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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
will again serve as Honorary Chairperson of the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. Entries on audiotape or compact disc for the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest must be received by March 18, 2005. Lauderdale will empanel a group of Nashville music industry figures that will evaluate all the entries. This panel will choose three finalists in each of four categories: bluegrass, country, gospel, and general. The finals will take place at MerleFest 2005 on April 29 on the Chris Austin Stage, sponsored by ASCAP and No Depression. Songwriters performing at the festival will judge the finals. At MerleFest finalists will receive 4-day tickets and lodging, underwritten by Fishman Transducers, within thirty miles of the event and compete for prizes include cash prizes, sponsored by Thomas Fisher, First Vice-President, Morgan Keegan, Durham, NC, and Epiphone Guitars from Gibson. Additional prizes and support come from Acoustic Guitar Magazine; SonicBids, and D’Addario strings. The first place
contestants will perform for the main stage audience. to enter the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest by mail for an entry fee of $25 per song using the entry form from the contest brochure (available by calling 800-799-3838) or printed from www.merlefest.org/SongwritingContest.htm.
All entries by mail must be submitted on tape or CD with entry fee and an
official entry form to The Chris Austin Songwriting Contest; PO Box 121855;
Nashville, TN 37212. Entries without completed entry form and fee will not be
judged. 2000, Sonicbids is quickly becoming the standard way for people in the music business to send and receive press kits online. Sonicbids currently has more than 1,800 partners, including prominent North American events such as CMJ, Folk Alliance, and the Billboard Song Contest. New Sonicbids members may enter one song and obtain a six-month Sonicbids membership for $29.95. Additional entries and entries by existing Sonicbids members are
$25. For more information:
www.sonicbids.com/chrisaustinsongcontest . First round judging from submitted recordings produced twelve finalists who competed with the following results. General Category Finalists (325 entries): First: “Granddaddy” by A.J. Roach, Oakland, CA; Second: “Talk Radio” by Michael Troy, Somerset, MA; Third: “Show Them” by Kristin Cifelli, Boston, MA. Country Category Finalists (271): First: “Forgiveness” by Sarah Hawker, Jersey City, NJ; Second: “Me and My Poodle” by Stayton Bonner, Austin, TX; Third: “No Need to Say it Again” by Justin Lute, Columbus, OH. Bluegrass Category Finalists (188): First: “Adeline” by Mike Finders, Iowa City, IA; Second: “Rockabye Dixie” by Abigail Washburn & Beau Stapleton, Nashville, TN; Third: “Dark Clouds” by Dave Wilson, Raleigh, NC. Gospel Category Finalists (105): First: “Come
By Here,” by Laurelyn Dossett, Greensboro, NC; Second: “Always Room in His
Heart” by Rita Case, Galena, OH; Third: “A Christmas Tear” by Tommy Austin, Fall
Branch, TN. Associate Coordinator of MerleFest, initiated the contest to honor the memory of Chris Austin, a northwestern North Carolina native. A Warner-Refuge writer, Austin spent several years in the band of Ricky Skaggs, who scored a Top 5 hit with Chris’ “Same Ol’ Love.” On March 16, 1991, only a few hours after Skaggs recorded the song, Austin, 27, was killed in a tragic plane accident near San Diego along with other members of Reba
McEntire’s band. A solo record, Firm Believer appeared posthumously on Warner
Brothers. Chris Austin Scholarship Fund, and funded construction of the Chris Austin Stage at the festival, where each year the finalists perform. Thomas Fisher, First Vice-President, Morgan Keegan, Durham, NC; Gibson Epiphone;
Fishman Transducers, SonicBids, Acoustic Guitar Magazine; and D’Addario Strings
sponsor the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. for Ralph Stanley II as guitarist and vocalist for Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys. The alt.country favorite has penned hits for such mainstream artists as George Strait, Patty Loveless, and the Dixie Chicks. Lauderdale’s co-writing partners have ranged from Harlan Howard to the Grateful Dead’s Robert Hunter. Lauderdale has appeared on stage as George Jones in “The Tammy Wynette Story.” Lauderdale records both bluegrass and
country material with folks ranging from Donna the Buffalo to Dr. Ralph. MerleFest 2005. Songwriters selected by lot from on site registrants on site will share the stage with
singer-songwriters performing at MerleFest. in celebration of the music of the late Merle Watson and his father Doc Watson presented by Wilkes Community College on April 28 May 1, 2005 on its campus in Wilkesboro, NC. Just a few of those joining Doc Watson and Merle’s son Richard Watson for MerleFest 2005 includes Balfa Toujours; BR549; Sam Bush; The Chieftains; Vassar Clements; Eustace Conway; John Cowan Band; Rodney Crowell; Donna the Buffalo; The Duhks; Béla Fleck Acoustic Trio; John Hiatt, Corey Harris; The John Jorgenson Quintet; Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, King Wilkie, The Kruger Brothers; Jim Lauderdale; Robert Lockwood, Jr.; Loretta Lynn; Del McCoury Band; Buddy Miller; Allison Moorer; Tim O’Brien; Railroad Earth; Tony Rice Unit; Peter Rowan; Darrell Scott; Earl Scruggs; Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder; Joe Thompson & Bob Carlin; and The Waybacks. MerleFest 2005 will offer a reunion of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys featuring Earl Scruggs, Vassar Clements, Bobby Hicks, Roland White, Tater Tate, Roland White, Del McCoury, host Peter Rowan, and others. The festival will also present two nights of The Chieftains with guests from the Down the Old Plank Road sessions including Doc, Douglas, Fleck, Hiatt, McCoury, Miller, Moorer, O’Brien, Scruggs, Skaggs, and more. Those with Internet access may acquire their tickets easily by visiting www.merlefest.org . Those without Internet access may purchase tickets by calling 1-800-343-7857 (US only) or 336-838-6267 (non-US) from 10 AM through 4 PM, EST, weekdays. Tickets may also be ordered by fax (336-838-6277) and mail (MerleFest; P.O. Box 1299; Wilkesboro, NC 28697). Those interested in volunteering for MerleFest should call 336-838-6292. Vendor info: 336-838-6291. Sponsor info:
336-838-6423. (Kill date 3/19/05)
MerleFest Information: 800-343-7857 or
www.merlefest.org
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