Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20

WWALS Watershed Coalition

WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER® WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the surface waters and groundwater of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, in south Georgia and north Florida, among them the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds, through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20 [Up]

2022-08-22: Winners, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022 2022-08-20.

Hahira, Georgia, August 22, 2022 — Everyone had a good time, it was a successful fundraiser for WWALS, and here are the winners of the Fifth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

Winners: Emmett Carlisle, Best Song from Outside; Tracy Horenbein, Best Americana; David Rodock, First Prize and Best Song from Inside; Kyle Chamberlain, Best Folk, Kevin Stephenson, Best Country

Video playlist: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022

The Contest

Entry tickets: $10 online or $12 at the door.
facebook event
Finalists will play 7-11 PM, Saturday, August 20, 2022
Headliners will play, food truck and cash bar, judges will play, finalists will play, silent auction and kayak raffle, judges will judge, prizes will be awarded, winners will play

Songwriters

Publicity

About WWALS: Founded in June 2012, WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charity. WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the surface waters and groundwater of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, in south Georgia and north Florida, among them the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds, through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities. Since December 2016, John S. Quarterman is the Suwannee Riverkeeper®, which is a staff position and a project of WWALS as the member of Waterkeeper® Alliance for the Suwannee River Basin.
See: https://wwals.net/donations

Take Me to the Suwannee --David Rodock @ Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20.

And, finally, the winner of Best Song from Inside the Suwannee River Basin for $50 and First Prize for $300: David Rodock, of Adel, Georgia, with Take Me to the Suwannee.

Take Me to the Suwannee --David Rodock

Here's what he wrote about himself, “ “Writer” turned “musician””
About the song, he wrote, “twenty minutes and a pot of coffee on a Sunday morning effort”.
The judges and the audience thought that was a good effort. He said he will be be back. Imagine if he applied himself!
Videos: Dirty Bird and the Flu @ Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20
The second headliner at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022 was Dirty Bird and the Flu, with a surprise guest appearance by Free Range Strange.

Thanks for playing, Flu!
Videos: Best Folk for Suwannee River Nights by Kyle Chamberlain @ Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20.

Suwannee River and Me --Kyle Chamberlain
2022-11-13: VIdeos: Suwannee River Nights --Emmett Carlisle @ Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20.

Emmett Carlisle from Gainesville, Florida, won Best Song from Outside the Suwannee River Basin with Suwannee River Nights, at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. That came with $50 and a plaque.

Suwannee River Nights by Emmett Carlisle @ LCC 20 August 2022
2022-11-20: Videos: Judges play, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20.

Judges Kenji Bolden and Joe Smothers @ Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, 20 August 2022
2022-11-04: Headliner Sweet William Billy Ennis @ Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20.
Thanks, Sweet William Billy Ennis, for winning last year and returning this year to headline the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

Dying Man Blues --Sweet William Billy Ennis

Here's a WWALS video playlist:

...
2022-11-01: Videos: Kevin Stephenson winning Best Country with It Don't Get No Better Than This, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20

Kevin Stephenson of Valdosta, Georgia, won Best Country for his song, "It Don't Get No Better Than This --The Alapaha," 2022 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

Kevin Stephenson, It Don't Get No Better Than This

Thanks, Kevin!
2022-10-05: Videos: Tracy Horenbein winning Best Americana with Wild and Free, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20

Here are videos of Tracy Horenbein, of Tallahassee, Florida, singing her song Wild and Free, and winning Best Americana, at the 2022 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

Wild and Free --Tracy Horenbein, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022

Thanks for playing, Tracy!
2022-08-26: Wesley Vallotton accepted Songwriting Contest raffle kayak for Mala Vallotton 2022-08-24.

Mala Vallotton's son Wesley Vallotton accepted the raffle kayak for her.

Delivered and Drawn

Thanks again to Georgia Beer Co. for donating this kayak, worth more than a thousand dollars.
Thanks to all the sponsors...
2022-08-22: Winners, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022 2022-08-20.

Hahira, Georgia, August 22, 2022 — Everyone had a good time, it was a successful fundraiser for WWALS, and here are the winners of the Fifth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

Winners: Emmett Carlisle, Best Song from Outside; Tracy Horenbein, Best Americana; David Rodock, First Prize and Best Song from Inside; Kyle Chamberlain, Best Folk, Kevin Stephenson, Best Country

The winners were chosen by judges....
Videos: Suwannee Riverkeeper about Songwriting Contest on Scott James Radio 2022-08-18.

Thanks to Scott James for half an hour of radio time Thursday, mostly about the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. The Contest is 7-11 PM today, Saturday, August 20, 2022, at the Turner Center Art Park, 605 N. Patterson St., Valdosta GA 31601.
...

