Katonah, NY. (Top40 Charts/ Blakjak
Music Records) - Jack Evans of New York's rock/jazz/blues group Reverend Zen has just been named the recipient of a prestigious 2008 ASCAP Plus Award. Mr. Evans was selected for the honor by a distinguished panel of music experts chaired in ASCAP's Jazz & Popular
Music Division. ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, is one of the world's largest performing rights organizations providing licensing and royalty distribution for its members.
The annual ASCAP Plus Awards are based on recent activity of the applicants and considered on merit and in the context of all others applying. This marks the second consecutive year that Mr. Evans has received the award.
As one of the principal composers and lyricist for Reverend Zen, Mr. Evans has received forty-three songwriting and performance honors from around the world. In early 2008 Reverend Zen's "The Boston Shakedown" was named 2007-2008 Song of the Year by ABC Radio Networks' Fame Games Effigy Awards in Malaga, Spain. That was followed by the band's "Bad Attitude" being named a 2008 Semi Finalist in the Australia Songwriting Contest in Sydney. This summer the group's "Dangerous Times", "Her Love" and "Bad Attitude" were all Semi Finalists in the BBC sponsored 2008 UK Songwriting Contest in London. In September "Dangerous Times" was a 2008 Finalist in France's 100% Song Contest in Paris, with "Bad Attitude" and "The Boston Shakedown" named Semi Finalists.
Two thousand seven brought Mr. Evans and Reverend Zen four Best Song Nominations from the Los Angeles Music Awards for "Dangerous Times", "Bad Attitude", "The Boston Shakedown" and "Don't Try to Tell Me", with the group subsequently named a 2007 Artist of the Year by LAMA. Earlier that year Reverend Zen was the recipient of two Finalist Awards from the 2007 Unisong International Song Contest in L.A. for "Bad Attitude" and "Magdalena". The band concluded the year being named 2007 Artist of the Year by WCH Radio in St. Louis and Mr. Evans receiving his first ASCAP Plus Award.
In 2006 Reverend Zen was a Finalist in the New York and Houston-based VH1 Song of the Year Contest for "Dangerous Times", while "The Boston Shakedown", "Bad Attitude", "Magdalena", "Don't Try to Tell Me" and "Fingerprints" were all honored with Runner Up Awards. The year also saw Reverend Zen receive RGW Radio's 2006 Bronze Artist Award in Norfolk, U.K. The band has additionally received songwriting and performance honors from the Billboard World Song Contest in New York, the Mid Atlantic Song Contest in Washington, D.C. and the U.K.'s Singer-Songwriter Awards in London.
The ASCAP Plus Awards' distributions take place in January 2009 at the ASCAP offices in New York. The award winning songs by Mr. Evans and Reverend Zen are all contained on Reverend Zen's debut CD Angels, Blues & the Crying Moon.
