Tag Archives: Georgia Beer Co.

Tickets and MC: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hahira, Georgia, August 2, 2021 — “I am very excited and honored to be the Master of Ceremonies for this year’s Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriters Contest,” said Big Country Wes James, of WAAC FM Rivers Radio. “I can’t wait to hear all the great songs that have been submitted and to find out who this year’s winner will be.”

“We’re just as pleased that Big Country agreed to be Master of Ceremonies at the Contest!” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

Suwannee Riverkeeper and Big Country Wes James on WAAC FM Rivers Radio 2021-04-20
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS of Wes James on WAAC FM Rivers Radio 2021-04-20

Tickets are on sale now, $10 online; they will be $12 at the door.
https://wwals.net/pictures/2021-08-21–songwriting/

VIP tables in front of the stage are $150; inquire to song@suwanneeriverkeeper.org.

“Florida and Georgia songwriters sent many good new songs about our rivers, swamps, springs, and sinks, ranging through folk, country, blues, soul, and jazz,” said Laura D’Alisera, who won First Prize the first year and has been on the WWALS Songwriting Contest Committee ever since. “Public online voting is finished, and the Committee will announce its decision for Finalists this Wednesday, August 4, 2021.”

“The Finals will be a fun festival for the whole family,” said Contest Committee Chair Tom H. Johnson Jr., who is also WWALS Board President. “That’s 7-11 PM, Saturday, August 21, 2021, at the Turner Center Art Park, 605 North Patterson Street, Valdosta, Georgia, 31601.”

Because of the surge in the COVID-19 virus pandemic, we will test temperatures at the entrance with an infrared thermometer. Tables will be spaced for distancing. Masks will be required when people are close to other people not in their party.

“We have two headliners this year,” said Committee Member Angela Duncan. “Last year’s winner Scott Perkins and his band Little Perks in Paradise from Atlanta, and Valdosta’s own Dirty Bird and the Flu.”

“Thanks to Georgia Beer Company for being our top-tier sponsor again!” said WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman. “And thanks to all the other sponsors, including Continue reading →

Vote for Songs! Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hahira, Georgia, July 25, 2021 — “Help us pick finalists from nine songs!” said Laura D’Alisera, who won First Prize the first year, and ever since has been on the organizing Committee.

You can vote here, until 5PM, Thursday, July 29, 2021:
https://forms.gle/JKJFdLghQa8P3n4NA

[Vote for Songs!]

“It’s plain old ranked-choice voting,” said Committee Member and Contest Judge Josh Duncan. “Rank the songs in order starting with 1 (you liked it most).”

“This online voting is new this year,” said Songwriting Contest Committee Chair Tom H. Johnson Jr. “Audio of each song is on YouTube, with no video, just a picture.”

There’s a facebook event to encourage people to vote: https://www.facebook.com/events/2850064571913032

”The Committee will take the online results into account when selecting finalists,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. “Here’s what the Rules say about that:” Continue reading →

Deadline Extended to July 14, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2021

Update 2021-07-15: 2021 deadline extended again! and Scott Perkins singing Hoochie Coochie for the Withlacoochee, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hahira, Georgia, July 8, 2021 — “I got in on the extended deadline, and won the contest!” said Laura D’Alisera, who won First Prize the first year.

Here is the entry form:
https://forms.gle/tWrqas7qPWDKgpqF6

“Laura liked it so much she joined the organizing Committee,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

[Flyer]
Flyer
PDF

First prize is $300 plus one day of recording studio time, in the Fourth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. Plus $50 for best song from inside the Suwannee River Basin, and $50 for best song from outside. And plaques to best in each musical genre. Youth songwriters, we’ll add a prize for you if you send in your songs.

“Now you’ve got until Bastille Day to send in your song!” said Songwriting Contest Committee Chair Tom H. Johnson Jr.

Finalists (well, maybe not youth) get Continue reading →

Deadline Today! Song submissions due July 7, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2021

Update 2021-07-08: Deadline Extended to July 14, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hahira, Georgia, July 7, 2021 — “Tired of tropical storms? Stay in, finish your song, and send it in by midnight!” said Laura D’Alisera, who won First Prize the first year. “Laura liked it so much she joined the organizing Committee,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

Here is the entry form:
https://forms.gle/tWrqas7qPWDKgpqF6

[Entry Form + Alapahoochee Instagram]
Instagram image by Committee members Angela and Josh Duncan.

First prize is $300 plus one day of recording studio time, in the Fourth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. Plus $50 for best song from inside the Suwannee River Basin, and $50 for best song from outside. And plaques to best in each musical genre. Youth songwriters, we’ll add a prize for you if you send in your songs.

Finalists (well, maybe not youth) get a free drink and food.

Submissions can be songs about any river, stream, spring, sink, swamp, lake, or pond in the Suwannee River Basin or Estuary (except not the Santa Fe Basin; that has its own contest). Or about the Floridan Aquifer or other groundwater, so long as it’s tied to the Suwannee River Basin.

This year we will have online voting on the songs submitted, which the Committee will take into account when selecting finalists.

Finalists will play at the Contest, 7-10 PM, Saturday, August 21, 2021, and judges will judge at the Turner Center Art Park, 527 N. Patterson St., Valdosta, GA 31601. There will be food and a cash bar, as you watch and listen, and you can browse the artworks at the Turner Center. There will also be a kayak raffle and a silent auction, as well as a range of buttons, stickers, hats, notecards, signs, shirts, and posters for sale (this is a fundraiser for WWALS Watershed Coalition).

Much more about the Contest is here, including song submission form, contest Rules, and, soon, tickets:
wwals.net/pictures/2021-08-21–songwriting/

Georgia Beer Company is back as our top tier sponsor. We have more sponsors, and we can use more!

About WWALS: Continue reading →

Deadline: Song submissions due July 7! Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2021

Songwriters, it’s time to send in your song! This Wednesday, July 7, is the deadline.

Here is the entry form:
https://forms.gle/tWrqas7qPWDKgpqF6

[Songwriting Contest Instagram Alapahoochee]
Instagram image by Angela and Josh Duncan.

First prize is $300 plus one day of recording studio time, in the Fourth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. Plus $50 for best song from inside the Suwannee River Basin, and $50 for best song from outside. And plaques to best in each musical genre. Youth songwriters, we’ll add a prize for you if you send in your songs.

Submissions can be songs about any river, stream, spring, sink, swamp, lake, or pond in the Suwannee River Basin or Estuary (except not the Santa Fe Basin; that has its own contest).

This year we will have online voting on the songs submitted, which the Committee will take into account when selecting finalists.

Finalists will play at the Contest, 7-10 PM, Saturday, August 21, 2021, and judges will judge at the Turner Center Art Park, 527 N. Patterson St., Valdosta, GA 31601. There will be food and a cash bar, as you watch and listen, and you can browse the artworks at the Turner Center. There will also be a kayak raffle and a silent auction, as well as a range of buttons, stickers, hats, notecards, signs, shirts, and posters for sale (this is a fundraiser for WWALS Watershed Coalition).

Much more about the Contest is here, including song submission form, contest Rules, and, soon, tickets:
wwals.net/pictures/2021-08-21–songwriting/

Georgia Beer Company is back as our top tier sponsor. We have more sponsors, and we can use more!

About WWALS: Continue reading →

No fooling: Song submissions are open, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2021

Hahira, Georgia, April 1, 2021 — You can send in your song now, April 1 (no fooling) through July 7, 2021, for the Fourth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, with a $300 cash First Prize, plus one day of recording studio time.

[Entry form banner]
Use the entry form to send in your song.

In addition to the First Prize, there will also be two $50 prizes, one each for best song from inside the Suwannee River Basin, and best song from outside. Plus plaques to winners in each musical genre.

The studio time is new this year. Also new this year, we will have online voting for finalists. The Contest Committee will take those votes into account when selecting finalists.

The Finals will be at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia, 7-10 PM, Saturday, August 22, 2021. Tickets for $10 will be available online soon, or $12 at the door. Headliners play, and three judges will each play a song themselves.

There will be food, cash bar, silent auction, and a kayak raffle. There will be brief talks about outings and advocacy, so you can know what your money is going to, in this fundraiser for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. Sponsors will speak, and any elected officials present; briefly, of course.

Everyone will listen to the finalists, as the judges select winners.

“Georgia Beer Co. is back as our top-tier sponsor, which helps us get these new songs about our rivers, swamps, springs, and sinks,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. “Brian Blount of WKUB asked me to talk about the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on 105.1 FM.”

Here is that radio interview: Continue reading →

Song submissions open April First (no fooling!) Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hahira, Georgia, March 25, 2021 — With online voting for finalists, and judges selecting winners at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, GA, with $300 in cash to the First Prize winner plus one day of recording studio time, the Fourth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest seeks songs. Submissions open Thursday, April 1, 2021. Yes, no fooling!

“Georgia Beer Co. is back as our top-tier sponsor, which helps us get these new songs about our rivers, swamps, springs, and sinks,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

Submissions can be songs about any river, stream, spring, sink, swamp, lake, or pond in the Suwannee River Basin or Estuary (except not the Santa Fe Basin; that has its own contest).

“There’s always room for a new song about the Suwannee River, or other rivers in the Basin or Estuary!” said 2018 winner and 2019 headliner Laura D’Alisera, scribe for the WWALS Songwriting Contest Committee.

This year we will have online voting on the songs submitted, which the Committee will take into account when selecting finalists.

Finalists will play at the Contest, 7-10 PM, Saturday, August 21, 2021, and judges will judge at the Turner Center for the Arts, 527 N. Patterson St., Valdosta, GA 31601. There will be food and a cash bar, as you watch and listen, and you can browse the artworks at the Turner Center. There will also be a kayak raffle and a silent auction, as well as a range of buttons, stickers, hats, notecards, signs, shirts, and posters for sale (this is a fundraiser for WWALS Watershed Coalition).