Mayor, Plaques, Sponsors

Who's going to draw the winning kayak raffle ticket? The one and only hippie, kayaking, radio Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson.
Which of the five Finalists will MC Chuck Roberts announce as winners of the $300 First Prize, the $50 each for best song inside and out side the Suwannee River Basin, and the Best in Genre plaques, still in their wrappings so they'll be fresh for the winners? Come and see this evening!...
2022-08-18: Judges, Headliner change, raffle kayak, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20,

Hahira, Georgia, August 18, 2022 — We're announcing our singing judges, and raffle tickets still available for the kayak Georgia Beer Co. donated. But we also have to say the pandemic is not over. A key member of one of our headliners went to Atlanta to hear a famous band and came back with COVID-19.
So our new second headliner is Dirty Bird and the Flu, from Valdosta, Georgia. “Funky-blues-soul-fusion born straight out of the South Georgia swamps and a charismatic front-man who catches comparisons of all the famous soul singers. No two shows are ever the same!”
Our first headliner is Sweet William Billy Ennis from Palatka, Florida, our First Prize winner last year. “His fifty years of original songs cover multi genres and subjects including love, war & environment, Folk, Country & Blues. On August 26, 2018, he won the North Central Florida Blues Regional Solo Challenge and represented North Central Florida in the 2019 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. His songs of the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers won best in Folk Genre, 3rd, and 1st place in the 2019 Santa Fe River and 2021 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contests. His acoustic finger pick style weaves through songs of his life with a simple feel of storytelling and his deep resonant voice grabs the essence of his stories.”
So come on down and support WWALS and fishable, drinkable, swimmable water by listening to music at the Turner Center Art Park in Valdosta, Georgia, 7-11 PM, Saturday, August 20, 2022....
2022-08-11: Five Finalists, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20,

Hahira, Georgia, August 11, 2022: Five finalists have been selected to play at the Finals of the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, coming from Tallahassee and Gainesville, Florida, and Lake Park, Valdosta, and Adel, Georgia.
“I’m very excited to hear everyone sing!” said organizing committee chair Angela Duncan. ”It’s going to be a great event.”
That's 7-11 PM, Saturday, August 20, 2022, at the Turner Center Art Park in Valdosta, Georgia.

Kyle Chamberlain of Lake Park, GA; David Rodock of Adel, GA; Emmett Carlisle of Gainesville, FL; Kevin Stephenson of Valdosta, GA; Tracy Horenbein from Tallahassee, FL

Here's what the five songwriters want the three judges and you the listeners to know about themselves and their song....
2022-08-02: Headliners: Sweet William Billy Ennis and Lazy Lightning, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, August 20, 2022
2022-07-23: Another deadline, August 3, for song submissions to Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, August 20, 2022,

Since we're told some songwriters experienced technical difficulties, we're re-opening song submissions yet again for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. “"We know there are musicians out there who share our love for nature - especially for our local waterways. Now is the chance to share that inspiration with everybody!” said Organizing Committee Chair and musician Angela Duncan.
Here is the entry form: https://forms.gle/A2tpW1c7HJK3Tjuf7
2022-07-14: Final deadline July 20, for song submissions to Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, August 20, 2022

OK, this time we really mean it. Wednesday, July 20, 2022, is the final deadline to send in songs for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

Here is the entry form: https://forms.gle/A2tpW1c7HJK3Tjuf7
2022-07-13: Deadline today, July 13, for song submissions to Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, August 20, 2022

That song you've been working on: today's the day to send it in.
2022-07-06: MC and deadline extended: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, August 20, 2022,
Hahira, Georgia, July 6, 2022 — "I've heard him all my life on the radio," said organizing committee member Sara Jay Jones. That's Kickin Kevin Thomas, who describes himself as, “Good timing, fun loving country radio host for the past 30 years.” We're glad to welcome Kickin Kevin as the MC of the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, at the Finals, Saturday, August 20, 2022,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. "And he's a fun guy to be around at an event: he knows music, and he knows good times," said committee member Jesse Cole.

MC Kickin Kevin Thomas

The committee also extended the deadline for song submissions a week, to Wednesday, July 13, 2022. Songwriters, please send in your song today!
2022-05-26: 2022-05-26: A new sponsor benefit at Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20,

Hahira, Georgia, May 26, 2022 — Sponsors of the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest get an additional perq, as well as entry tickets, and other benefits. Georgia Beer Company has donated a Vibe Yellowfin 120 kayak, worth more than a thousand dollars retail. WWALS draw raffle tickets for that kayak at the Contest, August 20, 2022, at the Turner Center Art Park in Valdosta, GA. Each $100 cash sponsor donation gets one of those raffle tickets.

“Sponsoring the Contest is a great way to support the work of WWALS, from paddle outings, water trails, and water quality testing, to opposing trash, mines, and toll roads.” said WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman, “But there's a cap of 30 tickets, so get your sponsorships in early.”

Banner and raffle kayak
2022-04-18: Song submissions open for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-04-18.

Open song submissions 2022-04-18
Flyer

Flyer
PDF
Last year's contest.