Congratulations to the following 2012 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest Regional Round Winners!

These talented artists were selected from among our strongest ever group of regional round finalists, and will be joining us on Saturday, October 20 in New York City for the live performance finals, held at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Thank you to all of this year’s regional round finalists. And don’t forget, the People’s Choice voting is still going on so get your votes in … you may vote one time in each of our six regions.

INTERNATIONAL	NORTHEAST	SOUTHEAST
Robyn Sherwell London, UK	Lora-Faye Brooklyn, NY	Carolina Story Nashville, TN
MIDWEST	SOUTHWEST	WEST
Barnaby Bright Mission, KS	Tom Meny Buda, TX	Coby Brown Los Angeles, C

MOUNTAIN STAGE NEWSONG CONTEST – DEADLINE TO ENTER IS SEPTEMBER 15.

Want to join these artists in New York in October at Lincoln Center? Introduce us to your music by submitting to the 11th Annual Mountain Stage NewSong Contest by September 15. Click here to enter.

4 September 2012. Winston-Salem, NC
MEDIA RELEASE –

The Hanesbrands Theatre at the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts is proud to again partner with Brooklyn, NYC based NewSong Music to present another season of a series that features new emerging music artists.

The series showcases some of the most talented emerging performing songwriters from across North America.

2011-12 performers included The Sweater Set, Arthur Alligood, Farewell Milwaukee, and The Honey Dewdrops.

This year’s performers announced to date include: Raleigh, NC resident and Mountain Stage NewSong Music Contest General Round Winner Roger Gupton, (Friday, September 21), Western Carolina native and folk roots phenomenon Malcolm Holcombe (Saturday, December 15), and Amy Speace (Saturday, January 19), a protegé of Joan Baez and Judy Collins.

All shows begin at 8:00 PM.

NewSong Music is an independent music organization based in Brooklyn, New York. Its mission is to build a supportive community of performers and songwriters across all genres of music and levels of skill, while identifying truly exceptional artists within this community and introducing their music to a broader, international audience. The standout talent NewSong works with is discovered primarily through the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, one of North America’s premier showcases of emerging performing songwriters.

Each year, the grand-prize winner of the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest receives a performance on an international broadcast of NPR’s Mountain Stage show, as well as a recording project produced by one of the premier producers in the music industry. The project is then released and distributed on the NewSong Recordings label. The 2010 winner Amber Rubarth’s prize-winning album was produced by Grammy-winning producer Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Norah Jones, Tom Waits) and 2011 NewSong Contest grand prize winner Arthur Alligood hit the studio this past winter with award winning producer Mikal Blue and renowned musicians Jim Keltner (John Lennon, George Harrison, Bob Dylan), bassist Leland Sklar (James Taylor, Carole King, Jackson Browne) and guitarist Michael Ward (Ben Harper, the Wallflowers).

To learn more about this year’s contest and to submit (the deadline is September 15), please visit mountainstagenewsongcontest.com.

NewSong also holds showcases at various locations across the country. These concert productions feature the cream-of-the-crop of our NewSong alumni, including former contest winners and label artists. Recent series include the NewSong Series @ Bryant Park (NYC), the Summer Plaza Series presented by the Arts World Financial Center (NYC), and the NewSong Emerging Artist Series @ Lincoln Center in the David Rubenstein Atrium (NYC).

NewSong Music’s Fall Winter 2011-12 Emerging Artist Showcase Series Lineup – presented at The Hanesbrands Theatre at the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts

