I read an article awhile back that said there was lots of money and gear floating around out there for unsigned bands and songwriters. I'd seen advertisements for song contests here and there for years and for some reason, I always ignored them. How could they possibly give away all that stuff? Was it some sort of an elaborate rip-off? I followed the links in the article, did a little research and found out that it was true: hundreds of thousands of dollars, within my grasp. Or was it? My curiosity was piqued-and frankly, so was my sense of competition. What better way to get exposure in the music industry and get some credibility as a songwriter than to win a band or a song contest? With Ed McMahon in my head solemnly intoning, "You can't win if you don't enter," I began to find, write down and categorize the contests by date until I had an annual calendar of monthly submissions, indexed, highlighted and color-coded. There were at least two dozen that were right for me. As the year goes on, I'll keep you informed. Discmakers' Independent Music World Series was the first one that reached out and tapped me on the shoulder. First of all, they weren't asking for a lot of money to apply-just twenty bucks. Secondly, the grand prize was exactly what an indie band needed to continue making music their in own way: an amazing home recording studio set-up, brand spanking new instruments, studio mics, a CD manufacturing package and more. If its one thing that music industry history teaches us, it's that independent music / indie labels are the bedrock of the recording industry. Anything that keeps us going has got to be a good thing. Thirdly, although the selection process meant only an assessment of songs initially, the final choice was decided with a live showcase-the arena where, frankly, most bands fall short. Out of all the entrants-over 1,700 at last count (a record!)-only one hundred or so would be selected for the next round. Who knew if I'd get that far? I tossed my application in the mail and forgot about it. Some time later, I was sent a confirmation e-mail stating that I was one of six finalists selected by Billboard Magazine to do the live showcase. So that means that they liked my songs, I thought. I wondered who else they chose. We couldn't have been more unalike. (Personally, I think that worked in everyone's favor.) With a pre-show open bar replete with lots of food and a schmoozefest to a packed house of music enthusiasts, it was a colorful and interesting ride, no matter how I looked at it. In the end, it was a pretty cool night. Although I shed a big tear over all that gear I didn't win (who wouldn't?!), I did get the exposure I wanted and a slew of new fans, many of whom have signed my mailing list and continue to bombard the tunes section of this website, curious to hear more Black Americana.