ANN ARBOR, MI (THE MICHIGAN SONGWRITERS) - Three Chicago-area songwriters have won top honors in the 2006 Great Lakes Songwriting Contest, and two more have been chosen as finalists. Eight songs by
Chicago area songwriters were also chosen as honorable mentions in the contest.
In a competition that drew entries from Minnesota to New York and Canada, Chicago musical theater's Michael Mahler won First Place for 'That's When I Miss You.' Bruce Holmes won both Second Place for 'Shine' and Third Place for 'We Were a Family.' Mike Silovich also won a Third Place award for 'Waiting on Love.'
A recent graduate of Northwestern University, Mahler's music and lyrics have appeared in shows in New York and Chicago, including the Bailiwick, the Lakeshore Theatre, the Neo-Futurarium, the Provision Theatre, the New York Fringe Festival and Stages Theatre Company. An actor as well as songwriter, Mahler co-wrote the family musical, "How Can You Run with a Shell on your Back?" which will premiere at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in March 2007. Mahler's songs have won him mention in the John Lennon Songwriting Scholarship Awards, the American Songwriter Magazine Lyric Writing Contest, the Billboard World Song Contest, and the Unisong International Songwriting Contest. As a composer of liturgical music, Mahler has released several recordings and performed his songs at conventions, conferences and concerts throughout the US. He also won an honorable mention in the contest for his song 'Street Magician.'
In addition to performing his original songs, Bruce Holmes of Evanston is an author of a science fiction novel, 'Anvil of the Heart,' and the creator of a series on the Feldenkrais Method of body awareness. His two winning songs are from his debut CD, 'Life's and Intelligence Test,' which has been selected for airplay by 70 radio stations. Holmes also won honorable mentions in the contest for his songs, 'So Beautiful,' 'El Viento Del Diablo,' and 'Angels.'
Mike Silovich won Third Place for his upbeat, big band style song, 'Waiting on Love.' David Lykins of Antioch was a finalist for his humorous ballad, 'Here's Your Love Song (Take It and Go),' and Aerin Tedesco was also a finalist for the intricate folk ballad 'Timekeeper.' Other Chicago area songwriters who won honorable mentions were: Andrea Bunch for 'Empty Me,' Tim Cornwell of Woodstock for 'All I Want,' Dieter Frank for 'Waiting,' and Heather Styka of Addison for 'Linden Street.'
Profiles about the winners and their songs can be found on the contest website, www.GreatLakesSongs.com. The top six winners of the 2006 contest will be featured in concert on February 17, 2007, at the Trinity House Theatre in Livonia, MI.
Rich Warren, host of the Chicago-based syndicated radio show 'The Midnight Special,' was one of the four judges for the 2006 contest. The others were Philadelphia's Freebo, the singer-songwriter and long-time bass player for Bonnie Raitt; Toronto's Jodi Krangle, proprietress of 'The Muse's Muse' songwriters'website, internet radio show and electronic newsletter; and Central Michigan's Dan Bracken, a songwriter and one of the organizers of the Wheatland Music Festival.
The 2007 Great Lakes Songwriting Contest is now open to current residents of the eight Great Lakes states and the Province of Ontario. Thirteen winning songs will be chosen, and the Grand Prize has been increased to $1,500 cash this year, with additional publicity and promotional opportunities. More information is available at www.GreatLakesSongs.com
The contest is open to all ages and all types of music. Songwriters are not forced to pick a particular category for their songs. Each song is judged on its own merits, not by how well it conforms to the conventions of a certain genre of music.
The contest is sponsored by the Songbridge music marketing company based in Ontario, Canada; Elderly Instruments of Lansing (MI); and Lamb's Retreat for Songwriters of Royal Oak (MI). For more information on this year's contest and last year's winners, go to www.GreatLakesSongs.com.
