Roland U.S.

Military Songwriters Contest

Songs from the Soul of Service

Roland Sponsors Military Songwriters Contest

“I worked with what I had,” said US Army Staff Sergeant Ham “which was a small recorder; so I went to a port-a-john that was set apart in the desert.” Despite the obstacles, Sergeant Ham is just one of the 400 active military to participate in the Military Songwriters Contest. Sponsored by the Dallas Songwriters Association (DSA), under the direction of Dr. William Brown, prizes were awarded to winners from these categories: Pop, Rock, Folk, Jazz, Country, Rap/Hip Hop/R&B, Instrumental and Novelty.

“My thought is that we need more categories.” said Brown, “Because in my eyes, they should all win.” Participants are serving all over the world, but predominantly in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Brown has collected the letters that accompanied the entries, and they’re more heart-wrenching than the songs.

“It feels good to be included in this group.” writes Barbara Gironda, the only female winner, with her folk entry “Tried and True”. “But the best part is coming home to your babies. That’s the greatest feeling.”

“It’s not important that I win. I just want to share this song with others in the service,” writes Air Force Staff Sargeant Shaw.

The songs are almost all a synopsis of what it’s like to be in service at wartime. With titles like “When I Return to You”, “Soldier’s Note” and “Mefloquine Nightmares”, military songwriters have taken provided a musical snapshot of this period of American history and their part in it.

“Whatever our personal political views may be, this contest is one way we can support the brave men and women in today’s Armed Forces.” Explained Dr. Brown. DSA’s hope was to provide a diversion, help boost morale or just let them know they were thinking of them, and they used a medium they know well to do it. The Pentagon’s American Supports You program was used to publicize the contest to those serving abroad. And Broadjams provided a mechanism for soldiers to submit entries online.

Drawing on their personal contacts in the music industry, DSA gathered a group of high-profile judges to professionally judge the music. The judges include Snuff Garrett (Producer of such hits as Take Good Care of My Baby, The Night has a Thousand Eyes), Sonny Curtis (Member of Buddy Holly and the Crickets and the Everly Brothers, wrote I Fought the Law and the Theme to the Mary Tyler Moore Show), George Clinton (wrote songs for Michael Jackson, Joe Cocker, Smoky Robinson), Jerry Fuller (producer of Ricky Nelson, Tom Jones, Reba McIntyre. Winner of 28 gold/platinum records), Johnny Jefferson (PR professional in urban contemporary music, and publisher of a popular music magazine), Alan O’Day (Staff writer with E.H. Morris Music and writer of Angie Baby, Undercover Angel and music for Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies), Colonel L. Bryan Shelburne, Jr. (Commander of the U.S. Army Band since 1990), and Michael Sandoval (VP of MGM/US, Polygram and Warner-Chappell Records).

Most of the music was very raw, produced in hostile situations with whatever gear could be found in the desert. The songs were not judged on production quality, but on lyrical content, structure, emotional impact, originality and creativity. The three grand prize winners were: Mike Corrado, Pop/Rock category with “On my Watch Tonight”, Barbara Gironda, Folk with “Tried and True”, and David Schultz, Country, with “You Know Me.” Both Corrado and Schultz were stationed in Iraq. Gironda was in Afghanistan.

To promote the contest, and as another way of raising funds for the troops, DSA has compiled a CD of the top 10 entries, entitled “Songs from the Soul of Service”. (For more information, contact them at www.SongsSoulService.org). The proceeds will go to help military families struggling at home. Because the songs were not production quality, a local band and members of DSA, were enlisted to record and produce the material to make it recording quality. The band, TrueHeart, arranged, recorded and produced the songs and part of the award package was a professional quality recording of the song.

The award ceremony was held on June 16, at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. Two participants were state-side to perform their entries: Fort Hood’s own Matthew Gerson and Carswell’s David Arsement. TrueHeart performed the rest of the songs from the CD.

Roland was proud to support the Dallas Songwriter’s Association and our troops with BR-600 digital recorders to the top 3 winners, and PCR-50 controller keyboards to the runners up.