1. Lindsey White Ring Around the Roses
2. Sara Petite Ashes
3. Lindsey White & Veronica May Oh My
4. Miff Laracy The One the Road Leads To
5. Tim Mudd Trouble On The Vine
6. Rick Harchol I Believe in Love
7. Brian Darnell Gone
8. Brian Darnell Lookin Like Rain
9. Kendrick Dial Eryka Hill
10. Dennis J Whitener Leave A Memory
11. Jim Arnegard Empty Cup
12. Kathy Keogh Hurts Shake It Til it Hurts
13. David Cavanaugh Coins
14. Michele Shipp Beyond These Walls
15. Kathy Keogh Any Fool Could See It
16. Christine Williams Eyes Like Lightning
17. Kendrick Dial Wake Up
18. Dennis J Whiterner After All
19. Guy Greco Paradise Tonight
20. Dave Cavanaugh Lucifer’s Train
21. Marshall William Hattersley Ode to the Christmas Truce of 1914
22. Michele Shipp Revealed

This year’s grand prize includes a $300 Cash Award from SDSG. We’ll be giving away many other great prizes as well, donated by SDSG’s sponsors, including a fantastic Studio Session package with lead sponsor Signature Sound. The contest is open to the public. You may join the Guild or renew your membership simultaneously with your entry and take advantage of member discounts. To create a membership go here.

Submit your entries in person on the night of the contest. Up to 70 recorded songs will be judged in the Finals. Get your Entry Form and Rules here.

Monday, November 7, 2011 Registration Opens at 6:00 PM

SDSG Memberships available  here or at the door.   No MP3’s. Audio CD’s Only!

Rules and Entry Form

A new twist on this year’s contest has added flair to the Performing Songwriter’s Contest. Instead of listening to CD’s and MP3’s to qualify for the Live Performance Finals, members and supporters are invited to come to the live venue and perform their two songs live before a welcoming crowd and our panel of judges.

From each of the three live events, we will choose 3 Finalists who will perform at Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge, and compete for the winning prize.  We will also choose a Wild Card. The Top 3 from each live event are also automatically chosen to be included in the 2011 Best of SDSG Compilation CD. This CD will be given to every guest throughout the year who participates in pitch sessions, legal seminars, etc…

On Saturday March 26^th, at Davina’s Cabo Grill in Oceanside, we had our first live auditions. The Top three songwriter’s chosen that day were:

1.       Candace Graham

2.       Maynard Evans

3.       Miff Laracy

Our Wild Card was Newcomer, Morgan Kat Becker. Morgan will compete with two other wild card picks for a spot on the compilation CD and a chance to compete in the finals. Wild cards go to Humphrey’s the day of the finals and play one song for the judges. Then the Wild Card winner, will get to play again later that day! (Go Wild Cards, you can do it!)

Entry for this year’s contest is only $5 per song. The next date available is April 16^th at Winstons. There will be two segments that allow 12 people in each segment. So, only a total of 24 people can compete, hurry up and sign up: (email – Sanditarium@hotmail.com)

Or for questions, call 858-270-7169

The 2010 SDSG Song Contest, our 19th annual such event, was a great success.  Thanks to our judges Dave Blackburn, Jeff McCullough, Sandi Shaner, and Diane Waters, as well as our sponsors, and, of course, the contestants whose submissions were of a uniformly high caliber.  Less than 10 points separated this year’s top song from the next 15 entries.  What an interesting, original, and well-written collection of music we heard!

Special Thanks go to our SDSG Support Team who pulled yeoman’s duty as our sign in and tabulation crew;  they kept things cool at what could have been major stress points.  John Pape, SDSG’s Webmaster, entered all the data generated by our panel of judges and prepared entrants’ CDs and lyric sheets for the judges and me; and Richard and Susan Widney rolled through the sign-in table storm in style, doing a wonderful job making sure every entry was accounted for.

Finally, I’d like to personally thank Mr. Widney for his support for SDSG.  Over a span of many years, Richard has served the Guild as President and Treasurer, and has been among the most reliable, conscientious, and diligent partners with which I have ever had the pleasure of working.  With this Contest’s conclusion, Richard will be leaving the SDSG Board.  He will be most dearly missed.  Thank you Richard for your service and camaraderie, and best wishes to you, Susan, and your family for the years ahead!

