Hey writers!

If you're in the midwest and are tired of sticking inside due to the frigid weather, our 2008 winner of our Songwriting Contest will be heating things up!

Mieka Pauley will be playing a show at the Uncommon Ground ( clark Street) Sunday Evening at 7:00 Pm.

Visit Mieka's webpage at www.mieka.com for more info on this amazing artist 

Looking for a fantastic way for your kids to spend some summer getaway time making music?

Visit http://www.gowanusmusicclub.com/camp.shtml for more information

 THE GOWANUS MUSIC CLUB is a music program for kids ages 8 to 17 that encourages members to explore all aspects of being a recording and performing musician. This summer, the GMC is offering three five-day immersions into the world of rock and roll. The intensives run from June 29 - July 3, July 20 - July 24 and August 3 - August 7. The rock camps will take place at Complete Music Studios in Prospect Heights. The days run from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. with a break for lunch from 12:00 noon to 12:30 p.m. Each session will culminate with a performance at The Bell House in the Gowanus neighborhood, on the Sundays following the end of each rock camp (7/5, 7/26 and 8/9) 

Hey writers, we just wanted to remind you of this unique opportunity!

 Please visit www.wethechildren2010.com for more information

  In efforts to raise awareness about the shocking statistics and unforgiving reality concerning homeless children in the United States, We.The.Children. Project has created a pre-Grammy event set to kick the Grammys off with a charitable boom in the coming new year. This year’s hottest Grammy kickoff party and Write Your Song Competition will commence on January 28th 2010 at The House of Blues in Hollywood, CA.

We thought some of you may enjoy reading this op-ed piece, written by Danny Barnes. Here is a short excerpt below with the link at the conclusion 

 I hear so much complaining about this subject, i just wanted to lay my practical experience on you. free.

3. determine if you are actually called to be a musician. if you aren't called, all the gyrations in the world, won't make it work. if you are called, no matter what you do, it's going to work. this determination will solve most of the problems you are going to encounter. 

http://www.dannybarnes.com/blog/how-make-living-playing-music 

Hey writers, we've been informed that there's been an email change in regards to the previous entry. 

The New Email to contact is  jcmcm1@gmail.com 

Good luck with your submissions. An Indie NY based band is looking for a keyboardist/vocalist. Pay is 300-500$ a week 

hey musicians and songwriters!

The NYSC has been informed that a top NY based Indie band is looking for a keyboardist/vocalist for weekly shows.

Pay is 300-500$ for the right person 

please contact jon at Jon.Mcmillan@wmg.com with our referral!

thanks! 

NYSC and Judy Collins will host a special showcase event on Monday, December 21st, 2009.  

Featuring Wildflower Recording Artists : Will Kevans, Rolston Bowles, Amy Speace and Kenny White

Monday, December 21st, 2009 - 8 pm

The Bitter End - 147 Bleecker Street

Buy Tickets here 

NYSC and Judy Collins will host a special showcase event on Monday, December 21st, 2009.  

Featuring Wildflower Recording Artists : Will Kevans, Rolston Bowles, Amy Speace and Kenny White

Monday, December 21st, 2009 - 8 pm

The Bitter End - 147 Bleecker Street

Buy Tickets here 

Check out this great interview with Tina in this week's Billboard Magazine !

 (Click here for full size pdf)

Podcast: Rounding Up The New York Songwriters Circle

We are proud to announce the following winners of our 2009 Songwriting Contest.

Grand Prize Winner - Reed Waddle - Piece By Piece

Second place winner - Julia Easterlin - Go Straightaway

Third place - Clara Oman - Song for Ruthie

Young Songwriter Award winner - Ali Brustofski / Rewind

International Award winner - Ida Østergaard - Pleaser

Thanks to all of you who came out to the amazing finals two night events - photos, videos and much more content will be published on the site in the coming days !

We are proud to announce the following 12 finalists for our 2009 Songwriting Contest. These amazing 12 artists will perform live at our finale events, November 18th and 19th, 2009 at 8pm @ The Bitter End in New York City.

