2012 DSA Song Contest Winners

Macy Medford 2012 Grand Prize Winner in Songwriters Song Contest

Houston's Macy Medford wins Grand Prize 

by Roger Russell


After winning 2nd place in the Singer Songwriter category in Dallas Songwriters Association international song contest, Medford’s “Just Me and You” (co-written with Jonathan George) won out over the top three winners from each of the contest’s eight categories.

“One song, ‘Just Me and You’ caught my ear throughout the process” said Roy Elkins, grand prize judge and CEO of Broadjam.com, an online community and resource for musicians.

DSA President Roger Russell had a chance to talk with Macy and her mother, Stacy.

Roger: How old are you?

Macy: I am 15 years old now.

Roger: Are you attending high school now?

Macy: I am a sophomore at Seven Lakes High School in Katy, Texas.

Roger: What instruments do you play?

Macy: Guitar and Piano.

Roger: Did you take lessons?

Macy: Piano for 4 to 5 years while I was in elementary school and I am taking guitar lessons in high school.

Roger: What was the first time you performed?

Macy: I played Annie in the musical production the summer before fourth grade, however, the first time I performed on stage was the school Talent Show in 2nd Grade.

Roger: What inspired you to write the song “Just Me and You”?

Macy: Jason Mraz inspired me. I wanted a song with ukelele in it. The song is a combination of songs I have written. Jonathan George was the cowriter and helped to decide how the song was written.

Roger: Do you currently perform?

Macy: I perform in the Houston area and in Los Angeles.

Roger: Is the song available for people to purchase?

Macy: My whole CD is available on iTunes. I also have a website: macymedford.com where I have music and videos. The video on the first page was recorded at Marilyn Monroe’s house in Los Angeles.

Roger: Have you done other performances?

Macy: I played Tinkerbell in a school play and I am currently playing Janet in the school production of the musical “The Drowsy Chaperone”.

Roger: What was the first song you wrote?

Macy: “Bye Bye” was written when I was 13.

Roger: Do you aspire to be a singer/songwriter?

Macy: Yes, in the future. I have wanted this since the 5th or 6th grade. I always liked English and Poetry and singing songs.

Roger: Did you know who Beth Nielsen Chapman was before you won the guitar she had signed?

Macy: Yes, and I was proud to win the guitar she signed. I was on the Fox Morning Show when the guitar arrived and talked about it during my interview.

Roger: Stacy, how do you feel?

Stacy: I am so proud of her.

Roger: Jonathan George is your cowriter. How does he influence your songs.

Macy: Sometimes he can change a word or two that takes the song in a whole new direction.

Roger: What can you tell people about the music business?

Macy: People don’t realize what it takes to put out a CD until they have actually done it.

Roger: How many songs have you written and recorded?

Macy: I have written 8 songs. I wrote all of them with Jonathan as cowriter.

Roger: Do you have a manager or agent?

Macy: Jonathan George is my manager.

Roger: How do you feel about winning the guitar?

Macy: I am so honored to be recognized for my songwriting from the Dallas Songwriters Association. I am very proud to be a part of this wonderful organization.

In conclusion, I am proud of Macy’s accomplishments. She has a bright future ahead of her as a songwriter and performer. At 15, she has already accomplished so much. Winning an international songwriting contest is something that some people spend a lifetime working toward. Her talent is a gift that she shares with the world and the Dallas Songwriters Association and I wish her the best in her songwriting. I see all kinds of possibilities for a talent like Macy, and I feel that one day I will see Macy as a star, and have the memory of the interview I did when she won our songwriting contest.

GRAND PRIZE WINNER

Just Me and You by Macy Medford, Jonathan George, Houston, TX

1ST RUNNER UP

That Old Shirt by Steve Chizmadia, Peekskill, NY

2ND RUNNER UP

You'll Be Back by Debra M. Gussin, Jonathan Bluth, LA, CA

Category Winners

AMERICANA
1. That Old Shirt by Steve Chizmadia, Peekskill, NY
2. Kids These Days by Andy Hill, Renee Safier and Hardrain, Redondo Beach, CA
3. Find My Way by Chris Alvarado, Santa Rosa Beach, FL

CHILDREN'S / NOVELTY
1. Bookstore Blues by Eric Colville, The Selkies, Ipswich, MA
2. Our Gumtree Home by Glen Naylor, Bright, Victoria, Australia
3. The Monster Masher by Lanny Sherwin, Santa Barbara, CA

CHRISTIAN
1. Blue Room by Keeton Coffman, Sping,TX
2. Is That You? by Debra M. Gussin, Rik Howard, LA, CA
3. Holy Water by Spencer Clark, Saint Helena, CA

