Tom Waits, Tori Amos, Ozzy Osbourne, My Morning Jacket, Jeff Beck, McCoy Tyner, Duran Duran, And Kelly Clarkson Join Music Industry Executives To Select 2011 ISC Winners 

August 9, 2011 - The prestigious International Songwriting Competition (ISC) has assembled a distinguished panel of judges for its 2011 competition. With the most high-profile judging panel of any music competition in the world, ISC offers songwriters and artists the unprecedented opportunity to have their music heard by iconic recording artists, as well as many major and indie record label Presidents, A&R executives, producers, music supervisors, and more.

Now accepting entries for the 2011 competition, ISC gives away more than $150,000 in cash and prizes (shared among the 68 winners) including an overall Grand Prize consisting of $25,000 (US) cash and $20,000 in prizes. Open to all levels of songwriters, ISC offers 22 categories that include all genres of popular music. Past winners have included artists from Grammy winners to hobbyist songwriters and everyone in between. 

For information and enter, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com

Winning ISC can be a tremendous career booster. Over the years, many winners have achieved great career success, including getting signed to labels such as Epic, Universal, Motown, and more. Many more winners have secured publishing deals, smaller label deals, licensing deals, and distribution deals in addition to getting more gigs, fans, and recognition.

The complete list of ISC judges includes: 

Recording Artists: Tom Waits; Tori Amos; Jeff Beck; Billy Currington; My Morning Jacket; Simon Le Bon & Roger Taylor (Duran Duran); Kelly Clarkson; Keane; McCoy Tyner; Wynonna; Francesca Battistelli; Tegan and Sara; Massive Attack; Michael W. Smith; Alejandro Sanz; Johnny Clegg; Jeremy Camp; Ray Wylie Hubbard; John Mayall; Craig Morgan; Basement Jaxx; James Cotton; Sandra Bernhard; Trombone Shorty; Robert Earl Keen; Black Francis (The Pixies); Mose Allison; Robert Smith (The Cure); Amadou & Mariam; Darryl McDaniels (Run D.M.C.); Toots Hibbert (Toots & The Maytals); Matt Thiessen (Relient K); Chayanne; and more... 

Industry Executives: Monte Lipman (President, Universal Republic Records); David Massey (President, Mercury Records); Brian Malouf (VP A&R, Walt Disney Records); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Angel Carrasco (Sr. VP A&R, Latin America, Sony/BMG); Ric Arboit (President, Nettwerk Music Group); Anastasia Brown (Music Supervisor, FORMAT); Allison Jones (VP of A&R, Big Machine Label Group); Steve Lillywhite (Producer); Dan Storper (President, Putamayo World Music Records and Putumayo Kids); Kim Buie (VP A&R, Lost Highway); Douglas C. Cohn (Sr. VP, Music Marketing & Talent, Nickelodeon); Trevor Jerideau (VP of A&R, J Records); Antony Bland (A&R, American Recordings); Steve Smith (VP of A&R, Aware Records); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Dr. Demento (Radio Host, The Dr. Demento Show); and more... 

ISC Sponsors: Presonus, Lowden Guitars, Sennhaiser, ASCAP, Berklee College of Music, Posse, D'Addario, Thayers, SongU.com, Online Gigs, The Music Business Registry, Independent Mastering, Indie Venue Bible, George Stein, Esq. Sonicbids, Taxi, and music Submit

Innovative In-Store Workshops Teach Musicians How To Easily Record At Home Using an Apple Computer And GarageBand

Westlake Village, CA -August 4, 2011- Guitar Center, (www.guitarcenter.com), the world's largest musical instrument retailer, is providing a new series of free recording workshops aimed at taking the complexity out of home recording.  In five accessible "Recording Made Easy" sessions, conducted on an ongoing basis, musicians can take their ideas from basic tracks to finished songs by learning how to use an Apple Computer and GarageBand.  The new program is yet another example of Guitar Center's commitment to educate and inspire musicians nationwide.

"With the 'Recording Made Easy' workshops, we're aiming to demystify home recording for musicians who don't have the time to really dig in on their own or feel that it might be too complicated," says Guitar Center's Karam Kaul. "Our goal is to empower more musicians to record their music and take some of the intimidation factor out of home recording."