Young Songwriter award finalists:

The following three artists will go head to head on fashionfantasygame.com where over 100,000 members of their online community will vote for their favorite song.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE !

Ali Brustofski
Rewind

Aubrey Caswell
All I've Ever Known

Maddie Georgi
Go

INTERNATIONAL WINNER - Ida Østergaard

Honorable Mentions:

The following artists came very close and we want to honor them with an honorable mention for their great songs:

Ross Copperman - Glass

Monica Ott - The Brave One

Will Hopkins - My Devil Does

Toby Lightman - So Natural

Alfa Garcia - Supergirl

Danica Dora - Bad Dream All Along

David Forest - Dreams That Aren’t Mine

Lindsay Katt - My Happy

Pam Autuori - Extension

Corn?eld McCarthy - Soul Singer

Will Knox - Belly Of The Beast

David Andrew Smith - For The Time Being

Graham Greer - Wire-Walker

Stephanie Nilles - A Great Notion

Lili Anel - Supposed To Be

Amy Fairchild - Renee

The Sweet Remains - Spark

Cobalt & the Hired Guns! - Of Summer

Casey Desmond - Fall

Libby Weaver - Too Many To Mend

Lesley Pike - Silver Lining

Craig Wilson - Just A House, Hearts Don’t Really Break

Jean Rohe - Lead Me Home

Ervin Stellar - Daphne McKee

Mikey Wax - In Case I Go Again

Ruut - Anchor

Jocelyn Sco?eld - Lost

Michael Kragh - Can’t Break the Earth

René G. Boscio - Forever For You

Bridget Davis and Luke Moellman - Rewind

Lissa Farquhar - To Know, Supposed Me

Neil Shah - Young Forever

David D’Alessio - Savor the Cold

Debra Gussin - Is That You

Zach Hurd - Do Your Thing

Alec Gross - You Make Sense To Me

IJ Quinn -The Sweetest Talk

Joel Dobbins - Does Heaven Have A Flag

Brannon Powers - In Between

David Stein - Faster

Wendy Parr/Heera - Get up & Dance

Joe Scutella - Willow Tree

Jo Davidson - Too Many Wars

The Whispering Tree - Go Call The Captain

Stephanie Donley - Rainy Day

Nicole Reynolds - We Could Have Met

Chris Ayer - Opening

Nicola - Anybody Out There

Luke Wesley - I Hope You Like This Song

Matthew Dorrien - You Can Kiss Me

Stacie Rose - Hope

Christer Wulff - Jolene

Gareth Davies-Jones - Breathe

Dearest amazing artists,

These last few days have been so intense, So filled with incredible songs that we are actually having to take a little more time to listen to be fair to everyone.
We will announce the Top 12 Monday and the honorable mentions, Young person's award finalists and International award winners.

Stay tuned!! 

Tina Shafer

We are excited to announce that in addition to the exciting prize packages to be awarded to top winner of our 2009 Songwriting Contest, The winner will also be invited to perform on "The 10! Show" on NBC / Philly - NBC 10's entertainment / lifestyles show!

Deadine for submissions is only a few short days away ! Click here to submit your music.

Why You Should submit To the contest

-Company of Thieves, an amazing band out of Chicago , won our contest in 2007. Since winning our contest, COT has been creating quite a buzz, getting signed shortly after winning the contest to Wind UP Entertainment. They’ve performed on Last Call with Carson Daly, are currently on a nationwide tour and are growing a devoted fan base.

You don’t have to win first prize to be in the winner’s circle.

-Former runners-up have also seen huge success. The amazing John Schmitt is a prime example. Since winning third place in our contest, John has really taken advantage of every opportunity the Circle has to offer – his idea for an educational monthly networking event for artists – our “Loft Series” – has been so successful, and has not only given John amazing connections and opportunities, but extended that opportunity to our entire community (Thanks John!!).

Grand Prize:

$10,000 Cash

-A top of the line Songwriter Deluxe Gibson Acoustic Guitar (over $4000 value)

-An Invitation to perform with John Oates at "STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS". (Past performers include Patty Griffin, Tift Merritt and Jimmy Wayne)

-A 10 hour recording studio session package at MorningStar Studios, Philadelphia with GRAMMY Award winning Engineer/Producer Glenn Barratt. - (a $3000 value)

-A 10 hour recording package including a 50 Duplication package with Blue Light Digital Sound. (a $850.00 value)

-A feature on Q104.3FM''''s "Out Of the Box" with Jonathan Clarke.