COUNTRY
1. Abilene From Abilene by Kevin Reardon, Riverside, CT
2. Liar by Daniel Sumber, Josh Patton, Brandon Sparks, (Patton Sparks Band), Austin, Tx
3. I Love It When You Call by by Andy Taylor, Alpharetta, GA

INSTRUMENTAL
1. Dolphins In Love by Gavin R. Potter, Simons Town, S. Africa
2. I Need You by V. Padla Gootee, Arlington, VA
3. The Struggles Within by Diane Lekven, Jordan Perez, Rancho Sante Fe, CA

LOVE SONGS
1. I Like The Way You Look At Me by Belle Schneiderman, NY, NY
2. Believe In Love by Robert Graham, Toronto, Ont, CAN
3. Do U Miss The Heat by Debra M. Gussin, Stacy Hogan, LA, CA

POP/ROCK/RNB/ALT
1. Fade To Grey by Chris O'Neil, Heathmont, Victoria, Australia
2. Those Were The Days by Chase Thompson, Pasco, WA
3, Julie by Philip Creamer, Daniel Creamer, Tucker Cauble, Dallas, TX
HM: So Confused by Nestor Cora, Brooklyn, NY
HM: You'll Be Back by Debra M Gussin, Jonathan Bluth, LA, CA

SINGER SONGWRITER
1. I Am Not James Taylor by Gordon Lustig, Napa, CA
2. Just Me and You by Macy Medford, Jonathan George, Houston, TX
3. Sing Your Song by Susie McLean, Mississauga, Ontario, CAN
HM I Gave You Away by Becky Wright, Tahlequah, OK

Sponsors providing our prizes include Beaird Music Group, Roger Russell, River Sounds, JoMusik, Barbara McMillen, Broadjam, and Sonicbids. Additional sponsors include Crystal Clear Sound, Patrick McGuire Recording and WM Sales/Cam Audio. Submission partners are Broadjam.com and Sonicbids.com.  Music industry partners are Dallas International Guitar Festival, Arlington Guitar Show, Tradition Guitars, Texas Music Group, Bar-b Music Marketing Consultants, Musemuse.com, Austin Songwriters Group and Jo-Musik.  

Dallas Songwriters Assoc. is a 501c3 non-profit educational organization dedicated to providing information about the craft and business of songwriting. All styles of music are welcome in the DSA, and membership includes writers of all ages. DSA monthly activities include meetings with guest speakers, song critiques and performance showcases that are open to the public. In addition, the DSA supports and promotes workshops and contests and publishes a monthly newsletter. For more information, visit www.dallassongwriters.org.

2011 Song of the Year Winner

TEARS FOR A DEPARTING MEMBER

Seattle-Bound Song of the Year Winner Takes DSA By Storm

By Buck Morgan

Just over a year ago, a fresh breath of energy and talent took hold of the Dallas Songwriters Association. From outward appearances, you could not have predicted the impact one of the DSA’s youngest members would have on an organization made up mainly of men and woman who have come to terms with being older than the President.

(President Obama, that is. Quite a few are still younger than DSA President Russell.)

Casey Graham has given the DSA a pulse of energy. He left most of us speechless with his 2011 Song of the Year winner, “Tears for Joanna.” I heard the song for the first time at a 1^st Monday Song Swap, and I was on the Critique Panel the second time I heard it. I still recall the awed silence that followed both times. I think my first words from the panel were, “I love this song,” and I still do.

Song of the Year judge Zane Williams said about his top pick among the 2011 Monthly Critique Winners, “I don’t know whether it’s a made-up story or a real event in the life of the songwriter, and that means he did his job well… a poignant tune about an interesting character.”

(Find out more about singer/songwriter Zane Williams here:  http://zanewilliamsmusic.com/fr_home.cfm )

As Song of the Year winner, Casey will receive a $350 certificate for an 8-hour recording session with DSA member/sponsor Jerialice Arsenault at River Sound studios in Castell, Texas, http://recordingtexas.com/ . 

He also enjoys a year’s free membership in DSA and a cool DSA tee shirt.

 Like any pulse, there is a beginning and an end. Casey’s time with the DSA will end this fall, as he packs up his car and his talents and heads to Seattle as a graduate student of history at the University of Washington. His family is in Fort Worth, so we hope to see and hear from him again.

Recently, Casey responded to some questions:

DSA: How long have you been writing songs? Performing? Playing the guitar?

