Entertainment
1 October, 2023
Calling all local songwriters
Songwriters and budding songwriters are encouraged to start working on their entries for the Tablelands Folk Festival’s McGinty’s Irish Bar Songwriter Competition on 28 October.
Six prizes will be awarded in the annual event including two major recording sessions at the Coconut Groove Studio in Kuranda for the winners of the Best Song Open and Best Song Emerging categories.
Other awards include Open Songwriter, Emerging Songwriter, Highly Commended and Encouragement award. Two cash prizes from McGinty’s Irish Bar, two mentoring packages from Cairns Voice Studio and a number of trophies are also up for grabs.
Everyone who enters the competition is eligible for the Best Song Open award.
Judge Shirley Lynn said the awards not only recognise songwriter skills but also gives new artists an opportunity to compete.
“Being somebody who has gone through some competitions myself, I think that sometimes it allows you to hone your craft,” she said.
“One of the things we (judges) do is an evaluation summary which is available for participants at the end. It will give them a relative score in the things we’re looking at – lyrics, melody, originality, song attributes and song performance.
“For a person who is song writing or looking to do more song writing, it’s extremely valuable to enter.”
Other judges this year are Jeanette Wormald, Fiona Sewell, Sarah Calderwood and Paul Brandon.
There are 15 spots available in each of the Open and Emerging categories. Deadline for entering is October 20.
“You’ve got to be in it to win,” added Ms Lynn. “You’ll never know unless you have a go.”
For more information visit www.tablelandsfolkfestival.org.au