-A free 2 year membership to Onlinegigs.com ($480 value)

-An opportunity to perform as part of the Circle's legendary showcase series in New York City , Philadelphia , Boston , Chicago and/or Los Angeles .

-A Full Page Feature on songwriters-circle.com


2nd Place :

$3,000 Cash

-A free "Blue Light Session" CD/ DVD recording session at Blue Light Digital Sound. (A $600.00 Value)

-A free 1 year membership to Onlinegigs.com ($240 value)

-An opportunity to perform as part of the Circle's legendary showcases series in New York City , Philadelphia , Boston , Chicago and/or Los Angeles .

-A Feature on songwriters-circle.com


3rd Place :

$1,500 Cash

-A 5 hour recording package at Blue Light Digital Sound. (A $325.00 Value)

-A free 1 year membership to Onlinegigs.com ($240 value)

-An opportunity to perform as part of the Circle’s legendary showcase series in New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and/or Los Angeles.

-A Feature on songwriters-circle.com

The International Award:

In addition to being eligible for our top awards, Members from anywhere outside of the US automatically qualify for the International Award, highlighting a song whose writer originates from anywhere in the world except the US. This award has been created to allow International songwriters to expose their music in the US and launch their career stateside.

$1,000 Cash

Read more about the International Award.

New York – August 10, 2009 – The New York Songwriter’s Circle (NYSC) and Fashion Fantasy Game (FFG) have teamed up to bring the newest music composers and performers together with FFG’s style and lifestyle savvy audience.  From the red carpet at the Grammy Awards to MTV, from Madonna to Katy Perry’s self styled designs, music and fashion are inextricable.  The partnership between NYSC and FFG will provide a forum for emerging talent in both disciplines.

FFG’s community of 675,000 members will have access to music video and audio recordings by some of the best up and coming singer/songwriter talent from the NYSC catalog.  FFG members will also be in the enviable position of casting the final votes to determine the overall winner in the under 18 category of the NYSC’s 2009 Young Songwriter Award with an online ballot in October. 

The New York Songwriters Circle is now accepting submissions for its 2009 Songwriting Contest, which awards more than $25,000 in cash and prizes.  Songwriters from around the world are invited to enter at http://www.songwriters-circle.com. 

“This is a fantastic opportunity for our artists to have their songs heard by hundreds of
thousands of young music fans in an influential online community,” said Tina Shafer, NYSC Artistic Director and president for the past 19 years. 

Fashion Fantasy Game is a social network for teens and young women based upon a virtual world of fashion.  Members join as designers or store owners and develop online profiles, interact with each other via chat and email, and design virtual clothing and accessories that they market and sell virtually to other members.  The site also features weekly themed design competitions.  FFG members have created more than one million unique fashions to date. 

“FFG members are passionate about trends, style and they know what’s hot.  We think this is the perfect opportunity to showcase performers who could become the next Kate Voegele (NYSC’s first contest winner),” said Nancy Ganz, creator and Chief Fashion Designer, Fashion Fantasy Game.  “FFG membership is growing at a pace of more than 10,000 members per week, add to that the range of capabilities of our site and we offer The New York Songwriter’s Circle a powerful springboard for their performers.”

click here for the full press release

BYRON ZANOS, CALEB HAWLEY AND JOHN SCHMITT

Thanks to our friends at Live Nation !

We are excited to announce we will be opening up not one but two new circles in the coming months.

On August 24th we will be launching our Los Angeles circle with the amazing Suzan Koc as our LA host at "The Mint". The lineup will be announced shortly.

Join NYSC LA Group on Facebook

On September 1st we will be launching the Chicago Circle, hosted by Matt Ryd at "Schubas". Click here for all the info.

Become a fan of NYSC Chicago on Facebook

See you there !

