(me :P )

A few months ago I entered a performing songwriter competition held by the organizers of the Texas Independent Music Expo (TIME) in Dallas, Texas.   Ultimately, I wasn’t chosen as one of the ten finalists (but I got honorable menton woot!) but I thought it would be fun to attend the actual expo.

My dad and I headed out early morning Saturday to start our 3 hour trek to Dallas.  Along the way, we picked up my little brother from his college in Tyler since he wanted to come along as well.  We arrived at Sons of Hermann Hall, the venue of the Expo, around 1 PM; unfortunately, this meant we missed out on the vocal warm-up workshop.  We did, however, arrive just in time for performances from the finalists in the performing songwriter competition.  It was a pretty eclectic bunch of performers, from Taylor Swift-esque troubadours to country singers to dudes that echoed Josh Ritter, Jason Mraz and even delta blues!  My favorite was a guy named Ramoth-Gilead, who absolutely slayed the crowd with his deeply soulful vocals and his potent blending of R&B, gospel and hip-hop.  

one of the Performing Songwriter Contest Performances

After the performances, the rest of the afternoon alternated between music industry workshops and other performances from various singer-songwriters.  The workshops were pretty helpful, ranging from copyright law, getting song placements on film and TV, and song analysis.  

I had also signed up to have my song “Believe” critiqued by a panel of judges.  My major goal for the next 12 months is to become a better songwriter, so I thought it would be a good idea to get song feedback from more seasoned folk.  My panel consisted of the president of the Dallas Songwriters Association (DSA) and a local music attorney; needless to say, I was a bit intimidated.  My anxiety went through the roof when the CD I brought wasn’t able to play on either a boombox or a laptop; with no way to play the CD, I ended up having to sing “Believe” acapella.  What a super-weird experience — it felt like I was auditioning for American Idol or X Factor.  To my surprise, the first thing the panelists said when I finished was that I had a great voice; guess all those vocal warm ups are paying off.  Then they started into the criticism; they thought the song was a great start, but it needed more focus in the lyrics and song structure.  The super-stubborn part of me was yelling:  ”I like the song as it is!”  But who knows…if I try and tweak the song according to their suggestions, I might like it even more.  Never hurts to try :)  So I’ll be revisiting “Believe” in the coming weeks and months to see if I can tighten it up.  Overall, my song critique experience was a very valuable experience and taught me a lot about my inner songwriter.

After my song critique I grabbed some free pizza courtesy of the Expo and sat through a few more workshops and performances.  Then it was time for the first open mic event of the night!  It had been almost two months since I last performed, so I was both excited and scared to get back on stage, especially in the presence of so many talented performing songwriters.  

James Michael Taylor

David Stewart

I was the last performer scheduled; when my time came, I strapped on my dad’s old classical guitar and walked over to the stage. I sang two of my originals,”16” and “Last of the Cowboys” (you can watch below):

The performance felt really good, and it seemed like I was able to connect with people, which is the most amazing feeling.  It was incredibly validating when people came up to me afterwards to complement my performance.  I even made friends with a fellow songwriter (David Stewart, in one of the pics above) and exchanged business cards.

I’m glad I went to the Expo.  I could have just stayed in my comfort zone, tinkering with songs at home, but I took a chance and ended up learning a lot, things I wouldn’t have learned as quickly on my own.  Being around such talented and kind songwriters really inspired me to step up my craft.  

Time to start working on those songs…

-Andrew

P.S. If you’re in the Dallas area, definitely hit up Alligator Cafe.  Great cajun food and some rockin’ bread puddin’ (makes me weak in the knees, sooooo goood!).  

P.P.S.:  Bread Pudding Lovers Association = best association ever.  Ima start the Halo-Halo Lovers Association (HHLA).  holla!