July 2012
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 17, No. 7
NEXT MEETING - 5:00pm Sunday, July 1st, 2012
Officers:
Newsletter/Articles
Jeff Mason, jeffrey_mason@me.com
Meeting Coordinator/Critique scoring/CFMA Liason
Matthew Campbell, matthew_sax77@yahoo.com
Membership/Certificates/Contact
Susan Foster-Trewick, susiecool2001@yahoo.com
407-760-2153
E-mail Contact, isgorlando@gmail.com
Website
Carlos Colon, videosaysitall.fl@gmail.com
352-267-5911
Treasurer
Asli Goncer, asli@cfl.rr.com
Secretary
Jacquelyn Gould, songsuite@gmail.com
The International Songwriter’s Guild meets at 5 PM on the first Sunday of every month at the Central Florida Musician’s Union building, 3020 East Robinson (at the extreme east end of Robinson, near Orlando Executive Airport ) in Orlando.
Songwriters, composers, performers, publishers, and the curious are encouraged to join us. Non-members are invited to attend a meeting or two to get a feel for our group and what we do. For more information, visit our website at www.isgorlando.org or myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/internationalsongwritersguildorlando
The meetings will be structured as follows: 5:00 to 5:30, business and introductions. 5:30 to 6:00, presentation by a guest speaker (when scheduled), 5:30 or 6:00 to 8:00, song critiques. Please bring a CD or mp3 player or perform your song live, and bring 10 or more lyric sheets.
If we have at least 5 songs by members who wish to be scored, and 6 members scoring, then we will have them entered in the Monthly competition. Everyone is encouraged to write constructive comments on the lyric sheets.
Summertime Blues
By Jeff Mason
Summertime has arrived in Orlando. I’m a northern boy and the arrival of summer used to mean warm weather. It’s not the same in Central Florida. The advent of summer here is accompanied by rain. The big rains and the thunderstorms are back. The long winter drought has ended. It feels like summer all year in Florida.
I thought the title Endless Summer would be unique and pertinent to Orlando. It’s a good thing that we can’t copyright titles, because after a little research I found a half dozen songs with the same name. The official song for the 2012 UEFA EUROPA soccer tournament is called Endless Summer. The artist performing it is a German pop singer called Oceana and she can be seen at the July 1 final in Kiev, Ukraine. Even her name isn’t original because there is an indie, rock band from St. Petersburg, Florida using the name: Oceana!
The theme of summertime is a universal idea which appeals to many people. I Googled the term “songs about summer” and I immediately found Billboard’s Top Thirty Summer Songs with accompanying videos. The usual suspects are on the list. Eddy Cochran’s Summertime Blues is on the list, and “one of the best one hit wonders” Mungo Jerry’s In The Summertime. The production is still strong and the video holds up even 42 years later. I’d like to be a “one hit wonder.”
The Lovin’ Spoonful’s classic Summer In The City is placed at number two in this chart. The often covered Gershwin song Summertime is on the list with a 1966 version by Billy Stewart. I prefer the recording by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong over Stewart’s cover.
The Beach Boys created a genre with summer songs about surfing. Jimmy Buffett has put his own spin on the subject with Margaritaville and Cheeseburger In Paradise. Buffett has been so successful he’s created an empire. None of Buffett’s songs made the Billboard list which is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100. I’ve always believed that there are backdoor paths to success in the music business. They are just not that obvious and are often accidental. Buffett’s success proves my point.
Specific words spring to my mind when I think of Florida summers. Try making use of alliteration by using words like steamy and sultry, or hazy and humid. Take a listen to Tony Joe White’s Steamy Windows covered by Tina Turner. Another great song by White is Rainy Night in Georgia. I’m partial to Tony Joe White’s swampy style of songwriting.
It doesn’t matter if your song is about bikinis and beaches or long, bluesy, rainy days; it’s fertile soil for songwriters. See you next month.
ISG Bulletin Board
Videography and website management services at a price you CAN AFFORD. Capturing your wedding or event on video may not be in your budget but you’re hoping that you may have something left over to hire a videographer. I will fit your budget. My goal is to offer my services to those who otherwise would have to pass because of funds. This is your special day and you most definitely want to capture those moments. Visit my website at http://www.videosaysitall.com . Thanks and call me anytime (352-267-5911)…Carlos Colon
Meeting space graciously provided by Central Florida Musicians Association, Local 389. You are invited to join the largest union in the world, representing the interests of the professional musician. Visit their website at afm389.org for more information. You may reach them by phone at: 407-894-8666.
We’re always looking for material for the newsletter. If you have any information that you would like to see added to the newsletter, please see Jeff Mason at the meetings or email him at jeffrey_mason@me.com . Please keep your articles brief and to the point. Print deadline for the newsletter is approximately two weeks prior to the monthly meeting.
Classified advertising may be placed free of charge to members in good standing with the ISG. For more information on display advertising and/or classified advertising for non-members, please contact Jeff by the print deadline (usually the Friday 16 days prior to the monthly meeting); email is best ( jeffrey_mason@me.com ).
Why isn't your gig announced here? Call us with your appearance schedule!
Jeff Mason's Gig Schedule
Tijuana Flats,
444 S. Hunt Club Blvd,
Apopka, Fl, 32703,
407 774 0402
Tuesdays from 6 p.m.
Weather Permitting
The Farmer's Market,
Parking area in front of
Infusion Tea,
1600 Edgewater Dr,
Orlando, Fl, 32804,
407 999 5255
Thursday June 21st
6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Current members please send us your website info if you would like your site to be listed in the ISG members page. Also if you have any songs that have placed first in the monthly critiques, please send the mp3's to isgorlando@gmail.com if you would like to have them featured in the ISG MySpace page. http://www.myspace.com/internationalsongwritersguildorlando
Past Certificate winners can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/isgsusiecool/home/resultslist-2
ISG June critique results
1. I'd Better Go Home - Will Campbell
2. I Can't Get Out of Your Way - Jeri Long Simpson
3. No Home Without You - Kimberly Beaman/Susan Foster-Trewick
4. Will You Believe - Matthew and Rebecca Campbell
5. I've Been Lonely Too Long - Will Campbell
New members always welcome!
© 2012 ISG