2009 Judges
Grand Prize Judge : Roy Elkins, CEO of Broadjam, Inc.
Roy Elkins is a well-known music technology entrepreneur who has been leading industry innovations for over twenty years. Elkins is the Founder and CEO of Broadjam Inc., serving independent musicians and industry giants such as Warner/Chappell, The Academy of Country Music, AMD, Yamaha, Peavey, Roland, ProSoundWeb and others. Broadjam.com, the company's popular web site, now hosts one of the largest collections of searchable independent music on the planet. The site is known for its user-friendly services for musicians, including artist web pages, song reviews, song contests, Top 10 Charts and the revolutionary METAJAM software.
Before founding Broadjam, Elkins was the Vice President-Sales & Marketing for Sonic Foundry, and held several director-level positions with Ensoniq Corporation. He maintains a database of over 5,000 music industry contacts include executives at virtually every company in the music industry and past and/or present artists such as Will Smith, Eddie Murphy, D.J. Jazzy Jeff, the Beach Boys, the Allman Brothers Band, BoyzIIMen, Roy Firestone, Joe Walsh (The Eagles), Paul Broucek (Lord of the Rings), ELP, Yes, Journey, Skid Row, Bill Walton, Jackie Martling (Howard Stern), David Arkenstone, Randy Jackson and many others. He is an accomplished musician and songwriter who thoroughly understands the musician's world.
Category Judges
Americana: LOUIS JAY MEYERS, Executive Director of the Folk Alliance orginazation and conference.
Louis Jay Meyers is the founder and co-founder of numerous industry music conferences and an actively performing musician. He is currently the executive director of the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance and the director of the annual International Folk Alliance Conference, a post he assumed in June 2005.
Based in Memphis, Tenn., the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance was established in 1989 to cultivate and promote traditional, contemporary, multicultural folk music and dance and related performing arts in North America. It also seeks to strengthen and advance organizational and individual initiatives in folk music and dance through education, networking, advocacy and professional and field development. Read more about Louis in the Celebrity Access industry rag: http://www.celebrityaccess.com/news/profile.html?id=349 or Folk Alliance at http://www.folk.org
BareBones: DAVID CARD, Owner, Poor David’s Pub
Most of Texas’ greatest songwriters have one thing in common: they’ve headlined at Dallas’ legendary music venue, Poor David’s Pub. For the past 31 years, Poor David’s Pub owner David Card has been host to outstanding artists such as Sara Hickman, the Dixie Chicks, Patrice Pike, Max Stalling, Guy Clark, Jimmy Webb and more. Card is also the founder of the annual BW Stevenson Memorial Singer-Songwriter Competition, held at Poor David’s every April and now in its 20th year. Card, Poor David’s Pub and the annual contest have helped the careers of past singer-songwriter winners including Adam Carroll, Max Stalling, Kristi Kruger, Gordy Quist, Elizabeth Wills, Colin Boyd, Owen Temple and many others. http://www.poordavidspub.com
Children's/Novelty : Deborah Poppink created Didi Pop, a singer songwriter that has a cool, catchy, totally original take on life and who is married to the president of Bug Music in Hollywood.
Her songs can be heard on The X-Files TV series as well as in a new feature film, Jack and Jill and her latest family friendly project, DIDI POP! Original Music for kids. She has performed all over the world and is signed with Bug Music and BMI. She'll be touring soon with DIDI POP but now is ultra busy taking care of her two small daughters in Mar Vista California.
