The award-winning Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest is accepting 300 entries beginning January 1, 2020. The submissions will be narrowed to 10 Finalists who will then compete for the Grand Prize, Second Place or the Michael Terry People’s Choice Award. The deadline to enter is March 1 and all finalists perform live on stage at the Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival in Richardson that draws a crowd of 65,000 attendees each year.
Entrants Will Be Competing For:
- One of three prizes:
- First Place Grand Prize – $1000 , 2 full consecutive days of recording at Audio Dallas Recording Studio
- Second Place – $500
- Michael Terry People’s Choice Award – $500
- An invitation to perform on the official Singer Songwriter Stage on May 17, 2020 and an additional set on the Courtyard Stage
- Lodging for May 15 – 16, 2020
- Festival passes for you and a guest
- Green Room hospitality during performance time
- Opportunity of a lifetime to spend a weekend sharing songs with some of the best performing songwriters in the nation and participation in the Songwriting Contest Showcase on Sunday, May 17, 2020
The genres for this contest include Acoustic, Americana, Blues, Celtic, Country, Folk, Rock, Indie and Pop. All entries are subject to a blind-screening process by experienced music promoters, songwriters, and experienced educators familiar with original songwriting and performing techniques. Since it is a performing songwriter contest, each entry is judged on the quality of the song, as well as the artist’s presentation of the song. Selected Top 10 Finalists are invited to perform two songs in the final round on Saturday, May 16, 2020 at the Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival in the Charles W. Eisemann Center.
Contest Rules:
- Maximum One (1) entry per person. One entry = two songs.
- Participants must be at least 18 years old.
- A maximum of 300 entries will be accepted on a first submitted basis.
- A total of ten finalists will be selected and invited to perform on the Singer Songwriter Stage, May 16, 2020 in the contest finals. Notification to the 10 finalists will be made on or before April 14, 2020.
- All finalists must provide their own transportation to Wildflower! (Located in Richardson, TX).
- Recordings submitted must be representative of the artist’s live performance and include only one instrument, the songwriter’s vocal and no backup harmonies.
- Produced recordings or instrumental only songs are NOT accepted.
- Co-written songs are accepted; however, only one of the writers may submit an application and perform the song on the recording.
- Artist’s name, biographical information, or credits can NOT be included on the recordings/mp3 metadata, (title, artist, track number, and other identifying information).
- A submission of the entry certifies that the songwriter has all rights to the songs and that the songs have not been sold or contractually assigned to another entity.
- Songs that have been previously recorded and released under contract on a label are NOT ELIGIBLE.
- Songs must have been written within the last two (2) years (after December 2017).
- Each song must NOT exceed five (5) minutes.
- Finalist live performances at Wildflower! are limited to one (1) songwriter/vocalist who must perform the songs submitted in the contest. During the performance the vocalist can provide instrumentation or have a single accompanist (with no backup harmony or effects).
- Each finalist must attend the contest finals at Wildflower! on Saturday, May 16, 2020 and be available to play a set in the Songwriting Contest Showcase on Sunday, May 17, 2020 if selected as one of the winners.
- Prior to the contest, finalists may not appear on any stage at the Festival with any artist(s) booked for the Booked artists may not accompany a finalist during the contest.
- The finalists will be given an opportunity to perform an additional set on the stage during the Festival.
- Notification to the 10 finalists will be made on or before April 14, 2020.
- All previous finalists and winners are invited to submit with the exception of the 2018 winners and the 2019 finalists and winners.
- Finalists must attend a meeting on Saturday, May 16, 2020 at 9:30 a.m. to learn the order of final performances at the Festival.
Fair Screening Process:
- All entries are subjected to a blind and independent screening by several experienced music promoters, songwriters and educators familiar with original songwriting and performing techniques.
- The 10 finalists are selected based on the rankings and scores compiled from the results of the independent screeners.
- The contest is a performing songwriting contest. The entries will be judged based on the quality of the songs (50%) and the artist’s presentation of the songs (50%).
- 2024 WILDFLOWER! LINEUP FEATURES NILE RODGERS & CHIC, RANDY ROGERS BAND, AWOLNATION, GROUPLOVE, KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND AND MORE!
- WEEKEND PASS $40 STARTING JANUARY 1ST FOR 2024 PRE-SALE TICKET SPECIALS
- CITY OF RICHARDSON WINS BEST IN TEXAS MARKETING AWARDS FOR WILDFLOWER! ARTS & MUSIC FESTIVAL
- BANDALOOP INSPIRES WONDER ON WALLS OF EISEMANN CENTER
- VOTE FOR BATTLE OF THE BANDS PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD