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Inspirations For Songwriters (I F S)
IFS aims to INSPIRE YOU into ACTION
over 2,600 songwriters, music publishers, artists, and music fans
receive IFS
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Please forward IFS to your songwriting friends

If you want RECEIVE IFS or
CHANGE your email address with IFS
SEND an EMPTY email to

difs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dear IFS readers,

Last Thursday Night I saw went to a house concert with Deborah Allen
and Sonny Throckmorton. I also spoke with Jim Photoglo and Freebo.
I'm going to see them again on Wednesday when they play ASG's writer
in the round.
jimphotoglo.com
freebo.com

Last Friday I flew to San Francisco and spent the weekend in NAPA.
It's a lovely place. I went to 5 wine tastings. I didn't check my PC
for 3 days. But I'm back and it's time to launch the latest
installment of IFS Let the world know.
Also in this issue you will find some Singers Searching for songs.

Congratulations to IFS reader Monte Warden is George Strait Single is
still climbing and currently at #10 on Billboard's country charts.
The Austin Chronicle wrote an excellent article about him and his
song.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2004-04-
02/music_feature.html
Call or email your local station and ask them to play "Desperately"
by George Strait.

John Arthur Martinez's latest single is now available at
www.itunes.com
and his CD comes out May 4th.

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thank you ANDE's

Hi Ande -

just a note to thank you for including in your IFS a request for
songs from Kevin.  He's selected 3 of my songs for his upcoming CD
project.  The funny thing is Kevin lives less than 10 miles from me! 
I know you like to hear when your IFS brings singer and song
together. 
Thanks! 
 
Donna M. Opfer, ASCAP,  NSAI
http://www.broadjam.com/artists/artistindex.asp?artistID=6968
Music Makers
St. Louis, MO
314-846-3330

"Without music, life would be a mistake."  Nietzsche

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hi, Ande!

Hey... I looked into the Nimbit Web Tools you shared about in an IFS
newsletter... the people partnering with ASCAP...and I signed up!  I
found
it to be a really great solution for songwriters/artists...... now I
have
a website I can update myself....even ME who used to be sooooo web
illiterate!  Remember?  hahhaha  So, thanks for that tip!  Let your
readers know the guys at Nimbit are great, and if they'd like to see
what
a starter site looks like they can go to
www.reneefrenchmusic.com

I am in the studio starting tomorrow, doing a real live commercial
CD.
Next month I am doing a ticketed concert at Riverbend church, all
proceeds going towards  the CD project.  I was wondering if you could
send the concert announcement to your readers?  It is attached here,
and I think you got one as well.  I'd appreciate any help you can
give me in promoting this event.

Thanks!  Let me know what you can do,

Renee French

IFS readers drop by
http://www.reneefrenchmusic.com/shows.html

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ASK ANDE

Hey Ande,

Got a question, maybe you know the answer?
Say I hire a singer for a demo- I pay him or her to sing it, but they
didn't write anything- so the copyright is me and my co-writers- now
say someone wants to use the song on a TV show- do I have to get
permission from the demo singer?
should I have them sign something when I hire them the first time?
the performance royalties that BMI pays are just for the songwriters
and publishers right?

Thanks!

Curious Near Carolina

Dear Curious,

YES you need to get the singers permission, in writing is better,
something to the fact that what they did is a master recording or a
work for hire and you can use it any way you want. Demos aren't
work for hire broadcast ready master recordings. If you want to make
them so you need to follow proper procedures. Like a different pay
scale applies for the musicians involved in the demo. But more
importantly you need the parties involved to sign off on their work
as such. For example, I and many songwriters have demos that Buddy
Jewell sang. If a songwriter did the following without his
permisstion or Sony's permission they would probably get in a whole
heap of trouble.
Put them on a for sale CD,
Placed them in a TV show or movie , or
Released them as a radio single.
 
Should I have them sign something when I hire them the first time?
~~~> Yes, that would probably be a good idea, I'm not sure what the
document would be. I know that musician unions have different pay
scales based on the type of performance and recording.
 
The performance royalties that BMI pays are just for the songwriters
and publishers right?
~~~> true, strangely enough radio doesn't pay the artist, they only
pay the songwriters. I think other countries do pay both the artist
and the writers. The explanation I heard is that years ago radio
stations lobbied more effectively than artists did, so that's the way
things are in USA.

Good luck hope this helps.
If anyone cares to expand please do so
 
ande

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Let the World Know

Dear IFS here's the latest IFS Let the world KNOW.
Read them and respond to the ones that interest you.
Who knows what will happen because you did?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you're a singer looking for songs
drop by
http://songramp.com/ande
and have a listen, you may find something you love

If you're a talented singer or producer with an up coming recording
project who's looking for well written lyrics or assistance writing
better lyrics
maybe we might want to try to collaborate

Ande Rasmussen
www.andersrasmussen.com

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Hi Ande,

Thanks for the opportunity to let the world know about myself.  I am a
singer/songwriter living in the the Philadelphia area and looking for
people to collaborate with.  I think I am strong on lyrics and mostly
write in the genre of Country, Folk and Christmas songs although I
have co-written in almost any genre.  As a female vocalist I can also
sing the female song demo's.

I have had 3 single song contracts and one Indie record my material. 
I am good at fleshing out others ideas into a workable lyric and
welcome responses from all levels of writers from beginners to
advanced.  You can hear my original material at this web site.
www.artistlaunch.com/lizrogers

Keep up the wonderful work you do for all of us aspiring songwriters.

Fond regards,
Liz Rogers Wolfram

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From: stevemez@...

Hey Ande,

I guess its that blurb time of the year again!  Here goes:

mez - Singer/Songwriter/Husband/Parent/9to5er

Residing in the greater Boston area, mez is a multi-instrumentalist
singer-songwriter whose talents include rhythm and lead guitar,
piano, bass,
and drum programming. Trading in dreams of rock goddom for song
crafting,
mez, armed with a Mac and Cubase writes, performs, and records songs
in his
home studio for placement in film and television.

In addition to signing multiple song publishing deals with Global
Graffiti
Publishing and SongCastle Music, mez has had 19 songs placed in the
following films and tv shows:
1998        "Seaside Seduction"        Five Angels Productions
2001        "Out Of The Black"         Diversa Films
2001        "Rockin' With Satan"       Zone Five Films
2002        "Shoot the Acrobat"        Double Midnight Productions
2002        "Nowheresville"            Double Midnight Productions
2003        "General Hospital"         ABC

    As a member of TAXI since the fall of ¹98, mez has had over 75
songs
forwarded to various music organizations.  Maybe he'll get lucky one
of
these daze!  Or notŠ
         
musicmez.com  
mez@...         

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From: sas@...

Hi Ande,
 
I just love IFS!  Thank you for this great opportunity to share. 
What great chance for exposure!  Keep up the great work!
 
My name is Dahlia Wakefield, and I'm an Adult Contemporary
singer/songwriter based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  I've recently
independently released a CD entitled 'Close To Home' on my label,
Squirrelly Girl Music.  Three of the songs on the CD have placed
extremely well in various songwriting contests: the 2001 & 2003
Windrift Music Songwriting Contest with "I Believe
and "I" respectively, and my song "Die For You" recently won an
Honorable Mention in the 2003 International Songwriting Contest.  You
can hear the full song at
http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners.htm.  Also, if you
like, you can go to my website at www.dahliawakefield.com to hear
clips of 9 songs on the CD, which is available for sale.  I have
written over 80 tunes in different styles of music, but I focus
mainly on pop, rock, and country. What I'm looking for is a
publishing deal.  I'm also hoping to pitch my songs to other singers
to cover my songs as well as looking for placement in TV and film. 
(Who isn't? :)  Additionally, I'm open to song collaboration with
anyone in the biz online or by telephone - my sentiment is that two
heads are better than one! :)
 
Here's my contact info:
 
Squirrelly Girl Music c/o Dahlia Wakefield
P.O. Box 43082 Standard Life R.P.O
10405 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, AB  T5J 4M8 Canada
(780) 425-7538
dahlia_w@...
www.dahliawakefield.com
 
Looking forward to hearing from you!
 
Dahlia :)

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jaycapmusic@...

My name is John Capener and I am a songwriter living in England
I am looking for signed artists to re-record some 15 songs and
hopefully get them charted.
If they want to listen to some songs:
www.Jaycapmusic.co.uk 

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From: jdinflight2@...