Christian: Randy Adams
Owner and chief engineer of AdamSound, Randy Adams was an original member of contemporary Christian music group Dallas Holm and Praise from 1975 to 1982, participating in every project the group recorded during that time, including the RIAA gold certified "Hey, I'm a Believer," which featured the first recording of "Rise Again", "Tell 'Em Again", "All That Matters", "This is My Story", and "I Saw the Lord". Visit Randy's recording studio website at http://www.AdamsSound.com and read this article about him published in the Dallas Morning News. http://adamsound.com/dmn_article.htm
Country: Marty Rendleman, President & CEO of Rendleman Management Group,
Rendleman has been involved in the entertainment industry since 1984. She has experience in every facet of the business from PR to management, and has a reputation for spotting and developing hot new talent. In 1992, Marty discovered and then managed LeAnn Rimes for three years. She obtained the song "Blue," from her dear friend, Bill Mack, and the rest, as they say, is history. In 1996, Marty would again sign a 9-year old, Mikaila, and start the process all over -- but this time in "Pop" music. In June of l999, at the age of twelve, Mikaila signed one of the biggest new-artist deals in history with Universal's Island Def-Jam Label. In August of 1999, Marty signed Kristy Lee, another blonde-haired, blue-eyed country singer. Kristy has just released her first album, "Devoted." http://www.rendleman.net
Singer-Songwriter: Michael Terry, assistant manager and booking coordinator of Uncle Calvin’s Coffee House. Set inside the fellowship hall of Northpark Presbyterian Church, this area landmark of acoustic music has become a haven for musicians and audiences looking for a laid back but engaging concert experience for a quarter century.
After 33 years of working at Southwestern Bell, he found the music of the Kerrville Folk Festival spoke to him and he decided to take early retirement in order to become more involved in presenting music. He found that opportunity in the halls of a church. Uncle Calvin’s has featured some of the brightest singers/songwriters in folk and country: The Dixie Chicks, Patty Larkin, Martin Sexton, John Gorka, Tom Paxton, Darden Smith and Butch Hancock are just a handful of the performers who have brought packed audiences to the 220-capacity hall every Friday evening for the last 25 years.
For more about Uncle Calvin's read this article from the Dallas Observer http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2007/11/after_25_years_uncle_calvins_c.php
MusicVideo: Bart Weiss, Founder of the Dallas Video Festival
Bart Weiss is an award-winning independent film and video producer, director, editor and educator. He is mostly known as the director and founder of the Dallas Video Festival. He produces the TV show "Frame of Mind" on KERA TV in Dallas, and is the artistic director of 3 Stars Cinema. He has taught film and video at a number of universities and is currently an associate professor at UT Arlington. He is a former president of the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF), former (and founding) board member of the Dallas Artists Research and Exhibition (DARE), and founder of the Video Association of Dallas. He has been a video columnist for The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Times Herald, and United Features Syndicate.
His films/videos have been shown at the SF Jewish Film Fest, SXSW, the Other Cinema, Kennedy Center , AFI's National Video Festival, Berlin Media Operative Festival, Sidney and Melbourne film festivals and many more.,
Instrumental: John Bryant John Bryant is a percussionist, music producer, and composer whose work with Bryant-Hames Music is featured in Emmy Award winning documentary films. He was comissioned to compose the musical scores for three dance works for the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. In addition to working in recording studios as a producer and musician. He has toured with Ray Charles and the Paul Winter Consort. Originally from Virginia, he majored in percussion and the University of North Texas, where he played and recorded with the I O'clock Lab Band. He Has recorded and/or performed with many artists including Ray Charles, D'Drum, the Neville Brothers, Eric Burdon and the Animals. Gary Burton, the Dallas Symphony, and Doc Severinsen. He is currently on the faculty at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Tx as Adjunct Lecturer of Drumset Studies.
Love Songs/ Easy Listening - Alan Rhody’s hit song, "I’ll Be True To You", performed by the Oakridge Boys became a standard by the late eighties ringing up more than four million in sales and eventually over one million airplays. He has spent three decades writing and singing with the passion of someone who is not only highly gifted, but who is driven to create. His poignant ballads and gutsy rockers have also garnered over a hundred recordings by a long list of major artists in country, folk, and bluegrass. Rhody’s newest new album, "Rhody In Black & White" (Ashwood Recordings), is a 21 song retrospective ranging from his beginnings in the Canadian folk scene of the early seventies through brand new material and his own arrangements of his hits by others including Del McCoury, Lorrie Morgan, Murray McLauchlan, Kevin Welch, Hoyt Axton, The Oak Ridge Boys, and Tanya Tucker.. www.alanrhody.com
