After winning 1st place in the Pop/Rock/RnB/Alt category in Dallas Songwriters Association international song contest, Gallagher’s “I Believe” won out over the top three winners from each of the contest’s eight categories.
“Because the melody is so engaging and the words work so well with it, you can pretty much sing this song from the first listen.” said Roy Elkins, grand prize judge and CEO of Broadjam.com, an online community and resource for musicians. Additionally Elkins says “Great work by this writer and dead center in today’s pop market.” To read all of the judges comments on this and other songs, refer to http://dsasongcontest.blogspot.com/p/grand-prize-judge-roy-elkins-comments.html
Gallaghers song, “3, 2, 1” also garnered a nod from the Grand Prize Judge taking 2nd runner up. Elkins says, “This is and excellent Techno piece of music and since the lyric refers to dancing, I am sure DJs around the world would love to have this in their platlists.”
Jay Gallagher (James Hayden Gallagher) alias Jay+Tonic is a composer, producer, DJ, and award-winning songwriter. His genres include Pop, Electro House, Dance, and Electropop.
A classically trained cellist living outside of Philadelphia, PA., Jay began playing the cello at age four and as a twelve year old was accepted into Temple University's Center for Gifted Young Musicians, studying under Metta Watts. An amateur classical composer through high school, it was not until college that he began exploring the realm of electronic music. Having been dubbed the "Bach of electronic dance" (Jon Gordon, former musical director for Suzanne Vega and Madonna), Jay draws from and combines his classical roots with cutting-edge sound design and production techniques to create detailed compositions. His music has sat atop charts on highly regarded music websites, like Broadjam.com, is being featured in multiple advertisement and promotional videos, and has been accepted into premier music licensing libraries for its fresh and current musical style.
Philly's Jay + Tonic wins Grand Prize - Aussie is Runner Up
Aussie Rick Webster garnered the 1st runner up prize with “Looking Glass” which took first place in the Instrumental/Easy Listening category. Elkins praised the composition, saying, “I do believe this would be well received in the jazz marketplace as it has all of the songwriting elements that make a great jazz piece.”
Rick Webster is a Guitarist/Composer from Perth, Western Australia. He was the Grand Prize winner for Jazz in the International John Lennon Songwriting Contest 2012. After graduating from the Academy of Performing arts with both a Bachelor in Jazz Music and an Advanced Diploma of Contemporary music, Rick has gone on to become one of the hardest working guitarists in Perth working most nights of the week in all styles from solo jazz guitar to larger groups playing rock, funk, soul, pop, hip hop and other contemporary styles.
Besides performing In a variety of groups, Rick is also an experienced pit musician performing in musicals around Perth as well as performing with The Perth Symphony Orchestra for large performances across Australia as well as throughout New Zealand and Asia.
His first EP release “Rick Webster” in 2011, was a culmination of his many influences and years of Jazz training. It earned him 2 WAM nominations for best Jazz act and Jazz song of the year 2012. His latest release of soul/R&B vocal tracks was released in July 2012 and draws on Rick’s love of contemporary soul music combined with melodic guitar work.
To hear samples of his work please visit the media and store section of his website to see and hear Rick in a variety of different settings from acoustic and jazz to rock and a variety of contemporary styles. Both his EP’s are available in the “Store” section of his website: http://rick-webster.com/