Being fairly new to the Hill Country area on top of being a fairly
reclusive writer leaves me fairly in need of some better than fair
melodies to go with my better than fair lyrics. I have several
Country lyrics, however it isn't a natural thought process for me to
write only Country. I'm residing in Horseshoe Bay and have a few
publishing deals on my plate but I'm not fully satisfied with,
or overwhelmed by the offers, and some songs still need
some tweaking. I play the harp and have a good feel for melodies, and
I am looking for a co-writer to work with, I have upwards of 60 songs
at this point and counting. Blues, R&B, Christian, and Country find
their way from my gray matter to my moniter on a highway with no
speed limit. I've had 18 melodies done in Croatia, have way around
the world, from a man on met on Tonos. They are very unique melodies,
but there is still a language bearer causeing some confusion. If
original lyrics are what you're looking for then I'm ready to play.
I'll be waiting right here at my computer, adding to my list. Jerry
Hollis 830-798-5078

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From: BPREAVES@...


BRAD REAVES
SINGER SONGWRITER MULTI INSTRUMENTALIST
GREENSBORO NC
BPREAVES@...
Current projects: 
Recording and performing with our four piece acoustic act,
OneStringOver.  (www.OneStringOver.com).
Currently have a few single song contracts.
Continue working with cowriters to build my song catalogue.
Teach private voice, guitar, bass and dobro lessons.
Perform solo.

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From: TheUnicornGarden@...

I'm a 45 year old former rock performer/writer living in Austin,
Texas.  I'm looking for a guitarist or keyboardist/co-writer who
wants to write salable rock music for use in pitches and soundtracks
that is brave enough to at least perform acoustic versions of these
in public to help get us some publicity.  I've won songwriting awards
for rap and pop, so know how to put a commercial spin on music, and
my former band only missed being signed because I was deemed "too
old."  I've done well in rock music pitches, but need someone who
could add whatever it is that I'm missing to get me from the next to
last cut to the final cut in choosing what gets on an album.  I write
decent lyrics and melodies, can sing on my own demos, and play most
standard instruments competently--I've played all the instruments on
some of my demos.  I have a limited home studio for writing, but
little money, so would have to work with a co-writer who had assets
if they expect actual studio demos.  Would prefer to work with other
Christian females, but will consider all offers and styles, as long
as they are people who are into the music, not the "rock lifestyle."
 
Cindy Lee Haddock
TheUnicornGarden@...
http://theunicorngarden.com

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for LET THE WORLD KNOW
Sean Michael O'Keefe's music is a unique and radio friendly blend of
country, Americana, and melodic pop. His songs feature clever, tight
arrangements and harmonies, bittersweet lyrics and catchy melodies.
Sean's credits include a recent signing with a music publisher on
Nashville's Music Row, first place in Canada's WRITE ON song-writing
contest, and recent selection as a participant in the Barbara Cloyd
(of the Bluebird Café) Songwriter Search with representatives from
Universal Music Publishing and Song Garden Publishing. Sean has
performed on MUCH MUSIC, Toronto's BREAKFAST TELEVISION, VANCOUVER
BREAKFAST and at the MARIPOSA FOLK FESTIVAL. He has shared the stage
with such acts as, THE BARENAKED LADIES, THE PROCLAIMERS, and EDIE
BRICKELL. Best of all, Sean has recently relocated to San Antonio,
Texas. Visit Sean's website at
www.seanmichaelokeefe.com
, hear some tunes and drop him a line- he'd love to hear from other
songwriters and musicians from around Texas and beyond and is open to
co-writing, collaboration or other interesting ideas from creative
people.
Thanks Ande,

Sean Michael O'Keefe
210-286-2872
sean@...

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From: jayson.jackson@...
JAYSON JACKSON:
AUTHOR & SONGWRITER

Hi,

I'm Jayson Jackson, an Author and a Songwriter based in Manchester in
the UK. I write and record my own material and work on song
collaborations as well. I'm looking for bands, artists, or
publishers, who may be interested in any of my songs/co-writes. If
you need tunes for demo or possible release purposes, please consider
what I have to offer.

Samples of my work can be found at:
http://www.jaysonjackson.co.uk

Emails should be sent to:
jayson.jackson@...

Thanks for your time.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From: rreames@...

Ande,
 
My name is Rick Reames and I recently joined NSAI.  I was with a band
in the 90's that was signed to Mercury Records and EMI publishing,
and I was one of the main songwriters. Although we were in the Pop
Rock genre, my songs leaned more country.  During the past few years,
I have concentrated on writing more concise and storytelling lyrics
than the vague lyrics you can get away with in Pop music.  I am
looking for other writers to help me fill in the missing pieces on
some songs and/or take my musical and melody ideas and come up with
new lyrics.  I demo my songs in my small home studio and can
email .wav or mp3 files.  Thanks for your help.
 