[Submissions open April 1, 2021, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Headliners last year]
Submissions open April 1, 2021, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Headliners last year
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS, of Dirty Bird and the Flu,
Headliners at the 2020 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

“We hope that one or more songs will become well-known and enter the Great American Songbook, at the 2021 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest!” said Tom H. Johnson, Jr., who is the Committee Chair and WWALS President.

So you’ll know what you’re supporting, there will be talks about WWALS advocacy, from water quality testing to opposing pipelines and mines and plastic water bottles, to promoting water trails and a Troupville River Camp.

You do not have to be a songwriter to come listen to the finalists. Judging of finalists will take into account Continue reading →

Video: Final Deadline Today, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on Steve Nichols Radio 2020-07-21

Steve Nichols helped remind everyone on the radio this morning that the last chance to send in a song is tonight at midnight, through this form:
https://forms.gle/buQjC4e6oEKDoc537

We also talked about water quality testing (including a grant by Georgia Power), water trails, outings, hats, contacting Georgia Governor Kemp about that titanium mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp, and what is Suwannee Riverkeper, anyway?

You can listen to it all in the facebook video by The Morning Drive with Steve Nichols, starting at 2:34:35.

[Georgia Beer Co.]
Georgia Beer Co.

Thanks again to our top-tier sponsor of the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Georgia Beer Co. Continue reading →

Final Deadline, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Steve Nichols Radio 2020-07-21

Update 2020-07-21 Video, stills, and writeup.

Today’s the final deadline to send in your song, and this morning at 8:30 AM, I’ll be on the radio with Steve Nichols, 105.9 FM WVGA, talking about the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest: Art Park, songs, judges, food, drink, prizes, and advocacy, including water quality testing. And our headliner, local stars Dirty Bird and the Flu!

[Any river, creek, swamp, sink, or spring]
Songs can be about any river, creek, swamp, sink, or spring in the Suwannee River Basin, except the Santa Fe River, which has its own contest.

Song submissions are open until midnight today, July 21, 2020, through this form:
https://forms.gle/buQjC4e6oEKDoc537

That’s the final deadline. This time we mean it. Really. Honest!

You could win the $300 First Prize, or the $50 prize for best song from within the Suwannee River Basin, or the $50 prize for best song from without, or a plaque for best in your musical genre.

Tickets to listen are available, $10 online.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/third-annual-suwannee-riverkeeper-songwriting-contest-finals-tickets-110284875030

Or $12 at the door (children under 12 free). For VIP tables send email to song@suwanneeriverkeeper.org.

WVGA FM says:

The top rated morning talk show in south Georgia, Steve Nichols offers both sides of every story from Berrien County to the Beltway, and everywhere in between.

You can listen at 105.9 FM, on the WVGA Live apps, through ValdostaToday.com (link on front page), on Alexa devices, or you can stream in-studio video at the official Morning Drive Facebook page.

When: 8:30 AM, Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Where: 105.9 FM WVGA (see above for how to listen)

Much more here, about the Third Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, at 7-10 PM, Saturday, August 22, 2020, Turner Center Art Park, 605 North Patterson Street, Valdosta, Georgia 31601.
https://wwals.net/pictures/2020-08-22–songwriting/

[Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2020]
Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2020
PDF

Many thanks to our top tier sponsor, Georgia Beer Co.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Final Deadline: July 21, 2020, for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Songwriters, one more week to send in that river song you’ve been humming, by midnight, Tuesday, July 21, 2020.

Follow this link to send in a song for the 2020 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest:
https://forms.gle/mvw1pAvCPyqE9JxV8

“Then it will be time to get this show on the stage by Saturday, August 22, 2020,” said Committee Chair Tom H. Johnson, Jr. “We’re just looking for a few more good songs before we choose finalists.”

You could win this year! Maybe a plaque for best in your genre, or $50 for best song from inside the Suwannee River Basin, or $50 for best song from outside.

Or the $300 First Prize!

[Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2020]
Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2020
PDF

“Maybe you were waiting for the food truck? It’s Rico’s Tacos of Valdosta,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. “And don’t forget, our headliner is Dirty Bird and the Flu.”

“Just don’t forget to send in your song by Tuesday the 21st,” said Committee member Laura D’Alisera, who won First Prize the first year, after submitting during the extension period. “Really, we mean it this time! By Tuesday, July 21, 2020.”

The three judges are ready to hear your songs, 7-10 PM, Saturday, August 22, 2020, at the Turner Center Art Park, 605 North Patterson Street, Valdosta, Georgia 31601. Headliners will play, finalists will play, silent auction and kayak raffle, judges will judge, prizes will be awarded, winners will play. M.C.: Scott James of Talk 92.1 FM Radio.

Thanks to Continue reading →