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So! This is Where Songwriters Get Their Big Breaks.
SMAF III Offers Emerging Songwriters a Taste of the Big Time
I just got back home from SMAF III and I am still beaming with energy, enthusiasm and - yes, folks I admit it - love!
SMAF III is the 3rd Annual Susquehanna Music & Arts Festival, the 3rd yearly event held every Mother's Day Weekend at the Ramblewood Resort, just a mile away from the Susquehanna River in Darlington, Maryland. The festival is a non-profit venture whose primary purpose is to promote awareness and appreciation of traditional and contemporary folk music and arts. And in the process of doing so, the festival not only presents some of North America’s brightest talents of the folk, Americana, and traditional music genres, but it also cordially invites the new voices of today who are on their ways up to filling those same spots in the years to come. How? you might ask. Through a multitude of performance opportunities.
SMAF’s Up and Coming Singer-Songwriter Contest
First, there is the Up and Coming Singer-Songwriter Contest, which provides an opportunity for good songwriters who haven’t been signed yet to introduce their original compositions to folk music lovers in the Mid-Atlantic region. SMAF invites anyone who is not signed to a major label or publishing deal to submit two original songs on a CD or cassette along with a press kit, lyric sheets and a nominal $10 entry fee for consideration in the contest. Both individuals and groups are welcome. Submission guidelines can be found at www.smaf.info . This year 84 songwriters submitted. From this field ten finalist were chosen by three judges who graded the submissions on a scale of 1-10 and then averaged them.
The ten finalists traveled from as far as Minnesota, Michigan and Florida to perform a concert on the main stage on Friday evening, before a different panel of three judges. Nothing else occurred at the festival at the time of the concert so all eyes were on the songwriters. Each performer sang two songs. Each judge assigned a score of 1 to 5 for each of six categories for each song. The six categories were:
1. Lyrics: How strong and tight are the lyrics. Do they flow and maintain the idea?
2. Melody: Is the melody one you’d remember? Is it pleasing?
3. Originality: Is the theme new and unusual? Does it have a different perspective? Is the content significant, interesting not cliché?
4. Would you want to hear the song again?
5. Does music style support the lyrics?
6. Do you understand the point of the song?
(Keep your eyes open for a future article that takes a deeper look at the expectations and attitudes of song contest participants.)
Here are a few reasons why SMAF’s songwriting contest was so cool for both the performers and the audience. One, the finalists feel a real sense of bonding and camaraderie with each other. Sure, there is a competitive element. Everyone wants to be the winner. But, I was really impressed by the generosity of spirit among the finalists. While everyone is routing for themselves to one degree or another, they also know that they’ve already won. Just getting picked as a finalist is a highly noteworthy accolade. What seems more important to focus on is making better friends of other songwriters you already know and making new friends of those you are meeting for the first time.
Another great opportunity for the finalists is that they get to showcase their songs and perform in front of DJs and concert promoters who are looking for new talent. We all know how hard it is for up and coming songwriters and performers to get heard. Well, SMAF and other festivals with similar contests provide this excellent opportunity for the up and comer to show the talent scouts a little bit of what he or she’s got. One two-song set at SMAF’s songwriters showcase is going to get you heard by more important music industry people than will five years worth of bar gigs.
And the contest is cool for audience members, too. What are the chances of walking into a college pub and seeing an unknown future star performing? Probably not very high. But at SMAF’s showcase or at that of many other festivals, it’s actually very high. I am willing to bet that in five years from now at least one of the ten finalists will be performing to sold out listening rooms throughout the country. And so many festivalgoers feel the same way that they are excited and enthusiastic about attending the showcase.
Yet another neat thing about SMAF’s songwriter concert is that it was immediately followed by a parade of nationally known acts, namely, Full Frontal Folk, Urban Folk Collective, The Nields, and Aztec Two Step. That’s quite impressive for Justin Roth or Erik Balkey to be able to say they played on the same stage at the same festival as Aztec Two Step. They deserve it. But, how often do emerging songwriters get their due? All of this year’s finalists deserve that kind of attention and SMAF was hip enough to give it to them. I, myself, will take this opportunity to brag that I performed in 2003 at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Songwriters Showcase on the same stage as and only a few hours before Arlo Guthrie. You know that’s in my resume!
