On January 14, 2023, the DSA 2022 Song Contest Awards celebrated winners of the contest with a program that was live streamed to Facebook and now available on Youtube. The program features performances by contestants and announcements of the winners. Our grand prize winner is a French and Canadian national, Thierry Coupey. Second and third place runner up is Mike P Ryan.
Thierry Coupey of Quebec, Canada, the Grand Prize Winner of the 2022 Dallas Songwriters Association International Song Contest is enjoying his new Casio PX-S1000 Privia Piano, for his song "Redemption (The Last Waltz)."
Thierry also won all places in the category of Instrumental with Redemption, Soothing Times and Mes Series B. Born in France, he grew up studying classical and jazz. Work took him the Quebec, Canada where he has been living for more than 20 years. He joined the Broadjam community in 2012, as well as, SOCAN and began to pull together his creativity from the last 30 years. He posted his collective creative works in order to take advantage of the networking opportunities. If you visit his Broadjam site at https://www.broadjam.com/notabene you will notice that he has 149 songs posted.
Thierry is an accomplished artist, a skill he has honed since childhood.
More on Thierry's art from his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thierry.coupey.notabene
I had an opportunity to ask Thierry a few questions.
DSA
1. How and when did you become a songwriter?
Thierry Coupey
Composing music has always been in my genes I think, as far as I can remember. It looks like I was born with a need to express myself in arts, drawing first, at age of 5, first sketches, female esquisses, but music writing took over around age of 10 or 12 I would say. I remember in my village in France, at age 15, with accademic courses, I got my parents enrolling the Choir 'Viens et Chante' and I was harmonizing a lot of songs for this 4 register choir. My sister Nathalie, at that time wrote also a few french lyrics songs as well on some of her melodies.It was only much later, that english song writing was tried in Canada, with my Broadjam membership since 2012
DSA
2. Are there any songwriters that influenced your writing? Do you do any co-writing?
Thierry Coupey
A lot... :-) And my old friends from France will smile :
Back in the beginning in French : Jean Jacques Goldman, Michel Berger, Charles Aznavour
In english : Elton John, Barclay James Harvest, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Roxy Music...Queen
More recently : Sarah Brightman, Hans Zimmer, Lady Antebellum
Since my english writing is not native, yes I do co writing in that sense. I bring the music and expect more expertise in the english lyric writing from peers.
Actually, when I write in englsih, I always try to get some input from co workers. I am discreetly asking fro their opinion at work (in the IT department of my employer, we have a lot of englophone / native bilingual people)
DSA
3. What is your writing process, i.e. do you start with a melody or something else? Do you write lyrics?
Thierry Coupey
Either way. Often I would say, I let my fingers free on the piano. And there comes a catchy melody or chord sequence. If it sounds a bit familiar, I try to alter a few things to make sure it is really an original. Recording this exercise on the spot as an draft audio is also essential, as it can take time to lay down my findings on paper.
When I am not on the keybord, say in the car, I may thing of a speech to a friend or family, for a special occasion, or to express how I feel. And a series of rhymes can come to my mind. People say I am a poet. But I am just trying to find the best word at the best place.
I really like writing because thoughts are so fluid and short life, that I better take my time to find the best way to express it. And laying things on paper, taking time to do so, really pays off. At least, for me.
I have also on hand a synonym dictionary, as well as rhymes dictionay, antonym...etc... in french and english. But honnestly,I sparsely use them. Excess will disrupt the sponaneity of thoughts and will certainly mask a big part of their authenticity.
DSA
4. How did your DSA song contest winner “Redemption” come about and why do you think it is such a good song?
Thierry Coupey
ceivedBeing recognized for hard work is the dream of all artists I think. Beyond money, prizes, etc... winning such a contest is the utlimate reward a music composer can dream of. Especially because it was against lyrics submissions, experienced songwriters, in all categories and genre.
Come on, how could one even imagine that would be possible ??
I was certain that my track Redemption was a good one. May be not by best shot I have ever produced. But now, with all the critiques received and the detailed analysis from Roy Elkins, I am certain it is a raw diamond that needs to be even more polished and used in a movie or a big scene soundtrack.
(See below for Roy’s critique of the song)
Inspiration on this music track emerged when a good friend of mine made me discover Charlotte Cardin's songs (who is getting international from Quebec I think). I also made french lyrics on Redemption, and got it sung by my old friend Ingrid (remote from France, with whom I collaborated a few times already) : a very emotional french song about Human Resilience : Guerrier Admirable
DSA
5. What advice do you always give to people who want to be songwriters or improve their songwriting?
Thierry Coupey
Write on paper. Not always on electronic devices as it slows down the natural flow of inspiration. Use pen and paper sheets. Listen to lyrics on radio, analyze, play with words, think outside of the box, say things differently.
Get an audio recorder on hand (just a push button) even in the car (or in the shower :-). Essence is to capture things as they flow.
Also dont hesitate to get feedback from friends, or even coworkers who dont necessarily know you intimately, so they will bring more objectivity to their insights.
I have followed the '50 songs You Should Write' Madison video broadcast by Roy Elkins, who gave me a great set of options to widen my inspiration. Like trying to compose in a different key, write on a specific subject, alter the tempo and time signature. Roy helped me a lot in this subject to improve. And I would recommend to follow his hints and tricks.