	Friday, September 21 @ 8 PM / $15 NewSong Music Emerging Artist Showcase www.newsong-music.com Roger Gupton w/ The Genuine Roger Gupton writes songs that thrum with both hope and melancholy. A 2010 general round winner of the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, Roger’s melody-driven writing style draws comparisons to such iconic tunesmiths as Carole King and Paul Simon. With the focus on “a hushed and honeyed tenor voice,” his performances eschew histrionics and embrace the song. Roger will be performing with his band. Vimeo Video of Roger Gupton’s song See Through You performed July 2011 at the Pour House in Raleigh, NC: Click here to purchase tickets. ——————————————————-
	Saturday, December 15 @ 8 PM / $15 NewSong Music Emerging Artist Showcase www.newsong-music.com Malcolm Holcombe Born and raised in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina, Malcolm Holcombe is being recognized by the contemporary U.S and European folk/americana community as a performer of national stature, and an uncommonly unique guitarist/vocalist about whom Rolling Stone magazine says: “Haunted country, acoustic blues and rugged folk all meet [here]…” Malcolm’s 2011 CD, To Drink the Rain, came in at #5 on the Roots Music Report for Top 100 most played folk albums of 2011! YouTube Video of Malcolm Holcombes song Down in the Woods from his 2011 release To Drink the Rain performed at the Music Fog ranch house during the 2011 Cherokee Music Festival in Texas. ——————————————————-
	Saturday, January 19 @ 8 PM / $15 New Song Music Emerging Artist Showcase www.newsong-music.com Amy Speace “Amy Speace sounds uncannily like a 21st Century Joan Baez, her timbred voice full of genuine emotions…the record soars with salient vocals and poetic lyrics,” writes The Classic Rock Examiner in its review of Nashville singer-songwriter Amy Speace’s third album, Land Like A Bird(Thirty Tigers). After releasing two well-received albums on Judy Collins’ Wildflower Records, Bird is Speace’s first record since migrating south from her longtime home in the NYC area. Amy Speace’s path to songwriting may not have been a straight line, but like many journeys, has been better for the winding way. Born in Baltimore, Amy grew up the oldest of 4, moving homes and states every few years, learning early about comings and goings, and finding solace in music very early. After graduating from Amherst College, she moved to Manhattan to study acting, toured with The National Shakespeare Company for a few years until a bad breakup and a $50 pawn shop guitar sparked a late-blooming songwriting burst. An appearance at an open mic led to a regular gig at The Bitter End, which led to an independent release of her first songs and in 2005, a chance encounter with Judy Collins’ manager changed her life. Judy Collins signed Amy to her own Wildflower Records label in 2006, releasing Songs for Bright Street. The Killer In Me followed in 2009, with a rare duo appearance by Ian “Mott the Hoople” Hunter, who brought her to the UK for his Acoustic Tour. USA Today called her “a rising star”, NPR named the title track from Killer “Song of the Day” and wrote “her velvety, achy voice recalls an early Lucinda Williams.” In 2010, John Platt of NYC’s premiere AAA radio station WFUV named Amy’s song “The Weight of the World” in the Top 5 of his list of the “Best Folk Songs of the Decade,” a song that Judy Collins herself would record and call “one of the best political folk songs I’ve ever heard”. In 2009, Amy shifted landscapes, moved south to Nashville, and beginning the writing of her latest album Land Like A Bird. Produced by Neilson Hubbard, it features guest vocals by Kim Richey and is already receiving the best reviews of Amy’s career. “Amy Speace is the perfect torchbearer for the unconscious cool of true Americana” (Houston Press). Amy will also be seen in the upcoming documentary “Nothing Can Hurt Me: The Big Star Story”. Vimeo Video for Amy Speace song ‘Weight of the World’ from her 2010 EP Into the New

——————-
——————-

Richard Emmett
Chief Operating Officer
Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County
305 W. Fourth Street – Suite 1-C
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
# 336-722-2585 x 1111
remmett@intothearts.org
Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts
Hanesbrands Theatre

August 28, 2012. The 2012 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest regional finalists have been announced! Congratulations to the following artists, whose live performance videos are now live on our website, where fans can vote for their favorite artist and video in each of our six regions. Click here to watch and vote.

Ten regional finalists were selected in each of the NewSong Contest’s six regions. Judges will select one winner for each region, who will then advance to the live performance competition finals held on Saturday, October 20 (the final weekend of CMJ) at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

 Additionally, the regional finalist who receives the most votes for his or her video will advance to the October 20 finals as the NewSong Contest’s ‘People’s Choice’ finalist.

The final deadline to enter this year’s 11th Annual Mountain Stage NewSong Contest is September 15. Click here to enter.

INTERNATIONAL FINALISTS Amy Campbell – Toronto, ON Ariana Gillis – Vineland, ON Breagh Mackinnon – Sydney, NS Deane James – Donegal, IE Dennis Ellsworth – Charlottetown, PE Gabrielle Papillon– New Glasgow, NS Lindsay Ferguson – Wakefield, QC Robyn Sherwell — London, UK Shannon Lyon – West Vancouver, BC Steven MacDougal – Donkin, NS   WEST FINALISTS Adam Brock – Portland, OR Anna Carow – San Francisco, CA Brittney Bouchard – Los Angeles, CA Coby Brown – Los Angeles, CA Dada Nabhaniilananda – Los Altos, CA Justin Farren – Sacramento, CA Melissa Mitchell – Anchorage, AK Mike Benecke – Los Angeles, CA Midori & Ezra Boy – Santa Rosa, CA Parker Ainsworth – Venice, CA   SOUTHWEST FINALISTS Alexander Bommer – San Antonio, TX Alicia McGovern – Salt Lake City, UT Andy Hackbarth – Denver, CO Boris McCutcheon – Ojo Sarco, NM Drew Kennedy – New Braunfels, TX Jeff Matey – Sugar Land, TX Lisa Richards – Austin, TX Nicolette Good – San Antonio, TX North of Autumn – Dallas, TX Tom Meny – Buda, TX   MIDWEST FINALISTS Barnaby Bright – Mission, KS Brad Cole – Chicago, IL Jacob Latham – Bloomington, IN Jaymie Jones – Omaha, NE Kari Lynch – Grand Rapids, MI Kate Diaz – Chicago, IL Mary McAdams – Ankeny, IA Mindy Braasch – Guysville, OH Shane Martin – Independence, MN Troy Castellano – Harris, MN SOUTHEAST FINALISTS Alan White – Adams, TN Carolina Story – Nashville, TN Dana Cooper – Nashville, TN Granville Automatic – Atlanta, GA Katie Basden – Nashville, TN Paulo Franco – Richmond, VA Sean Waterman – Atlanta, GA The Whiskey Gentry – Atlanta, GA Trouvere –Nashville, NT Valorie Miller – Asheville, NC   NORTHEAST FINALISTS Alan Semerdjian – New York, NY Bjorn Quenemoen – Brooklyn, NY Ed Romanoff – Brooklyn, NY Eljuri – New York, NY Jason Myles Goss – Brooklyn, NY Jenee Halstead – Somerville, MA Jennifer Greer – Somerville, MA Jesse Terry – Mamaroneck, NY Lora-Faye – Brooklyn, NY Rachael Sage – New York, NY