Mark Charles Hattersley
SDSG Advisor

Grand Prize “Platinum” Winner
Anthony Plourd Lite It Up
$500 from SDSG
Full-Day Production Session with Jeff McCullough of Tree Hill Media

Second Prize “Gold” Winner
Jim Arnegard Same Old Tears
Six Hour Recording Session at Signature Sound
CD Cover/Logo from Beach City Graphics

Third Prize “Silver” Winner
Olivia Bonilla Not This Time
Three Hour Production Session with Mark Charles Hattersley of Club Bohemia Productions

In this edition…

• 2010 Song Contest November 9
• Songwriter’s Desk Mark Charles Hattersley
• Venue View: Bella Roma – Annie Rettic
• Mailbox Money – Part II – Tracey & Vance Marino

July 14, 2010 – The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) has put together the most high-profile and prestigious judging panel in its nine-year history. Known for its high caliber of judges, ISC offers songwriters and artists the unprecedented opportunity to have their music heard by some of the world’s most iconic and successful recording artists, as well as many major and indie record label presidents.

Now accepting entries for the 2010 competition, ISC gives away more than $150,000 in cash and prizes (shared among the 66 winners) including an overall Grand Prize consisting of $25,000 (US) cash and $20,000 in prizes.

To enter, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com

Open to both amateur and professional songwriters, ISC offers 22 categories to enter, representing all genres of popular music. Past winners have included artists at all levels, from Grammy winners to hobbyist songwriters and everyone in between. To better level the playing field for unsigned artists, ISC has added this year the “Unsigned Only” category which is open to songwriters and artists not signed to a major label record deal, publishing company, or distribution deal. This category provides an excellent opportunity for unknown artists to compete against others on a similar level.

Winning ISC can be a tremendous career booster. In the past five years, three of the Grand Prize winners have been signed to major label deals (Universal and Epic). Many more winners have secured publishing deals, smaller label deals, licensing deals, and distribution deals in addition to getting more gigs, fans, and recognition.

Monte Lipman, President of Universal Records, talks about his role as an ISC judge: “We’re always been impressed with the talented songwriters who participate in the ISC. This is a great A&R source to find new artists.”

ISC judges include:

Recording Artists:

• Peter Gabriel;
• Rihanna;
• Kings of Leon;
• Tom Waits;
• Ben Harper;
• Jeff Beck;
• Kelly Clarkson;
• Timbaland;
• Keane;
• McCoy Tyner;
• Ben Folds;
• Train;
• Wynonna;
• Robbie Williams;
• Michael W. Smith;
• John Scofield;
• Jerry Lee Lewis;
• Regina Spektor;
• Alejandro Sanz;
• Jeremy Camp;
• Terence Blanchard;
• Ray Wylie Hubbard;
• Montel Jordan;
• John Mayall;
• Craig Morgan;
• Jazmine Sullivan;
• DJ Tiesto;
• James Cotton;
• Sandra Bernhard;
• Robert Earl Keen;
• Baaba Maal;
• John Digweed;
• K’Naan;
• Adele;
• Black Francis (The Pixies);
• Robert Smith (The Cure);
• Chris Hillman (The Byrds);
• Darryl McDaniels (Run D.M.C.);
• Toots Hibbert (Toots & The Maytals);
• Matt Thiessen (Relient K);
• and more to be announced…

Industry Executives:

• Monte Lipman (President, Universal Republic Records);
• Amanda Ghost (President, Epic Records);
• Rick Krim (Exec. VP, Talent & Music Programming, VH1);
• Brian Malouf (VP A&R, Walt Disney Records);
• Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records);
• Angel Carrasco (Sr. VP A&R, Latin America, Sony/BMG);
• Ric Arboit (President, Nettwerk Music Group);
• Daniel Glass (Founder/CEO, Glassnote Entertainment Group);
• Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment);
• Dr. Demento (Radio Host, The Dr. Demento Show);
• Steve Lillywhite (Producer);
• Dan Storper (President, Putamayo World Music Records and Putumayo Kids);
• Lisa Ramsey Perkins (Sr. Director, A&R Sony Nashville)
• Kim Buie (VP A&R, Lost Highway);
• and more to be announced.

Please visit http://www.songwritingcompetition.com for an entry form or more details.

ISC Sponsors:

• ASCAP,
• Berklee College Of Music,
• Disc Makers,
• D’Addario,
• Shure,
• Thayers,
• Onlinegigs,
• SongU.com,
• The Music Business Registry,
• Independent Mastering,
• Indie Venue Bible,
• George Stein, Esq.,
• Sonicbids,
• Taxi,
• Music Submit,
• and Alphabet Arm Design

Platinum

Anthony Plourd and “JD Romance” with “Daylight“.

