A song that had been sitting on the backburner since 2009 recently put Brackendale resident Will Meadows in an elite group of musicians.
鈥淎skew鈥� earned Meadows a place in the Top 10 nominees in the rock category of the 2015 American Songwriting Awards this summer.
鈥淎fter the initial shock wore off, I was ecstatic,鈥� said Meadows, who works as a post-production senior instructor at the Vancouver Film School.
Meadows, a father of two, took a songwriting workshop led by composer Adam Hill at Quest University last winter and was asked to present a song at the end of the six-week course.
鈥淚t was a great opportunity to take a song I had been working on for a long time, and get some notes on it,鈥� explained Meadows, who has also taught audio and engineering to established musicians such as blues great Matt Andersen. 鈥淚 wanted to see if I could incorporate some of what I learned and craft a better song.鈥�
Not long after completing the workshop, Meadows stumbled upon the call for entries to the American Songwriting Awards, an international, elite-class songwriting competition open to 鈥渦nknowns and working artists who want to be heard, recognized, and rewarded for their songwriting talent,鈥� according to the ASA website.
It鈥檚 a high-profile annual contest designed to bring together top music industry producers, artists and songwriters to discover and promote new talent in a format that focuses solely on their ability to write great songs.
鈥淚t was only $25 to enter, and I thought it would be a great way to get some honest feedback from the judges. I submitted it in March and promptly forgot about it,鈥� said Meadows, who has played in bands, composed and taught music composition for the past 20 years.
鈥淪hortly after getting the nomination, I posted something on Facebook with a link to the song, and the response I got was really encouraging,鈥� he said, adding he plans to finish off a few more pieces he has in the works and see what else he can do.
