February 2004
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 9, No. 2
NEXT MEETING - 5:00pm Sunday, February 1st 2004
President's Letter
Dear Members,
Happy Valentine’s! I have an original
Valentine’s song to be critiqued at next
meeting; do you? This is one of my all seasons
songs, good for any occasion. Come to the meeting and see
how I do this.
Several days ago I had a call from Ms. Gigi Swanson representing Springboard Musicians Association in Tampa. She said they have some songwriters in their group and are interested in our activities, and in turn have invited any of us interested to attend one of their meetings. If so, I can pass you the information.
In this issue, find two publisher-recording names you might want to contact. I am requesting you let the ISG hear your songs and help make them more presentable before sending them off to outsiders. This is not only for your benefit but educational for other members, too.
I’m going to try to help out by providing more contacts in the future. There are some rules I want you to follow before you should consider mailing out songs. Also, be sure you have copyrights on your original works before sending anything out. Safety first!
In the meantime, get busy and write something really great. I want to be proud of you, and I want to see some success in our membership. We aren’t trying to compete with each other. Anytime one of our members does well, it helps make all of us try harder. So let’s all get busy and get with it!
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone Sunday. Until then, keep writing.
Till Sunday,
Russ Robinson
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Publisher’s Hotline
NOTE: It is very important that any songs you send them should be critiqued at one of our Guild meetings. After we hear the song and it is given a good score, you’ll know it is closer to being ready to send out. Critiques are important and will give you a better chance of getting your music accepted.
Russ
Richard E. Gowell (BMI)
Allagash Country Records
457th Street
Auburn, ME 04210
Publishes and produces mostly country, pop/country, and country/rock. Also R&B. You can submit demo tapes; unsolicited submissions are OK. This group prefers cassettes with 12 or fewer songs or lead sheets. Please enclose SASE. Usually reports back in 2-6 weeks. CD’s are released worldwide. They prefer album projects for singer/songwriters that have original unpublished masters available. 10-12 songs/masters in above styles can be accepted and contracted for this promotion.
Brentwood Music, Inc. (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC)
316 Southgate Ct.
Brentwood, TN 37027
Publishes mostly anthems (choral) for children’s and praiseworthy. Also country, jazz, and comedy. These people own Brentwood Records. It is OK to submit demo cassettes with 2-3 songs and lyric or lead sheets. They do not return unsolicited materials. Sometimes takes months before reporting back to you.
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Congratulations to ISG members Laura and Seven Richards. They have parts in the movie “Monster”, due to be released this month. The movie stars Charlize Theron and Bruce Dern. The movie has already premiered in Los Angeles and New York, and has gotten award nominations and rave reviews.
January Top Three
1 If You Don’t Come Home Roger Foster, Lisa Firestone, Susan Foster-Trewick
2 Cleveland Bob Neace
3 If You Fall Bill “V” Vontobel
© 2004 ISG