CG: I technically wrote my first songs my senior year of high school--seven years ago, now--usually just short, stupid talking blues about sports, songs that are long gone now.  A couple of years later, in 2008, I started writing again when I first started performing. I would just lop on a couple of my original songs at the end of a long set of folk covers.  It wasn't until I finished college in 2010, though, that I decided that songwriting was something I really wanted to do. So I generally say two years, although that's not the whole story.

The first time I played guitar and sang in front of people was December 2007, doing the "intermission" set for a local cover band in Waco at an Italian restaurant.  I had, at that point, been playing guitar for about four years.  My dad bought a guitar for his first mid-life crisis but failed terribly at it, and I eventually took it from him and learned myself.

DSA: Where did you learn to sing?

CG: I took piano lessons from the age of 5 to the age of about 10 or 11. Singing-wise, I was tone-deaf, so in the last year of my lessons my teacher started using some of the time to teach me how to breathe, project, and hear pitch properly.  It fixed me, so to speak.

DSA: What kinds of songs move you? What kind of reaction in the listener do you strive for? What do you want her to feel?

CG: I don't subscribe to the notion that you have to be intensely personal in songwriting to be genuinely sincere.  I think there's truth to be found outside of yourself, in what you see in the world around you, and those are the songs that move me most. Perhaps the greatest song I've ever heard is Phil Ochs's "The Crucifixion," which is a song about how American society builds up its heroes in order to revel in tearing them down.  It's not an intense personal statement, but hell if it isn't the most moving song I've ever heard.  I aspire (and usually fail, as we all do) to invoke that kind of emotion in a listener, to think about the world around them in a different way, culturally, sociologically, politically, what have you.

DSA: What are your main interests in life, and where does music fit in?

CG: Outside of work, music really is most of what I do.  If I'm not writing it, I'm singing it or listening to it. I'm not a social person, so music is a way for me to keep myself company. Other than that, I just want to learn everything I possibly can about everything.

DSA: How do you see life for you in the next 10 years? Where will you be, what will you be doing, and what role will your music play?

CG: To be honest, I don't have the foggiest notion.  Like most of my generation, I'm not sure what I want to do with my life and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.  Music will always play a huge role in my life; I'm always going to keep writing, and that will lead where it will lead.  I wish I could give a longer answer.

DSA: Tell about 'Tears for Joanna.” When did you write it? What was on your mind? Who did you think of while you were writing it?

CG: "Tears for Joanna" came about very differently than most songs do, as it's a made-up story.  The title entered my head in January of 2011 when I was just sitting at the Buon Giorno Coffee location in Fort Worth, before I moved to Dallas.  When I sat down later in the weekend to flesh it out, I started to think about what that phrase could mean.  I think I had recently read something somewhere about someone running away from home, so that was what was on my mind.  I wanted to write a song that didn't consist of four-line verses, ABAB or AABB.  The first couple of drafts were actually much longer than it is even now. I just started writing whole verses for every member of her family, trying to create the cultural conflict and environment that led to this poor girl's downfall.  Eventually, the song pared itself down to the five verses there are now. My friend Alex Muller eventually helped to finish it, replacing lines where I was far too literal and re-writing a good portion of one of the verses.

DSA: Tell us about you brief time with the DSA. You've become one of our most steady members. Why? What motivates you?

CG: Basically, I don't know how to half-ass anything.  I paid my dues and was going to actually be a part of it.  I joined because I didn't really have any friends in Dallas or anything to do.  DSA gave me a group of people with whom I could talk about songwriting, process, et cetera.  My musical and emotional tastes are rather atypical, and I needed people to be honest with me about what my songs really said to them, because I couldn't use myself as an example.  I didn't join DSA for gratification as a songwriter--taking compliments properly is a social convention that escapes me totally --but to get better as one.

DSA: What are the two or three things you would change about the DSA?

CG: I would get rid of a quantitative judging system.  It's hard enough to explain in words why you think one song works better than another; I think it's even more difficult to do it in numbers.  I also think the most important part of a song is its lyric--a song with a great lyric and a poor "structure" (whatever that is) is a better song than one with poor lyrics and great "structure" (again, whatever that means).  But in the system as it is now, those songs score the same.  Also, I would add the requirement that songs at monthly meetings need to be less than a year old.  I think part of being a songwriters' organization is encouraging people to be writing now; it's also far more likely someone will be willing to change a new song based on others' comments than an old one.

I also think it's important to recognize where songwriting is going these days.  People my age don't really care much about having a hit song recorded in Nashville.  Songwriters of my generation want to sing their songs in front of listening audiences.  So, if the DSA wants to expand and secure its place, long-term, it has to offer these people opportunities to play and perform and become better singer-songwriters, not just songwriters.

END