Songwriting competition open for 2010 submissions

The Blooming-Tunes 2010 Competition, Songs From the Heartland, is now open for songwriting submissions.

This second annual competition is an opportunity for songwriters all over the country and beyond to showcase their musical talents.

The top 15 songwriters will be featured on a compilation CD. The top five of those go on to perform their songs in concert Oct. 17 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The top five will additionally be compensated at the concert.

“It’s to give songwriters another thing to do than just sit around their living room writing songs,” said Suzette Weakley, promoter and producer of Blooming-Tunes 2010.  
Weakley, along with being a songwriter, is also one of the founders of the Bloomington Songwriters Showcase held Monday nights at Players Pub.

“Other than just this kind of an offshoot of the songwriters showcase, it’s the next step for people,” Weakley said.

The event’s final plans are still in the works; two of this year’s judges are still undecided but will ideally include one non-local pro-writer and one music lover without musical background. One decided judge is last year’s Blooming-Tunes 2009 Competition first- and second-place winner, Joe Peters from West Lafayette.

Peters’ style is folk-rock, inspired by his overseas experiences as well as everyday subjects in Indiana. He said as a judge he is looking for “songs that move you.”

“I’m excited to listen to the submissions, and I think they’ll be very good because I have the compilation from last year’s contest, and all the songs on there are very good,” Peters said.

Song entries will not be accepted after July 15. The contest is open to all genres of music, except lyrics featuring profanity.

“It can be funny and it can be sad, it doesn’t matter, just a little bit out of the box — just so it doesn’t sound xlike everything else,” Weakley said. “You throw a little honesty on top of something, a little unique, and (I’m) all over it.”

For songwriters, a $10 submission could be the ticket to fame.

“My biggest advice for songwriters is: if you don’t submit something, you can’t win,” Peters said.