HOW TO ENTER Our own safe, secure submission platform Mail-In ReverbNation sonicbids THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT TO THE 2012 MOUNTAIN STAGE NEWSONG CONTEST IS SEPTEMBER 15, 2012.

2011 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest grand prize winner Arthur Alligood and his Nashville-based band will be performing at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the world largest performing arts center in the world. Arthur will perform at the David Rubenstein Atrium for the August 23 Target Free Thursday concert.

A 2013 performance at the world renowned Lincoln Center, home to the NYC Ballet, Metropolitan Opera, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and NY Philharmonic is one of the new additions to the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest list of grand prizes this year.

Other prizes this year include:

• A fully-funded album produced by lestyn Polson (David Gray, Patti Smith, David Bowie), recorded over 10 days at beautiful Echo Mountain Recording and released on the NewSong Recordings label
• A live performance on National Public Radio’s highly acclaimed Mountain Stage show
• An appearance at the 2013 Sundance/ASCAP Music Café
• A fully-funded album release pr/publicity campaign from the Press House, sponsored by PledgeMusic.
• Published interview and album review by American Songwriter magazine

Click here to enter the 2012 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest.

July 13, 2012. New York, NY. NewSong is proud to announce its new partnership with American Songwriter. In an effort to further accomplish NewSong Music’s goal of providing exceptional emerging talent with career propelling opportunities, the winner of this year’s Mountain Stage NewSong Contest will be interviewed by American Songwriter and receive a published review of the contest’s grand prize album in the magazine.

“We’re very excited about our new partnership with the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest. This is a once in a lifetime chance to launch an artist’s career. American Songwriter has always supported the “Craft of Music,” and we’re eager to bring this unique opportunity to our audience.” – Jamie Younger, Marketing Director, American Songwriter Magazine

Now in its 27th year American Songwriter has a readership of approximately 90-95,000 per issue and 150-200,000 unique visitors to AmericanSongwriter.com each month. Its mission is to provide unparalleled inspiration to the masses of passionate music fans and songwriters alike. Through insightful, everyday language, building the best media brand in the world covering the creation process and the stories behind the artists whose livelihood is “The Craft of Music.””

The American Songwriter App for the iPad official launched May 25th, 2011 and can be downloaded for free here. Features of the App for iPad include:

• Embedded music videos;
• Streaming music tracks from featured artists;
• Exclusive artist photo galleries;
• The ability to purchase songs directly from iTunes;
• “The Muse,” featuring a highly curated list of 30 staff-picked songwriters to check out.

As part of the NewSong-American Songwriter partnership, American Songspace is also hosting submissions to the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest on its  American Songspace site.

“We’re very excited about this new partnership,” says NewSong Director Gar Ragland, “as it brings a lot of promotional value to this year’s grand prize winner and the fully-funded album that he/she will get to record with producer Iestyn Polson (David Gray, Patti Smith, David Bowie) at Echo Mountain Recording. It’s the perfect complement to our other grand prize offerings by helping build the profile of them all.”

Other prizes include:

• A 2013 performance at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
•  A live performance on National Public Radio’s highly acclaimed Mountain Stage show. Known for debuting artists such as Ryan Adams, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, Alison Krauss and more.
•  An appearance at the 2013 Sundance/ASCAP Music Café.
•  A fully-funded album release pr/publicity campaign from the Press House, sponsored by PledgeMusic.

NewSong Recordings artist Chris Velan and 2011 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest finalist Ria Mae will be touring through Eastern Canada beginning on Wednesday, June 20th in Toronto and closing on June 30th in Halifax.

