---2005 Mountain Stage NewSong Festival Changes Venue, Adds New Academy
---Festival and Academy Dates Aug. 24-28
---Now Taking Song Submissions and Academy Registration

The 2005 Mountain Stage NewSong Festival has some changes in store as one of America’s top singer-songwriter events moves to a new home in the historic university town of Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Now in its fourth year, the event also features the NewSong Contest presented by Performing Songwriter Magazine, now accepting entries through June 15.

This year’s Mountain Stage NewSong Festival takes place Aug. 24 to 28 in venues across Shepherdstown, W.Va., located less than 90 minutes from Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Concerts, showcases, workshops, open mics and campsite jams will highlight both renowned and emerging performing songwriters in all genres as players and music lovers converge on the town.

New to this year’s Festival is the NewSong Academy from Wednesday, Aug. 24 to Friday, Aug. 26. This high-powered school on songwriting and performance features instructors who embody NewSong’s focus on fine songcraft and great performance. Instructors include two of the country’s most accomplished hit songwriters and performers, Steve Seskin and Beth Nielsen Chapman; acclaimed performer, composer and Trapezoid founder Paul Reisler; and composer, singer and songwriter Ysaye M. Barnwell of the African-American female a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Concerts, showcases and contest events follow Friday, Aug. 26, through Sunday, 28, with live music staged in venues across Shepherdstown. NewSong will feature some of today’s best performing songwriters and emerging stars, in genres from Americana, blues, folk and pop, to world music, jazz,  country, hip-hop and beyond.  The festival concludes with a Mountain Stage NewSong show on Sunday, Aug. 28 at Shepherdstown University’s Frank Center, with a lineup of musical heavyweights that also includes one of the finalists in the NewSong Contest presented by Performing Songwriter Magazine. The show will be taped and later broadcast internationally on the Mountain Stage radio program.

Plus there will be a camping scene at the 20-acre Morgan’s Grove Park full of music-making, along with the option of lodging at one of the many area hotels, inns and bed-and-breakfasts in this scenic, historic corner of West Virginia.  

Registration for both the NewSong Academy and NewSong Contest is now open through the NewSong website at  www.newsongfest.com  where full contest rules can be found. NewSong will announce its 2005 concert and showcase performers in upcoming weeks and months. For the latest on all things NewSong, visit the website and be sure you are subscribed to the free, occasional NewSong News newsletter by sending an e-mail to:

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