Best Regards,
 
Rick Reames
tel: 864.420.1634
fax: 864.458.9747
email: rreames@... 

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From: graham.a@...

Hi Anders,
I'd like to take up your kind offer of a little personal advertising
space to LET THE WORLD KNOW if I may. I'd be grateful if
you would please add the text below.
 
Much obliged,
Graham Andrews (UK)
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UK WRITER SEEKS COLLABORATOR(S)!! 
Could you help someone who.....
- is a musician, but writes mainly lyrics,
- plays guitar in a blues band but writes mainly new country, 

- can't sing well, but knows a good vocal melody when he hears one,
- lives in the UK, but is focused mainly on the US,

- is well-read on craft, but doesn't always get it right,
- has had material published and indi cuts, but nothing big,
- wants to write more and better songs, but needs co-writers,
- wants to demo and pitch those songs, when they're written,
- is no spring-chicken, but can still run like the wind? 
 
Co-writers who can sing (male or female), please let me know who you
are!
Graham Andrews (BMI), Sheffield, UK.
cowriter.request@...
 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

From: Cody_Coe@...

WHO you are:  Cody Coe of Libra's RibWHAT you've done:  released (2)
5 song CDs w/Libra's Rib; performed in and around Austin since
1989.WHAT you hope to do: connect with songwriters looking for
someone to demo their songsWHO you're looking for: also looking for
the `5th Beatle' to possibly join my current band Libra's RibHello
Ande!First let me say I admire your work ethic!  Congratulations on
creating such a wonderful forum for songwriters to meet and
network.I'd like to let the world know that I can sing like a bird
and I want to sing other people's songs!  I'm not particularly
looking for songs to include on my next recording, rather I'm
offering my voice for demo work, however if I come across a killer
rock song I would consider including it on my next recording.  Check
out my website at www.librasrib.com for MP3s and other tidbits about
me and my band.Libra's Rib is also considering adding another member
to its roster.  The ideal candidate will be a songwriter that can
play piano, guitar, possibly other stringed instruments, and be able
to harmonize vocally.  If you're in the Austin area and are
interested in getting together for possible collaborations and
gigging around Austin and surrounding cities, send me an email at
cody@....  Don't be offended if I don't reply right away to
your email as I travel frequently and access that email address on
weekends.Cody Coe

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From: GuoKe@...

Hi Ande or Anders (I keep wanting to ask you which it is).  I'm
Carl Gregory (under which name I write) but I perform as Richeson
Todd or Rich Todd ("No harm in thinking positively").  My
accomplishments pretty much come from song contests:  a couple of
finalists in the Unisong contest, an honorable mention and a grand
prize (Children's Division) in the John Lennon contest (that last
one is published with EMI).

>From your list, I'd be a songwriter looking for a singer, but my
real quest is for one or more folks to both sing and play with.
While much of my material has a solo version, I usually write with
harmonies and multiple instruments in mind:  in particular, I'm
basically a drummer who writes and plays a guitar, and I can't do
both at once onstage.  If that sounds like I'm looking for a band,
so be it, but it's actually a bit looser than that.  Another
guitarist for harmonies would meet a lot of needs.

So if anyone out there wants to try it and see if the vibes are
good, my e-mail is GuoKe@....

Regards, Carl.

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From: newland@...

I am . . . A Piano and a Girl. I wrote or co-wrote all of the songs
on my
record "Threads of Mercury" (on www.cdbaby.com/cd/newland and
www.towerrecords.com). I would like people to hear my songs, share
them,
sing them. I am also looking for a producer to produce 5 of my new
songs.
Please contact me through www.newlandmoorefield.com.
Thank you so much,
Newland

http://www.newlandmoorefield.com
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/newland
"Artists and Poets are the raw nerve of humanity. By themselves they
can
do little to save humanity -- without them there would be little
worth caring." --Anonymous (because we forgot who said it)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From: Robb518@...
To: AndeRasmussen@...

I have songs and I'm looking for a publisher or artist to do them. 
You can hear some of them at http://www.cdbaby.com/robbbledsoe2.  I
belong to NSAI, founded Cahokia Songwriter Association,  and have
been active in the music scene for 30+ years
 
Robb Bledsoe
http://groups.msn.com/RobertleeBledsoe
Robb's CDs are available on line at 
http://www.cdbaby.com/robbbledsoe2

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From: stevedross10@...

