JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum Winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest - country

I stumbled across this link to the winning song in the country div. What do you think?

"Every Time I Hit the Bottle"

Humm,
The song sounds like a lot of what's coming out of Nashville these days. Not really bad but not quite a Cigar either.

Hey Colin,

For what it is, it's well produced,... but hey it's country... it's all redneck isn't it ?

Gotta love them good ol' boys huh ? *shrugs*....

cheers, niteshift

I think it won on the lyrics. But that melody I think
I've heard on a zillion Nashville songs.

Didn't notice anything really fresh in the song at all. Sounded like what we used to call album filler but I don't know what they call it now or even if they still release "albums." To me, it seemed like somebody writing what they think represents country music. Pitchable but not a hit BUT I HAVE BEEN WRONG BEFORE. I still remember saying "That kid won't ever make it big" the first time I saw Randy Travis. That's while he was washing dishes in Music Valley.

These are the kinds of country songs that sell. I personally don't care for them, but I can say without a doubt, this song would fly off the shelves around where I live.

I do like the lyrics but musicaly this sounds like about one hundred other country songs of today.Not really anything new here.But i'm happy for him,i guess!

I thought it was a pretty good song, better than a lot I'm hearing on the radio.

It's a good enough listening tune with some clever phrases here and there. Maybe a little from the "Eric Church" style of country (which I like). Can't really say that there was much there that would have me vote for it as "song of the year" -- but I liked it and mucho congrats to the winner.

While this particular song might not go anywhere, hopefully it will open some doors for him. Of course, I could hear next week as a #1 hit, you never can tell.

Kevin

I think this is pretty good. It’s the sort of song that would have fit well on the Old Dogs album. It is definitely aimed at a market for those who have been round the block a few times

It fills the shoes that have walked down that path successfully many times before. It is within the formula that works. Well written, clever, good demo. We all know that is just the beginning of trying to get it somewhere. I wish him well with his career and song, being the winner of that contest will open a few doors for him, the rest will come down to...so ya got a great song, who do you now that's cuttin' right now that don't write, and how can you get it in there...relationships.

The song does sure, the production sounds a little minimalistic and dated though...

Has winning these contests ever led to the winner actually having a career, or is it just an ego thing?:
"I won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest!"

If you had that, plus a bunch of other great songs, then it could turn into a career. I think that it would be cool to say that you won and mentioning your name in the same sentence as John Lennon certainly makes it sound prestigious. Apparently the guy in this band http://bit.ly/rHxRfV won the contest about a decade ago. I have heard of them some time recently, sounded good to me. Really, anything to talk about is always good, whether it be opening for somebody, getting a song cut, winning a contest, getting a song played on the radio, huge plays on youtube, etc...It's just another good story that could turn into something, granted you keep creating stories. Whats good about that contest is the judges are known to be higher profile, and if they really dig the music, they could help you out. To answer to your question, no I don't believe anybody has or could make a career just based on that

Winning a contest like this gives you a tiny bit of cachet, but only a tiny one. It has the effect of getting people to listen to you for 3.7 extra seconds.

People in the business are past the point where winning contests mattered to them. They will register that you won a big contest and must have something on the ball, but......what else you got?

It's not The Thing That Makes You Successful. But it doesn't suck. And it doesn't hurt.

Winning a legitimate contest (there aren't many) or receiving a legitimate award (i.e. no entry fee, no prizes other than a trophy and recognition) are all helpful if you haven't had a major cut, label deal of any kind etc. They are also a nice boost to let you know that your music is being appreciated by the judges (again, only for the legit contests or awards) especially when the criteria and process is fair and honest. I know people with more than a half dozen Grammy's who have told me that winning those didn't increase their sales at all. It does help book gigs or get into media opportunities, but you still have to "bring it" musically to get anywhere.

Having hits doesn't even really help you as a writer beyond a few extra seconds of attention if you're a known entity and it can improve the quality and quantity of interested co-writers.

Contests matter if you win something worthwhile against the fee you have to pay and you enter something with a legit shot. Awards usually don't cost you anything to enter, though you may need to qualify (membership, nomination, etc.) in some way to be eligible. Our awards are free, but you have to be an active part of our member list with a valid email address on our newsletter list. And we allow anything to be entered that has not previously been entered. The bar is very high to get nominated (on sheer odds, it's easier to win a Grammy than get a JPF nomination due to entry numbers of each).

Seek out winners of past awards/contests in your genre and see how you measure up. If they suck, what the point of entering if the bar is too low to mean anything unless the prize is significant. The better the winners sound, the more legit the contest or awards.

Brian