After an incredible launch event on June 25th, (Video) we are excited to be accepting submissions for the 2009 Songwriting Contest. Most recently we have added some additional new prizes and opportunities including a top of the line Gibson guitar (Thanks to our amazing sponsors and friends and Gibson).

Click here to check out all the info and be sure to check it often as we will be updating contest information frequently over the next few months !

Happy writing :)

NYSC is thrilled to announce a very special circle featuring John Oates, Phoebe Snow, Jesse Harris, Marcus Hummon, Tina Shafer and Reed Waddle to announce the launch of our 2009 Songwriting Contest.

Join us on Thursday, June 25th, 8pm at The Bitter End for this very special night.

Featuring special guest, 2008 Songwriting Contest grand prize winner Mieka Pauley.

8pm at The Bitter End, 147 Bleecker Street (between Thompson and LaGuardia), New York City

rsvp on facebook

Check out the brand new video for Mieka Pauley's "All The Same Mistakes" - The winning song of our 2008 songwriting contest. This song is also included on "The Best Of The New York Songwriters Circle Vol. 1" compilation CD - Congratulations Mieka !

Check out this cool spot LX-TV / NBC did on the New York Songwriters Circle featuring Tina Shafer, Mieka Pauley, John Conahan and many more.

or Click here to watch

Jason Rabinowitz on "The Directors Chair"

John Schmitt on "The Directors Chair"

NYSC's John Schmitt and Jason Rabinowitz of The Bloodsugars will guest on Jonathan Clarke's "The Directors Chair" TV show which airs Thursday, 3/12 at 10PM on ch. 57 on Time Warner Cable S.I.

Both John Schmitt and The Bloodsugars appear in the upcoming "Best of NYSC Vol. I" CD which will be released soon. We will post videos of their appearences as soon as they become available.

Check out these great appearences by 2008 Songwriting Contest winner Mieka Pauley and top 12 finalist Chris Ayer on Jonathan Clarke's "The Director's Chair" TV Show.

Musicians for a Cause has selected the New York Songwriters Circle as its affiliate
to provide a song in support of the National Council of Nonprofits.

As the lifeblood of America’s communities, nonprofit organizations help the poor, feed the hungry, care for elderly, save the children, fight disease, shelter homeless and much more. The National Council of Nonprofits acts as their backbone, uniting them and giving them strength to carry out their missions with a unified voice! Musicians for a Cause will help channel that voice into a song.

Musicians for a Cause has selected the New York Songwriters Circle as its affiliate to provide a song in support of the National Council of Nonprofits. The New York Songwriters Circle will draw together a collaborative effort of top songwriters to provide heartfelt songs that bring life to the work done by nonprofit organizations nationwide.


The songs will be released in conjunction with the 2009 National Nonprofit Congress in New Orleans on May 14th, 2009 and presented to their 20,000 member organizations nationwide.

For more info please visit http://www.m4ac.org/

We have re-opened the site for music submissions for booking opprotunitees for our ongoing live music showcases in New York, Boston and Philadelphia.

If you have submitted music to the 2008 Songwriting Contest your submissions will be automatically considered for showcase bookings, you do not need to re-submit.

Click here to submit your music.

Happy Holidays !

NYSC is teaming up with World Cafe Live as they present the Beta Hi-Fi Songwriters Sessions.

Philadelphia songwriters will submit their existing music to World Cafe Live. Weeks 1-3, we will have 5 artists perform. 1 finalist will be chosen per night. Artists are to announce which is their new material as they perform them (at least 1-2 songs of their performance should be unreleased "new" songs and the "new songs" will be what drives them to be a finalist. Artists are to preferably perform as a strong, solo artist, with one accompanist allowed if requested. Weeks 1-3 will be judged by the popular vote so everyone is encouraged to bring their family, friends, & fans.

Week 4: The 3 finalists will perform for the evening, and we will have guest judges: Phil Roy, Lizanne Knott, Tina Shaffer (from NY Songwriter’s Circle), and Michael Majoun (WXPN). A FINALIST/"winner" will be chosen by the judges. Week 5: The FINALIST/"winner" will perform as part of the NY Songwriter’s Circle on World Cafe Live’s upstairs stage (Jan 29th). Prizes also include: one spot in NY (Bitter End) at their NY Songwriter’s Circle (TBA date), 1 Shure microphone, and 10 hours of recording time for their "new songs" at Morning Star Studios with Grammy Award winning producer/engineer Glenn Barratt.