"Record Made Easy" is broken down into five separate classes, with a different class taking place every Saturday at 10am local time at all 221 Guitar Center locations across the U.S. on an ongoing basis.   If participants need a refresher, they are welcome to come back and take classes as many times as they like, and each class features a question and answer session with the on-site instructor.  The week five class on online music publishing will only be available in months with five weeks.

The Introduction to Computer Recording class schedule:
Week 1: Signal Flow and Microphone Techniques, including Signal Flow Basics; Recording Basics; Recording Vocals; Recording Electric Guitar

Week 2: Virtual Instruments and Loops, including working with virtual (software) instruments; Working with Apple Loops

Week 3: Effects, including working with compression, eq, reverb and with guitar amp and pedal software

Week 4: Mixing and Publishing, including preparing a mix; Automation; Mixdown / Publishing

Week 5: Online Music Publishing (in months with 5 weeks only), including how to use TuneCore to get music digital distributed on Amazon, iTunes and Spotify

For a full list of upcoming classes, go to:
http://gc.guitarcenter.com/recording-made-easy/

Guitar Center worked diligently to ensure that the techniques used in each class were the best and most up-to-date instruction available for the beginning recording artist.  Each Guitar Center instructor is put through a rigorous training program, including in person, online, and live webinar training.

About Guitar Center
Guitar Center is the world's largest retailer of guitars, amplifiers, drums, keyboards and pro-audio and recording equipment. Our retail store subsidiary presently operates 220 Guitar Center stores across the U.S. We are also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the United States through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician's Friend, Inc., and its catalog and Web site, www.musiciansfriend.com. In addition, our Music & Arts division operates more than 100 stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors and students. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company's Web site at www.guitarcenter.com.

The Guitar Center logo is a registered trademark of Guitar Center, Inc. Other brand or product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

Performance at The Redstone Room on Saturday August 27, 2011

Rising country star Johnny Henry will be bringing his Old Fashioned Girl tour to the Redstone Room in Davenport, Iowa on August 27^th.  The evening will feature Johnny and his road band with a portion of the ticket sales being donated to the Ovarian CancerResearch Fund.   

An electrifying performer, St. Louis native Johnny Henry has been a favorite on the country music touring scene for years, opening for such superstars as Sara Evans, Clint Black, recently released his debut solo CD entitled "Now."   This collection of music exemplifies Johnny's personality and introduces Country music fans to his big voice and compelling story.

It's a story about perseverance and dedication, about drive and following one's passion, and about family and responsibility.   Johnny's road to success has not followed the traditional path most aspiring Countrystars take.  Now sure, he has traveled the United States playing shows, has built a large fan-base, and is always surrounded by women - but not the women you may be thinking of... Johnny is a stay-at-home Dad with four young daughters and a devoted wife.

Between the cooking and cleaning, the concerts and the chord charts... between homework and hand-holding, the harmonies and the highways... Johnny balances the ride of being an up-and-coming Country artist with the daily joys and challenges of raising his girls.  With strong family values and an overwhelming desire to succeed, Johnny is ready to share his gift of song and story with Country music fans everywhere.

Because life has been good to Johnny, he wants to do something to give back - and to show his daughters the value of community involvement.  From this desire, the Old Fashioned Girl Tour was born.  Named after the first single from his CD, the tour is an effort to raise awareness and money for charitable organizations.  The majority of the proceeds from the August 27^th show will be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF), an organization dedicated to finding a method of early detection and eventually a cure for ovarian cancer.  Ovarian cancer affects one third as many women as breast cancer but ovarian cancer research garners only one eighth of the funds.  It is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women.  Johnny has fans, friends and family who have been affected by this terrible disease and hopes this concert will help OCRF as they search for a cure.

The Redstone Room is located at 129 Main Street in Davenport, Iowa.  Tickets are available in advance via the Redstone Room's website atredstoneroom.com/calendar.php or at the door for $25.  Doors open at 7:00 pm.