June 20 – Rivoli – Toronto,ON
June 21 – London Music Club – London, ON
June 23 – Divan Orange – Montreal, QC
June 24 – The Black Sheep Inn – Wakefield, QC
June 28 – Somerset Pub – Saint John, NB
June 29 – Baba’s Lounge – Charlottetown, PEI
June 30 – The Company House – Halifax, NS

Full details can be found at: www.chrisvelan.com/full-calendar

www.riamae.com
www.chrisvelan.com

Brooklyn label to release two albums and companion photo-lyric books from 2011 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest finalist

New York, NY – May 24, 2012 – Brooklyn’s independent label NewSong Recordings has partnered with Swiss-based singer-songwriter and producer Bryyn to release two new albums of his this year. Both projects will also include companion photo books featuring album lyrics and associated images.

The first album In Shapes will be released on July 17, with the follow-up In Hiding scheduled for mid-November.

A neuroscientist by day and obsessive songwriter by night, Bryyn was selected as one of the top 5 finalists in the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest last year. This introduced his music to label head and contest producer Gar Ragland.

“From the first listen of his music in last year’s contest, I was instantly drawn to both the distinctive originality and authenticity of Bryyn’s music,” states Ragland. “His songwriting – characterized by bold melodies, catchy rhythms and playful yet earnest lyrics – is matched by his equally impressive skills as a producer and arranger. We’re extremely excited to be working with him to introduce his music to a broader audience, and honored to add him to our roster of artists and recordings.”

Despite the demands of his day gig Bryyn is a prolific songwriter, with over 250 songs penned to date, all of which he records and produces himself in his instrument-strewn hideout somewhere north of Lake Geneva. And prior to working with NewSong Recordings (his first partnership with a commercial label), he’s established an impressive international fanbase through the release of free online downloads of his music – over 5 million song downloads to date.

“Releasing my two upcoming albums with NewSong Recordings is a real shock of excitement for me after recording in my bedroom for so many years,” states Bryyn, who hails originally from Chicago. “These songs are my own self-help. If you enjoy them it was unintended. I build up each song starting from a single sound and let it construct itself. It’s a pretty terrifying process.”

Bryyn performing in the 2011 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest finals in New York’s Winter Garden.

In advance of the July 17 release, Bryyn is hosting a special pre-order campaign featuring an array of offerings, including an advance digital download of the album prior to the July 17, the photo-album, limited edition prints, private concerts and more.

For complete information and to pre-order In Shapes, please visit pledgemusic.com/projects/bryyn-in-shapes

To learn more about Bryyn, please visit bryyn.com

To learn more about NewSong Recordings, please visit newsong-music.com

—————————————-

For press inquiries please contact:
NewSong Music
Lauren Stockner
516-317-3840
lauren.stockner@newsong-music.com

In collaboration with Arts Brookfield, NewSong Music has programmed 5 of this years River To River dates to include former NewSong finalists Angelo M, Emily Elbert, Megan Burtt, and Ian Link.

Angelo M – June 26 – World Financial Center Plaza
Emily Elbert – June 27 – One Liberty Plaza (lobby)
Angelo M – June 28 – One New York Plaza
Megan Burtt – July 5 – One New York Plaza
Ian Link – July 11 – One Liberty Plaza (lobby)

New York, NY. May 15. NewSong Music is very excited to announce that the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts will be hosting the live performance competition finals of the 11th Annual Mountain Stage NewSong Contest. The event will be held on Saturday, October 20 in Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium, and feature a matinee semi-final round followed by an evening Award Round. Both shows will be free to the public.

In addition, this year’s grand prize winner will also perform at the Lincoln Center’s Atrium during the 2013 season.

“It is truly exciting to collaborate with NewSong as host venue for the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest finals and to further our mutual goals of offering meaningful visibility to such talented emerging artists,” said Lincoln Center’s Hillary McAndrew Plate, Senior Manager of Meet the Artist and Community Programs.

“It’s such an honor to be working with Lincoln Center in this capacity, and a privilege to be able to offer this opportunity to this year’s twelve NewSong Contest finalists,” said NewSong director and co-founder Gar Ragland. “And to be able to invite our grand prize winner back to the Lincoln Center campus next year to perform his or her own show demonstrates Lincoln Center’s and NewSong’s shared commitment to introducing talented emerging artists to a broader audience.”

In addition to the October 20 Contest finals, NewSong is also continuing its partnership with Lincoln Center as co-curators of the NewSong Emerging Artist Series, which began last year. Summer, fall and winter dates will be announced soon.

To learn more about Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, click here.

To learn more about the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, click here.

To learn more about the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, and submit, click here.
THE EARLY BIRD SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS SATURDAY, MAY 19 @ 11:59 PM.

To learn more about NewSong Music, click here.

To learn more about NPR’s Mountain Stage, click here.