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Texas Star Original Music Contest
@ Crossroads Music
Co.
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East Texas is filled with amazing entertainers. Crossroads has so many talented artists emanate from the stage every year. In celebration of our 4th year we are hosting in the 2nd annual Texas Star contest. Original artists are celebrated at Crossroads!
Finalists are
Finalists will play 3 original songs November 27th, the audience will vote for the Texas Star. The Star will open for Adler & Hearne on the 4th Anniversary the 28th. 2nd place will open December 5th for Slightly Tilted!.
| Jill Hobbs
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Jill Hobbs was born and raised on a dairy farm in rural East Texas. She first learned music from her great-grandfather, grandmother and mother, who all played piano by ear. She started playing the old upright piano at a little country church about a mile from her house and walked there to practice every day. In high school, she became interested in guitar and dabbled in songwriting, performing at school programs. College, career and family took up the next several years, and music was put on hold for a while. After selling her veterinary practice of fifteen years in college Station, Jill moved back to the family farm in Winnsboro in 1994 and began thinking about music again. She brushed up on guitar by taking lessons from John Defoore, who encouraged her to begin writing songs. Since that time, she has written about one hundred songs and now performs regularly at small venues in the area. Two of her songs are on the Songwriters at the Beckham CD, along with songs written by other students of John Defoore. She also has recorded a CD of her own songs entitled Butterfly Wings. www.jillhobbsmusic.com |
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Amy Adams
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Amy, with her mother and grandfather who recorded albums and
traveled throughout the United States, grew up singing in churches.
In her teens she followed country greats, such as Crystal Gayle,
Dolly Parton, The Judd’s, and Martina McBride, who sparked her
interest in country music. She welcomed each opportunity to perform.
In January 04 Amy moved to Nashville, to try her hand at singing and
song writing. After a year and a half of good connections, with some
highs and lows, she decided she could do the same thing right here
in Texas. So, in the summer of 05, she came back. In October of 05
she made it to the "top forty" of Nashville Star. It was a great
experience and a chance to meet more artists like herself, on their
road to doing what they love. If you are out and about in Texas and
hear that Amy Adams is singing stop by and take a listen, you might
like what you hear.
http://www.myspace.com/amyadamsmusic
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| Michael Wade
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A while back I was trading slide guitar licks with Ray Wylie
Hubbard live on the radio and thinking, “How cool is this?” Mattson
Rainer of KNBT, the top-rated Americana station in the country, had
called earlier in the week and asked me to play on their “Roots and
Branches of Americana” show. So there I was, doing what I love to do
best—play music. I know it may sound “hokey” to some but it’s the
whole point of me being here. It’s one of the few times I can become
totally lost in the moment. It feeds my soul. Now, I can’t say I haven’t gotten side tracked from the dream of making music my calling in life, because I’ve definitely had a few detours on the road to “mega stardom.” I worked as an electrician and appliance repairman. I’ve been married and divorced. I’ve made some really bad choices and lived through the consequences. I’ve had a few disappointments and a few triumphs. I’ve lived the school of hard knocks. Surprisingly all of those tangents, missteps and “real life” have shaped my song writing and music in ways I couldn’t have imagined at the time. My first CD, “I’ve Been Around,” charted 38 on Americana—Dolly Parton gently nudged me off. I’ve opened for Jerry Jeff Walker, Gary P. Nunn, Charlie Robison and Ruthie Foster. I’ve played Gruene Hall and appeared on Mattson Rainer’s “Crossroads Americana” numerous times. The old “Humbletime” radio show featured me as their guest artist. And, as I started off saying, I got to trade slide licks with Ray Wylie. I play bottleneck slide and finger-style acoustic guitar. A little contemporary folk. A little blues. A little country. And unlikely combinations, like Phillip Glass meets ska. So if you just want to sit back and laugh a little, remember what you tried to forget, or just groove to the blues, check out my calendar. Stop by. Pull up a chair and be a part of what I love to do best—play music.
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| Cole Risner
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I started making music when I was 12 and haven't been able to
stop. I try to be a song writer first, then a guitarist. I'm not big
into a bunch of solos. Just trying to make good quality music.
http://www.myspace.com/colerisner
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November 13th....
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Crew
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Hosts - Kent Gooding and Ryan Somerville
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Judges
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KETR 88.9: Matt Meinke- Live Broadcast from Notably Texan |
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About our Judges:
Randy Brown
Who the heck is Randy Brown?