The ten finalist at this year’s SMAF were Justin Roth, Cletus Kennelly, Erik Balkey, Julie Clark , Amy Fix , Al Scortino, Jen Cass, Kate McDonnell, Lori Kelley and Allison Downey. Kate McDonnell won first prize and $200. She was also invited to perform a full 30 minute set on the Main Stage on Saturday Night. Jen Cass won second and $100. Amy Fix was third winning $75 and Julie Clark finished forth winning $25. The money was a gift given by Robert Tower. In addition, all finalists were given goody bags with Elixir strings, other Elixir goodies, a mug from various sources and a SMAF logo notebook.
Once again, I am devoting a full future article to the personal experiences of musicians who have participated in this year’s contest or in past ones.
But, what if I’m not at that level yet, or maybe I am but didn’t get chosen as a finalist?
While there is quite a buzz about the national acts and the songwriters showcase, there is just as much excitement about the late night song swaps that occur after the official concerts are over sometime around midnight. A lot of performers and attendees camp out or stay in one of the cabins at the festival site specifically because they don’t want to drive a few miles to some hotel and leave the warm vibe of the festival. They rather sing until they drop and then walk safely to their tent or cabin. And this is not a bunch of old hippies - to whom our nation owes a great debt of gratitude - sitting around singing "Kumbaya" - a great song but one that in not in vogue at this time. Let me also dispel any notion that you’re going to find a lot of drug and alcohol use at a festival like this, either. As far as I can tell SMAF is as clean as the Betty Ford Clinic. And it’s not that the festival is a gathering of squares either. This is all worth mentioning because the vast majority of festivalgoers are healthy in body and especially in mind and spirit. It’s a generous bunch who are highly educated and who share songs and friendship from the heart. If you want to hang out by yourself, people will gladly leave you alone, because they’ve all needed that same space themselves at one time or another, and SMAF is a great place to chill out and be with yourself in solitude. But, it’s also true that if you need a hug or someone to listen to a new song you just wrote there’s more than enough of that available, too.
At the song swaps I found about 30 people sitting around in a circle. About twenty of them brought instruments and songs. A handful of main stage performers attended and shared new songs. I sat next to Kiya Heartwood and Miriam Davidson of the duo Wishing Chair. Wishing Chair is fairly new on the national scene and their rootsy folk style is full of soul, energy and power. They rocked the main stage Saturday afternoon and that night they just wanted to hang out, hear some songs, sing some harmonies and try out a new song or two. If you are unfamiliar with this band check out their website at wishingchair.com.
On the other side of me was Rachel Bissex, a great songwriter, singer and troubadour for humanity. Also in the room were Sloan Wainwright, Anne Feeney (who wrote "Have You Been to Jail for Justice" sung and recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary) and two of the nations great poets, Chris Chandler and Tim Mason. There were also a handful of contest finalists.
But, what rounded it out were the dozen or so other songwriters who were getting their chance to hang out and share their wares with the big dogs. Mick Choder, a clever songwriter/performer from the Philadelphia area was there. He told me that the main reason he comes to SMAF is for the "Magical Moments" - "finding people to jam or song swap with till the sun comes up and really getting to bond with them."
Lee Connah from Baltimore summed up the SMAF song swaps experience nicely. He’s spent the majority of the days volunteering at the festival in exchange for a free ticket. And the highlight for him was the late night swaps. He likes their "living room aspect" describing them as "friends just sharing their creations in a very forgiving atmosphere. You don’t have to stress about hitting a wrong note." Lee hit the nail on the head when he told me, "In the broader culture, actors and musicians can be anointed (by the media and large corporate interests) as worthy of adulation. But, here at SMAF you can hear and hang out with some great musicians who are just as good. You get a sense of intimacy sitting next to main stage performers that you don’t get when you’re watching them on stage."
You’re not kidding. Lee sang a hilarious tune that was the highlight of the swap. His song called "Folk Hero Sandwich" is about being a poor struggling folk musician lacking bread and - well, it was an R rated song. You’ll have to ask him to play it for you next year. He had the whole cabin in an uproar, including the big dogs. And he’s only been playing for three years. What a great validation of his young career as a promising songwriter.
What if I just want to meet great musicians?
There’s that, too. Last year, I ate lunch with and talked songwriting with Greg Greenway - another folk venue room packer. Lee told me he intended to ask the folks from Aztec Two Step how they managed to stay together for 33 years. He was seeking practical advice for his own trio.
So, don't be fooled. The tradition of the ‘60s and ‘70s when the great musicians were accessible and approachable has not been lost. It’s alive and well at folk festivals like SMAF. Make plans to attend this festival next year or find a similar one close to where you live and go there! See if you can find one of those "Magic Moment’s" yourself. Check out SMAF’s website at www.smaf.info.
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