New AND established artists are encouraged to submit.

Click here for more information and to submit your music!

A huge thank you goes out to all our finalists, judges, sponsors, fans, supporters, guests and members for helping us create these amazing two nights. I wanted to share just some of the emails we have recieved from all of you:

Thank YOU for inviting me to be a part of your remarkable evening. What an incredible group of talent you assembled last night. It was really a privilege for me to be there, I'm happy to help and lend my support whenever you need me. Marc Cohn

Thanks so much for thinking enough of my music to involve me in such a wonderful night, and helping a dream come true in getting to not only meet, but play  with Marc Cohn. SUCH an honor! What a great idea and organization! Dave Barnes

I am so honored, thank you SO MUCH. I'm really looking forward to being involved with nysc. the finale was beautiful btw, congrats for having such an amazing event come together so well. I'm so so happy to have been a part of it. Mieka Pauley - Winner

In a word "wow"!! What an amazing two nights. I can't wait for next year's contest. Hearing great new music from such talented new artists is such a pleasure and this event, which was good to begin with, keeps on getting better. You rock Tina. So did the contest. It was both my pleasure and honor, as always, to be there as one of the judges. Niel Rosen - NY1

It was an absolute pleasure once again being a Judge for this wonderful organization.  I enjoyed hanging with you all.  I truly look forward to next year's event. I hope to see you all soon.  Always remember, there is no business like show business. Mark Eichner - President, 785 Records / Denise Rich Songs.

I was inspired. Our days get so busy that it is nice to stop and remember why we do what we do. Its about the music. Tina I applaud you and was happy to be a part of it. Thanks for including me. Debbie Wilson - Wilspro Management

Thanks so much for all your hard working in making the contest and final event happen. You guys put on a great show and made it look effortless even though I know it wasn't!  I've always wanted to be a part of the Circle and this was a great introduction to it!  I really look forward to playing a future event and hope to see you all there! Mark D. Conklin - Finalist

For me, the whole experience of joining the circle and being in the finals was an absolute treat. And very inspiring too. I loved hearing all the songs and performances, and I think you guys did a great job with the event, and the judges, and the after-party and everything! I look forward to staying very involved. Rachel Garlin - Finalist

Oh what a night ...

 Congratulations to our winners :

GRAND PRIZE WINNER - MIEKA PAULEY - All The Same Mistakes

2nd place - GILLIAN GRASSIE - Silken String

3rd place - JOHN SCHMITT - OPHELIA

Check back soon for photos, interviews, videos and all the good stuff !

The results are in!

After an amazing night last night, the top 5 will be announced and perform again tonight.

Grammy Award winning Singer/Songwriter Marc Cohn and Indie music sensation Dave Barnes will be our special guests! Aside from his own impressive music catalog, Marc Cohn has worked with such notable artists as Tracy Chapman, Jackson Browne, David Crosby, Shawn Colvin and many more.

Dave Barnes is currently touring with Hanson and has achieved both critical and commercial success as an indie recording artist.

2008 International award winner Amalie Bruun and Young songwriter award winner Sarah Solovay will also perform their winning songs!

Join us for the after party at the Bitter End after the finals for a meet and greet with our judges, finalists and winners!

JOIN US TONIGHT - IT ALL STARTS AT 8PM
LIVE AT THE BITTER END, NYC

We are thrilled to announce the top 12 finalists who will be performing live in front of our judges on November 5th and 6th, 2008 at The Bitter End in New York. With so many incredible songs submitted to us this year, this was truly the hardest screening process we have ever had. Congratulations to all 12 finalists as well as winners of the Young Songwriter and International Songwriter of 2008.

Click here for our TOP 12 !

With so many of you writing in to request a deadline extension, we are happy to announce that the deadline for submissions to our 2008 Songwriting contest has been extended to October 10th, 2008.