Hi
 
I'm a lyric writer living in London, I need a melody writer, my style
is country/folk.
Looking forward to hearing from you, we can meet to write or write
over the internet.
 
From Steve
 
e-mail stevedross10@...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From: Cgsbeatles@...


Hey Ande,

Here's my Let the World Know info.   Thanks for your help!  If you
have any questions or need additional info, can reach me at (609) 448-
6773 or cgsbeatles@....  Hope all is going well there.  Best
wishes with House Made of Stone - will send in some requests to radio
here this weekend.  Thanks again.
Best wishes,
Cindy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From: karenmitchell@...

Hi Ande,
I'm Karen Mitchell, also known as "karenheart".  I've completed two
CD's of original music (written and/or co-written by me).  I'm
currently changing my focus to concentrate on song writing with an
emphasis on lyric writing.  I need a co-writer who's specialty is
more writing melodies and/or a producer for quality demos of original
music.  My vocal abilities are limited.  For that reason I believe my
songs could have wider use if sung by someone who's gift is voice. 
You can check out some of my songs at www.karenheart.com or
www.cdbaby.com/cd/karenheart.  My personal favorite "Fun With You" is
undergoing a rewrite of the melody as a result of attending a Steve
Seskin workshop in San Diego recently. 
Enough about me.  Thanks for the awesome networking possibilities you
provide and the great info/tips presented here.  You're truly
inspired and an inspiration!
Karen

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

IFS SSS
IFS SINGER SEARCHING FOR SONGS

From: twilleyk@...

Hi Ande!  Thanks for the article...here is a little more about me and
what I am looking for.

My name is Kristin Twilley.  I am a twenty year old female pop/rock
singer, and I am curently attending Belmont University in Nashville,
TN.  I am in the process of building a website so check that out at
www.geocities.com/kristin_twilley/home.  I've been performing since
the age of four, mostly at church (as music director)and various
community celebrations, banquets, and events.  I have also had the
opportunity to build on my craft in show choir, Missouri All-State
Choir, and Missouri Fine Arts Academy. 

I am now interested in expanding my passion for music into something
that may one day lead to my ultimate dream-a singing career.  This
summer I will be playing local shows, and I am in need of awesome HIT
songs (fast or slow) that represent my edgy pop style.  Unique,
catchy
beats and gospel-like runs would be great.  These songs might be used
for live performances and a demo recording that will be shopped to
major labels.  I need these songs urgently as I will be working on
this project over the summer.  The best way for me to access these
songs is by snail mail.  I will be at this address until May 10:

Kristin Twilley
2711 Bernard Circle
Nashville, TN 37212

After May 10:

Kristin Twilley
1001 Dogwood Point Drive
Climax Springs, MO 65324

I'd appreciate any help you could give me.  Thanks!

Kristin Twilley

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Hi,

my name is Josiah Morgan, I'm a lead singer and songwriter for a band
named
Dawns Early Light, we are a pop-punk band style, and are looking for
a new song to put in our cd you know? cause we are goanna be
finishing our first cd soon, like we have a recording studio about to
help us record, so we need another song to make a full cd, and were
wondering if you could help us, we are from Massachusetts and are
looking for maybe love song or fast punk or sumthing, thanks a bunch
Josiah 
DELVocals15@...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Write on!
Ande Rasmussen
Editor and Publisher of I F S, Inspirations For Songwriters

Contact info is:

Ande Rasmussen
835 Martindale Falls
Martindale, TX 78655
AndeRasmussen@...


You can read my Bio at:
http://www.andersrasmussen.com/

You can hear a few of my tunes at:
http://songramp.com/ande
http://www.soundclick.com/anders

If you want receive IFS or change your email address with IFS
send an email to difs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

FORWARD IFS to your songwriting friends!

IFS home page is
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DIFS

All IFS messages are archived on
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DIFS/messages

Once you're in the IFS archive, if you're looking for something in
particular, you can do a key word search

I F S stands for Inspirations for Songwriters, I F S is an ezine for
songwriters filled with inspirational and practical information about
the art, craft, and business of songwriting. We want to help YOU
become a more successful songwriter.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
The entire text of
"Inspirations for Songwriters"
© 2004 Anders Rasmussen