THINK AND EXPLORE: 50 Songs You Should Write with Roy Elkins | Making a living as a musician is difficult, but it can be done. Join local musician and Broadjam founder, Roy Elkins as he breaks down how to... | By DreamBank - Madison | Facebook
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| Thierry receiving the Privia keyboard |
Judge Roy Elkins comments on the winning song, Redemption (The Last Waltz).
Easy, genius, humble, intellectual and respectful is how I would describe this piece. The song starts with a minimal drum beat in 6/8 time. At 12 seconds a simple melody begins on a B note on the 1 and easily plays to the 5th below on every note of the measure. Then the rhythm is repeated beginning on the D below playing a similar pattern. For the most part, the rhythm is repeated throughout the entire piece and one feels it building each time. But at 55 seconds it comes to a sliding mechanical stop, then repeats the rhythm pattern with another tasteful selection of notes. Some other effects are added in, eventually a violin with a counter melody. Then the arrangement picks up a little steam at 1:35 and the listener feel it’s ready to take off at any moment. Beautiful arpeggiated strings enter at 2:11. The listener continues to wait for it to explode as it grows a little more, then another mechanical stop, followed by sopranos that could have come directly from a Carl Orff rehearsal to this session. It never does detonate like I thought it might. It was disappointing, no wait a minute, it was genius. Clearly this writer has some training, coupled with natural talent as I feel they could have taken this to a whole different place, but the magic of this piece is “what they didn’t play.” Sometimes we writers want to cram as much in as possible, but this is a patient writer who knows how to captivate with simplicity. Brilliant work and I would love to hear more from him/her. Although this is not my favorite genre, it will be in my personal collection. Although the sound selection was brilliant, especially the sampled chorus, one could probably replace any of these sounds with any other sound and it would still work as the melody is so engaging. It’s a high quality melody and why this song is one the best in this competition.
The 2nd and 3rd place Grand Prize Winner of the 2022 Dallas Songwriters Association International Song Contest is Mike P. Ryan for his songs Some Goodbyes (which place 3rd in the Singer Songwriter category) and Between Heaven and the Ground (which won an honorable mention in the Singer Songwriter category).”
Mike Ryan's Southwestern roots and keen eye for detail have made him a favorite among Texas music fans. He has been a finalist in The Kerrville Folk Festival “New Folk” competition and the Dallas-based Wildflower Singer/ Songwriter contest. He has performed twice at The Dripping Springs Songwriter Festival and is a semi-finalist in the past year’s Dallas Songwriter’s Association Song Contest. No stranger to success outside the Lone Star State, he has been a finalist in the Connecticut Folk Festival Songwriting Contest and a winner in American Songwriter Magazine’s lyrics contest. In 2017 he won first place in the Roots/Americana category of The Mid-Atlantic Song Contest. He is a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. You can find his website here: https://mikepryanmusic.com
Mike performed on the Awards show which is post on youtube HERE.
Judge Roy Elkins Comments:
2nd place Grand Prize Winner is Some Goodbyes
A great hook. We all hear lots of songs about leaving, but this one is different. The singer is a son leaving home and talking about the advice his mother gave him as he was getting ready to go. She tells her son he’ll find love with this advice “You’ll swear that she’s your forever love, but the first one almost never is.” An excellent line. As he’s leaving, he sings, “We both laughed a little, when she said, I’m too tough to cry.” This song is filled with so many lines that could be hooks in other songs and is an example of a lyric that is perfectly coupled with the melody. If you read the lyric by itself, it is good. But with the melody it’s fantastic. My guess is this song was worked on and crafted as this is certainly done by a writer who has many songs under their belt. Congrats on this awesome piece of music.
As I have said so many times before, it is difficult for an instrumental to win a songwriting competition. In the past, I think I have only picked one to win and very few have placed in the top 5. I listen to all of the songs about 10 – 15 times while evaluating. This year, one song stuck in my head through the whole process from the first listen to the end. I kept humming this tune over and over again.
3rd place Grand Prize Winner is Between Heaven and The Ground
I enjoyed this a lot as the melody and “feel” of the song is amazing and Between Heaven Hell is a great hook. The melody is simple, pleasant to listen to and married well to the lyric. You can hear someone singing this around the campfire or sitting on a stool in a club. As I listen to this, I hear a potentially much larger song. I only say this from a commercial perspective, as I love the song exactly how it is. While I love story about flight, I think modifying the lyric to a vague reference of being high on love “Between Heaven and the Ground.” This could make a strong hook in a unique way to say the same thing writers have been saying for years, but with different words. If this was my song, I might experiment with a little “less about flight and more about love” approach and I don’t think you’d have to change many words around. It’s very good as is, my suggestion is for a broader commercial market and the ability for other genres to cover it I graded this very high. Hope this helps! Production note: Excellent, great recording of the vocal.
More awards are planned for March 25th when DSA will honor Opening Bell, Tone Shop, 3 Amigos and Patty Allen Driver as outstanding community partners.
DSA celebrates and continues to honor the hard work of their members by presenting the Vern Dailey Songwriter of the Year Award and the Best Song of the Year Award on March 25th.
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Dallas Songwriters Association is a 501 C-3 non-profit educational organization dedicated to enhancing the overall personal growth and professionalism of our members. With a passion for music and songwriting, DSA offers various events to support their members’ growth through workshops, open mics, networking, showcases, song contests, and community service. Support DSA by visiting https://dallassongwriters.org/.
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