We will continue accepting submissions online until 11:59 PM, EST on October 10th, 2008.

Mail in submissions must be postmarked by October 5th, 2008.

Thank you !

Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter Marc Cohn and Indie music sensation Dave Barnes will be our very special guests at the 2008 contest live finale event, November 6th, 2008 at the Bitter End, NYC.

Aside from his own impressive music catalog, Marc Cohn has worked with some amazing artists such as Tracy Chapman, Jackson Browne, David Crosby, Shawn Colvin and many more. Currently on tour with "Los Lonely Boys", Dave Barnes  has achieved achieved both critical and  commercial success as an indie artist, and is currently signed to Razor and Tie.

The New York Songwriter's Circle  is proud to announce we have secured the support of one of our biggest fans, Q104.3 Radio's very own Jonathan Clarke!

In addition to being a judge at the finals event, Clarke will feature the 2008 NYSC 2008 Songwriting Contest Grand prize winner on his highly rated "Out Of The Box" show, a show that features the best in new music as well as local, unsigned and undiscovered singer/songwriters.

Click here to read more about Jonathan Clarke

Click here to visit Q104.3 online

Click here to submit your music

We are delighted to announce that Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter Marc Cohn will be our very special guest at the 2008 Songwriting Contest finale event on November 6th, 2008 at the Bitter End.

Click here to read more about Marc.

we are thrilled to announce the launch of The New York Songwriters Circle - BOSTON !

On Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 we will launch our monthly Boston showcase series at the amazing Johnny D's in Somerville, MA.
Our Boston showcases will be hosted by Singer/Songwriter Liz Longley and presented in partnership with WUMB Radio.

Boston based writers - all contest submissions will also be reviewed and considered for booking the Boston series as well as our ongoing showcases in NY and PA so make sure you have your best stuff submitted for us to review.

Check the events page for complete artists listings and more info !

We are delighted to announce an additional new prize to be awarded to the grand prize winner of the 2008 songwriting contest - A performance spot at the Live Nation Concert Series at Jones Beach!

Via our new partnership with the wonderful people at Live Nation we hope to continue to give our members new and exciting ways to expose their music.

We are excited to announce our new partnership with WXPN Philadelphia. A nationally recognized leader in Triple A radio and the premier guide for discovering new and significant artists in rock, blues, roots, and folk, is the non-commercial, member-supported radio service of the University of Pennsylvania, WXPN produces World Cafe, public radio's most popular program of popular music hosted by David Dye and syndicated by NPR, and the Peabody Award winning Kids Corner hosted by Kathy O'Connell. WXPN also produces the alternative rock service, Y-Rock On XPN as its secondary radio channel in HD that is also available online.

Through our partnership with WXPN we will continue expanding the opportunities we offer our members helping them expose their music to a broader audience and promote great original songs.

A huge thank you goes out to all of you who came out to celebrate our Philly launch at the World Cafe Live in Philly! We all had such a blast and will be posting some videos of the amazing performances for everyone to check out really soon. We have been enjoying many of your song submissions and will share some of the best with you all via our music player on the site. See you soon!

We invite everyone to come down on Thursday, April 24th, at 06:30 PM to help us kick off our 2008 Songwriting Contest. Company Of Thieves, our 2007 Songwriting Contest Grand Prize Winners will be performing live.

Click here for tickets.

It's all happening at Canal Room, 285 W. Broadway, in New York City, on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 06:30 PM. See you there!

Featuring:
Josh McMillan, Ian Axel, Mac & Chaz, The Bloodsugars and
Company of Thieves (2007 Songwriting Contest Grand Prize Winners)
Thursday, April, 24th, 2008 at Canal Room
Doors: 6:00 PM / Show: 06:30 PM
285 W. Broadway, NYC, New York 10013
Click here for tickets.

On Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 Wewill be launching our new franchise in Philadelphia with an incredible line-upof performers at the World Cafe Live

Featuring:
Eric Bazilian
Tina Shafer (Founder of the NYSC),
Lizanne Knott,
Lindsay Rush (Director of NYSC - Philadelphia) More artists TBA