Liz Meyer - latest health report

Liz Meyer, powerful singer/songwriter and one of the main moving forces behind the European World of Bluegrass (EWOB) Festival, has had major health problems during the last year. Her husband Pieter Groenveld sends this report from the centre where Liz is receiving treatment for cancer:

Liz has set her first steps this week, using a walker. Coming Sunday is her birthday, exactly nine months after arriving in the clinic here in Bad Aibling, Bavaria. We hope she can be moved to a rehab centre before too long, and that she will be home some time this spring. In the meantime she spends a lot of time and energy on the EWOB site and is communicating with lots of musicians and the EWOB committee on a daily basis.

The European Bluegrass Blog, on behalf of the EBMA and the bluegrass community throughout Europe, sends heartfelt good wishes for Liz's continued improvement and her eventual complete recovery.

A message from Niall Toner

From Niall Toner to the editorial team of Bluegrass Europe and Jan Michielsen of Four Wheel Drive:

I am writing to thank you for the wonderful feature on me and my band in the current issue of Bluegrass Europe magazine. The entire article is just superb, and special thanks should also go to Jan for doing such a great job. I hope the lads in Acousticure don't mind too much!

A recent develpment since your article is that all the Niall Toner Band CDs are now available worldwide as downloads from both iTunes and Amazon.com, and my tune from GTA4, 'Nun's Island Reel', is now also available in the USA as a ringtone on mobile 'phones... I hope this is seen as an encouragement to other writers and composers, in that you just never know where your songs and tunes are going to take you!

Also, speaking of tunes and songs, as mentioned by Jan in his article, we are always keen to make our material available to other bands and artists to record. If there's anyone out there who is looking for original songs or tunes, please don't hesitate to contact me for demos and lyric sheets. Apart from the thirty-six originals on our three CDs, there are many, many more songs of mine just waiting to be discovered, and it's also worth bearing in mind that I also write in many other genres of music, including country, country-rock, and traditional Irish styles. My details are all on the Bluegrass Guide pages in Bluegrass Europe.

Thanks again for all your encouragement and support, and NTB hope to get to meet with many more of you around Europe in the future.

Niall Toner composition on Grand theft auto 4

Press release

Songwriter Niall Toner is delighted to announce that a song of his is featured on the biggest-selling video game of all time, Grand theft auto 4, with sales in excess of $7 million since its launch on 29 April.

Niall's song is called 'The Real Real' (originally 'Nuns Island Reel'), and is played during the scene in an Irish pub in NYC. Niall composed the song in 1990, and recorded it originally as a single for release on the Irish market which never happened. Then, through a publishing deal with Bardis Music in Dublin and Crucial Music in LA, the song was pitched and accepted for inclusion in GTA4.

When asked what this meant to a songwriter, Niall replied: 'This is the kind of break that every songwriter dreams about, and it's the biggest thrill of my writing career. It goes to show that you should never lose faith in a song you are proud of, and I hope it serves as an example to other writers who are waiting for a break. I would also have to say that this would never have happened without the hard work and dedication of two very determined publishers, Peter Bardon of Bardis Music in Dublin, and Tanvi Patel of Crucial Music in LA. Thanks, guys, let's get working on another one.'

Niall's new CD with his band, NTB3, which is his third all-original, all-acoustic project, is to be released on Avalon Records (AVCD006) on 25 May at Studio One in the RTE Radio Centre in Donnybrook, Dublin 4. For further information contact Niall at +353 (0)59-9157570/(0)87-2877299 or by e-mail.

Darrell Scott & Casey Driessen in Europe

Darrell Scott, award-winning and Grammy-nominated songwriter, record producer, and member of Steve Earle’s Bluegrass Dukes, will be playing at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, Scotland, and will then tour the Netherlands with fiddler Casey Driessen.

Celtic Connections:
Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m. ABC, Darrell Scott Band
Jan. 31, 12:00 p.m. The Festival Club
Feb. 1, 7:30 p.m. Glasgow Concert Hall: Transatlantic Sessions with Casey Driessen
Feb. 3, 7:30 p.m. Glasgow Concert Hall: Transatlantic Sessions with Casey Driessen

The Netherlands with Casey Driessen:
Feb. 4, 8:30 p.m. De Schalm, Westwoud
Feb. 5, TBA NPS Radio 6 Live, Hilversum
Feb. 5, 8:30 p.m. In The Woods, Lage Vuursche
Feb. 6, 8:00 p.m. Paradiso, Amsterdam
Feb. 7, 8:30 p.m. Transvaria (Musemix), The Hague
Feb. 8, TBA De Slotplaats, Bakkeveen

Darrell's new album Modern hymns, due for release in April 2008, features Del McCoury, Alison Krauss & Mary Gauthier, Sam Bush, Danny Thompson, Tim O’Brien, Dirk Powell, and many others. He is the winner of the Americana Music Association’s 2007 Song of the Year, with 'Hank Williams’ ghost', from his sixth album, The invisible man. The video for the song is on YouTube.

