did not know it was autism.

A college student at church was helping with the Autism center at UNT in Denton and facilitated a program at church with a director of an autism program who had autistic children. After that I began to realize how varied the autism spectrum is. If you do not know, the autistic spectrum stretches from those who are highly functioning to those who are low functioning. Those who are highly functioning need steady, but only slight, intervention by others. Those who are low functioning, on the other hand, need almost constant attention.

I have witnessed incidents at church over the years with some of the children. A few days after one particularly violent episode, I had a conversation with the child’s father. I asked him how the child was and he told me that he wished he could get inside the child’s head to know what the child was thinking. I kept thinking about that because, as a songwriter and author, that’s what I do – think about things.

I do not have any insight into an autistic person’s state of mind. But, having stuttered all my life, I know what it’s like to live in one’s own head. And that’s what led me to write the song, Hello Out There. It can be found here.

Peace be with you.

 

 

 

 

 

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