Prize:

• $500 cash from SDSG
• Opening Act Spot at House of Blues or 4th and B form Black Cherry Group

Gold

Lindsay White with “Fancy Shoes”

Prize:

• Baby Taylor Guitar from Taylor Guitars
• $100 cash from SDSG
• Opening Act Spot at U-31 Cocktail Lounge or other North Park Rocks venues for Black Cherry Group

Silver

Brian Darnell and Mark Charles Hattersley with “Chasing Trains”

Prize:

• 500 Retail-Ready CDs from CDRollout.com

Bronze

Sara Petite with “Little Souvenirs”

Prize:

• 3 Hours Studio Session at Rancho Bohemia

Honorable Mentions:

Aaron Echeverria and Amber Plaster with “Lily Among Thorns”

Sara Petite with “Shouldn’t Be Doing This” and “Fade Away”

Lindsay White with “Give Up, Give In”

Cindy Santini with “Making Sound”

Ed Williams and Christian Williams with “Dark Rain”

If you were there when “Daylight” was announced as the winner, you know what a perfect ending we shared at this year’s contest. Congrats to winner Anthony Plourd and all our entrants… we enjoyed your music so very much. Thank you for sharing it with us. Special thanks go to our hard-working panel of judges: Eddie Jason Coven, Gregory Page, Diane Waters, and Steven Ybarra, and to our SDSG volunteers in the trenches: Sandi Shaner, Bridget Brigitte, Ann Rettick, John Pape, Richard Widney, Barby Hattersley, and our MC and DJ Mark Charles Hattersley. We couldn’t have done it without you. Please don’t forget to remember our sponsors, without whom the event would have been far less stimulating: Taylor Guitars, CDRollout.com, RagingBohemian.com, and Black Cherry Group. Finally, let’s not forget Country Inns and Suites for allowing us to host the event in their fine hotel, and FruitFlowers.com for providing us with incredibly edible delights including some tasty chocolates which we raffled off on Contest breaks to appreciative SDSG members.

We’re all looking forward to our Holiday networking Party at Humphrey’s on December 8. Contest Judge Gregory Page will be headlining. See you there!

The Guild is having our own Economic Stimulus Package!!!!

We are offering memberships for new songwriters for only $25 from no to Jan. 1 2010! Also, all past members get one year free. Please contact me to begin your FREE year!

This Dec.8th at Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge, we will be honoring You at our 1st Annual Holiday Networking Party. There will be industry people and Songwriter’s meeting and discussing the business, and Entertainment will be provided by Gregory Page, Steven Ybarra, Katie Leigh, Paul Moeller and more.

And finally, we are proud to announce that Eddie Jason Coven had joined the Board and has been nominated as Vice President of the Guild. He has a great energy, and we all look forward to working with him in 2009 and 2010. Welcome Eddie!

Download October 2009 SDSG News (PDF)

This year’s grand prize includes a $500 Cash Award from SDSG. We’ll also be giving away many
other great prizes as well, donated by local and national businesses. The maximum total number of entries is only 70 songs, so do the math and you’ll know your chances of taking home a prize are excellent!

The contest is open to the public. You may join the Guild or renew your membership simultaneously with your entry and take advantage of member discounts. Submit your entries by mail now or in-person on the night of the contest. To guarantee entry into the contest, and to qualify for the early entry discount, songs must be mailed to SDSG and received no later than
October 20, 2009. Mail-in entries are being accepted now. Up to 70 recorded songs will be judged in the Finals the night of Tuesday, November 3. If more than 70 entries are received by October 20, a panel of judges will pre-screen and select the 70 top songs for the Finals. If space permits, SDSG will accept additional entries before and on the night of the Final. However,
registration by mail is encouraged to guarantee your entries can be accepted. Please see the 2009 Contest Rules and Entry Form
Download 2009 Contest Flyer Now

32 local songwriters competed in the event. Seven semi-finalists were selected to perform live at the Belly Up. The semi finalists were:

• Allegra,
• Blues Lyne,
• Lindsay White,
• Reverend Stickman,
• Candice Graham,
• Kerri Dopart and
• Steven Ybarra.

Contest winner Allegra received cash from SDSG, recording time at Studio West, and CD manufacturing from CD Rollout in Los Angeles.