International Songwriting Competition deadline approaching

The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) is now accepting entries for 2007. One of the largest songwriting competitions in the world, ISC gives away over $150,000 in cash and prizes, including an Overall Grand Prize package of US$25,000 in cash and over $20,000 in merchandise. ISC offers artists the most exposure, the best judges, and the biggest cash prize, unmatched by any other songwriting competition. ISC winners benefit from extensive press and publicity, gaining exposure and recognition from an international music market of industry professionals and fans.

Read the full details here.

International Songwriting Competition
1307 Eastland Ave
Nashville, TN 37206
+1 (615) 251-4441

International Songwriting Competition deadline approaching

24 August 2007

The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) is now accepting entries for 2007. One of the largest songwriting competitions in the world, ISC gives away over $150,000 in cash and prizes, including an Overall Grand Prize package of US$25,000 in cash and over $20,000 in merchandise. ISC offers artists the most exposure, the best judges, and the biggest cash prize, unmatched by any other songwriting competition. ISC winners benefit from extensive press and publicity, gaining exposure and recognition from an international music market of industry professionals and fans.

PasteMagazine.com says: 'How do you show the world that you have just made history? You could sit back down on the couch and hope for a record executive's phone call, or you could be proactive and win $25,000. The latter approach is not a dream; it merely requires talent and a submission to the 2007 International Songwriting Competition.'

ISC is proud to announce a new category for 2007: Comedy/Novelty. Judging the new category will be comedy icons 'Weird Al' Yankovic, David Cross (FOX TV's Arrested Development), and Cheech Marin (Cheech and Chong). All original comedy, parody, and novelty songs are welcome in the new category. In all, ISC offers 19 different categories to enter: Pop/Top 40, AAA (Adult Album Alternative), Rock, Country, Americana, R&B/Hip-Hop, Blues, Folk/Singer-Songwriter, Jazz, Gospel/Christian, Latin Music, Instrumental, Dance/Electronica, World Music, Children's Music, Comedy/Novelty, Lyrics Only, Teen, and Performance.

ISC is unique because of its judges. Since its inception, ISC has become internationally renowned for having the most prestigious judging panel of any songwriting competition in the world, offering entrants the unprecedented opportunity to have their songs heard by the industry's top recording artists and influential music executives.

Continuing in that tradition, the ISC 2007 judging panel includes recording artists Tom Waits; Loretta Lynn; Ray Davies (The Kinks); Julian Casablancas (The Strokes); Nelly Furtado; Kenny Wayne Shepherd; Ornette Coleman; Youssou N'Dour; Sean Paul; Jerry Lee Lewis; 'Weird Al' Yankovic; Frank Black (Pixies); Robert Smith (The Cure); Cassandra Wilson; David Cross; Craig Morgan; John Mayall; Joe Satriani; Toby Mac; Michael W. Smith; Chris Hillman (The Byrds); John Scofield; Hinder; Amy Ray (Indigo Girls); Cheech Marin (Cheech & Chong); Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC); Macy Gray; Peter Hook (New Order); Paulina Rubio; and Tiesto

Also judging will be music industry executives Charlie Walk (President, Epic Records); Monte Lipman (President, Universal Records); Mona Scott-Young (President, Violator Records); Cameron Strang (President, New West Records); Steve Lillywhite (Producer - credits include U2, The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Peter Gabriel, and more); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Betty Pino (DJ, WAMR Miami, pioneer of Latin radio); Angel Carrasco (President, 605 Discos and Sr. VP A&R, Sony BMG Latin America); Thomas Brooman (Co-Founder/Artistic Director, WOMAD); Dan Storper (President, Putumayo World Music); Nancy Wolpert (VP Home Entertainment and Nick Records, Nickelodeon/BMG); Leib Ostrow (CEO, Music For Little People); and Paul Majors (CEO/Founder Majors Music)

ISC is open to musicians, artists, and songwriters at every level from amateur to professional. Artists may submit as many songs as desired in each category or enter the same song in more than one category.

Entries are accepted online or by mail. For more information or to enter ISC 2007, please visit www.songwritingcompetition.com. The deadline is quickly approaching, so enter now!

ISC 2007 sponsors include Electro-Voice, ASCAP, Berklee College Of Music, Cakewalk, Shure, D'Addario, Hear Technologies, Disc Makers, Sonicbids, Musician's Atlas, Sibelius, Karian Studios, OnlineGigs, The Music Business Registry, Mediaguide, ArtistMonitor, Platinum Blue Music Intelligence, Alphabet Arm Design, George Stein, Esq., SongU, The Indie Bible, Shari's Berries, and Taxi

International Songwriting Competition
1307 Eastland Ave
Nashville, TN 37206
(615) 251-4441