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( # ) MISSISSIPPI BLUES CLUB MONTHLY
A Recap of Blues News  Edition 1

( # )   ( # ) BUSINESS PHONE: 608.687.9400 WEBSITE: www.MississippiBluesClub.com

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Mississippi Blues Club publishes a Monthly Newsletter and recap of Blues media coverage that we have been directly involved with each month. This is original content and posted more in depth on our website.

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The most common ground between blues fans and blues artists' are when they do what they do best, perform. We attempt to capture those moments at the source and share them with the public. Our media content is original material that may be edited by our staff for press release or use by other sources, but the original media material is kept on on the Mississippi Blues Club website to be shared with the public.

Let's Revisit Highlights Of Blues Events Covered In 2011

The 32nd Annual Blues Music Awards, organized by The Blues Foundation of Memphis, Tennesse. The formal awards presentation ceremony is to honor the blues artists' who have made the best contributions to the blues music industry. The highlight of this years 2011 event was Buddy Guy, receiving five awards including "Album Of The Year". There are many great artists' who participate in this event by nomination of The Blues Foundation members. This is a great opportunity to meet several of your favorite blues artists', enjoy a great dinner during the presentations, and show support to the artists' and The Blues Foundation that help keep the blues alive.

The Smokin' In Steele Blues And BBQ Festival, organized by The Knights Of Columbus and John "Blues Hammer" of Owatonna, Minnesota. A great three day blues music event which included qualifications for The International BBQ Competion to be held in Kansas City. Highlights of this event included performances' by Sena Ehrhardt, who is a 2011 International Blues Competition nominnee. Sena performs vocals, with her father on lead guitar and puts on a spectacular performance with amazing talent. Watch for them in the future, they are going to be heading straight towards the top from what we have seen. The Fabulous Lovehandles are a local band that have quite the following in the region, the dance floor became crowded as these guys' performed. The passion flows from  this  eight piece band with a full horn section. While performing off the stage on the dance floor, an enthusiastic crowd almost raised the roof! Bruce McCabe is a great songwriter and performer he has wrote top songs for Johnny Lang, the crowd came alive while performing songs like "Lie To Me". Becky Barksdale was the finale performance of this event and they say "save the best for last",  in this case it was true. Becky has performed on the former Michael Jackson tour as his lead guitarist. She has stayed true to her Texas Blues roots and has an incredible intimacy with her guitar and ability of playing great Texas style guitar licks.  Check out Becky Barksdale "It Hurts" recording, you won't go wrong if you appreciate great Texas Blues guitar style.

The 27th Annual Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, organized by The Mississippi Valley Blues Society. Another great three days of blues music, workshops for kids and elder alike, a blues photo gallery and 29 top blues performers' from around the nation. This is a spectacular annual blues event in LeClaire Park, along the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown Davenport, Iowa. Highlights of this event were Eric Gales who plays guitar upside down, as he was taught by generations in his family. Reviews of Eric have called him "the next Jimi Hendrix", a label that is not thrown around loosely in the" Blues World", Eric performs with electrifying amazment. Lionel Young who plays electric violin performed with his band which includes a great horn section. Lionel is a natural with the crowd and played off stage in the audience sitting down. Taking in the sunshine, with excitment flowing from the crowd, the Lionel Young Band did not miss a beat of their unique soothing sound. The performance by Linsey Alexander "If You Ain't Got It" was great. Linsey has a full venue tour scheduled and has been receiving great air time on Sirius/XM B.B. Kings Bluesville, with his new hit song. Joe Louis Walker electrified the crowd, it was a special evening as he performed. Joe Louis Walker is one of the greatest legends still performing today, he has performed for two Presidents and has won numerous blues awards. Other highlights of this event were Smokin' Joe Kubek performing with Bnois King, belting out Texas Blues. The finale ends with Otis Clay performing and receiving an award for "Life Time Acheivement" presented by The Mississippi Valley Blues Society. Our friends Jay Sieleman, Executive Director of The Blues Foundation and his wife were present with a tent setup at this event. All the right ingredients were available, making this one of the biggest blues events in the nation organized by all volunteers.

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