I am a lifetime performing songwriter/philosopher and a 2008 independent
presidential candidate (truth is I really didn’t campaign much but it was
just so cool just to have my own bumper stickers). I was a regional finalist
at Kerrville Folk Festival 1997 and 2009, the 2007 New Traditions
Songwriting winner (Nacogdoches, Texas), 2009 Texas Independent Music Expo
Songwriting Competition Winner and have been totally ignored by more other
songwriting competitions than you can shake a stick at (I have the rejection
letters to prove it). I have run music venues, produced records and played
in most every VFW, American Legion and cut-n-shoot from Shreveport to Dallas
and from the Oklahoma Border to Lufkin. I was a founding member of the now
defunct but still legendary folk, funk, jazz and swing trio Jealousy Motel.
Whose, two CDs contain 19 of my original songs. My latest CD "Dream Big" has
been enjoyed by many and almost totally ignored by the Music Establishment
and that's the way I like it. In one sentence my music could be described
as: "Rene Descartes’ meets Guy Clark and Van Morrison at an MIT BBQ in honor
of Albert Einstein's birthday." I think that about covers it. My website is
www.brownrandy.com
Dee Paton
Jim Patton & Dee Patton are a song writing
team and have been doing this for almost 40 years.
Our most recent project is a rock opera called "The Selfish Giant" based on
a short story by Oscar Wilde.
We have gold and platinum records for songs written in the 70's and continue
to perform locally with our youngest daughter, Bree as Bongo and the Point.
Our web sites, www.bongoandthepoint.com and www.theselfishgiant.com can
provide more information.
We were both born and raised in Southern California and first came to East
Texas in the mid 70's. We have lived in Lindale now for about 15 years and
enjoy the friendly country atmosphere.
Gus Gustafson
Gus Gustafson has been involved with the music
biz--on both sides of the microphone--for over thirty years...Born and
raised in Motown, and a part of the Texas music scene in Dallas during the
1980s.
Opened a coffee house here in East Texas during the first half of this
decade, with live entertainment from Texas and around the nation performing
on weekends.
Singer/songwriter himself, with a few tunes being covered & performed around
the countryside by the Diddley Squat Blues Band.
November 20th
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Contestants |
Hosts - Kent Gooding and Ryan Somerville
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Judges
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KETR 88.9: Matt Meinke- Live Broadcast from Notably Texan |
Judges
Tim "Chopper" Grugle,
Deb Porter
Deb Porter grew up singing the songs of the rural South
learned from her Grandmother, a sharecropper. She began accompanying herself on
ukulele at age 11 and later on banjo, guitar and the fretted dulcimer. Deb moved
to Austin in the 70's and joined the singer/songwriter scene. One of her
original songs won the 1999 Songwriter Showcase at the Walnut Valley Festival in
Winfield, Kansas. Deb has produced three popular instructional videos teaching
the ukulele and the fretted dulcimer and is releasing her 8th musical CD
November, 2009. She is a respected performer and popular teacher at folk
festivals around the country and has recently moved home to east Texas from
Austin. Her website www.debbieporter.net won both first place and the People's
Choice Award at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival.
www.debbieporter.net
Jeff Prince.
Jeff Prince is a writer and musician based in Fort Worth Texas. He's a staff writer at /Fort Worth Weekly/, and a recording artist at Reload Records. Since 2003, Reload has released two of Prince's solo albums, and two albums by his band PrinceRodriguez.
Host info: Kent Gooding www.Myspace.com/kentgooding
Stage hand and Ultimate Sound Man- Ryan Somerville
Sponsors: Siesta Ranch Recording Studio www.myspace.com/siestaranchstudios
Stephen Marshall Photography www.myspace.com/artphotofilm
Brewbakers Pub 210 N.Main Street ** Winnsboro ** 903-342-6119
Randy Brown (H&R Block)- Musician Business Consultation
Thanks to Matt Meinke of Notably Texan (88.9 FM KETR ) who broadcast live on the 13th and the 20th.
Artist Details: Artists will be hand selected from submissions. Performers may submit a sample of their music to CROSSROADS MUSIC CO. P.O. Box 86 Winnsboro, TX 75494, hand-delivered to Crossroads Music Company 216 N. Main Street - Winnsboro, TX 75494 or e-mailed to TexasStarContest@gmail.com by 5pm November 10th. The artist may perform 2 original songs with accompaniment if necessary. Artists may request a specific Friday and we will attempt to comply. Performance time and date will be sent by e-mail. Each performer will receive a free ticket to bring a guest. The judge’s decision is final. If there is a tie among judges of ballot, tie will be broken by a coin toss.
216 N. Main Street - Winnsboro, TX 75494 (903) 342-1854 or (888) 342-1854
