23RD ANNUAL NSAI SONG CONTEST WINNERS CELEBRATE PRIZES
DAVID HODGES ANNOUNCED AS MENTOR FOR THE 24TH ANNUAL SONG CONTEST
Contest Begins August 1!
June 2, 2023 (Nashville, Tenn.) – The 23rd Annual Song Contest, held by The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and presented by The Bluebird Cafe and CMT has wrapped and winners have begun receiving their prizes!
Grand Prize winner, DREW SCHUELER (Nashville, TN), was awarded the top prize for his submission “Hurtable,” (co-written by Claire Flynt, Nell Maynard) and has received $5,000 cash, a mentor session with songwriter, producer, vocalist, visionary, and multi-instrumentalist Blanco Brown, NSAI and CMT prize packs including tickets to the CMT Music Awards, as well as a one-year single-song publishing contract with Anthem Entertainment. Drew also received the guitar of his choice from the Taylor Guitars American Dream® Series and a Bose L1 Pro8 portable PA.
Also included in the Grand Prize package are live performance opportunities, and at this year’s 31st annual Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival, Schueler took the stage for his Tin Pan South debut at The Vinyl Lounge to kick off the hit songwriters round featuring Tyler Dial, David Hodges, Ricky Manning, Steve Solomon, and Dan Swank.
Prior to the performance, NSAI was excited to reveal that one of the writers featured in the round was slated to be a mentor for the 24th annual Song Contest, none-other than mega-hit songwriter Hodges who has penned songs for Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Christina Perri, Tim McGraw, 5 Seconds of Summer and more!
The 24th annual Song Contest will be held August 1 through September 30, 2023 with more mentor and prize details to be revealed. For up-to-date information visit www.nsaisongcontest.com.
LAUREN MURRAY (New York, NY) won the contest's Lyric category with her entry “Killing Flowers,” winning a mentor session with hit songwriter Nicolle Galyon, $2,500 cash, an American Dream® Series Taylor guitar, a BOSE L1 Pro8 Portable System, an NSAI prize pack and industry meeting, as well as a round-trip to Nashville!
In total, the contest had more than 2,500 entries and after several rounds of judging a total of 22 songs placed in the contest following the final judging that premiered March 2023. The judging can be replayed on NSAI’s facebook page www.facebook.com/nsaiofficial. The judging panel featured Kelly Archer (professional hit songwriter), Fletcher Foster (President and CEO of F2 Entertainment Group), Leslie Fram (Senior VP of Music Strategy at CMT), Erika Wollam Nichols (COO and General Manager of The Bluebird Cafe), and Noah Dewey (Senior Director of Creative at Anthem Entertainment Nashville). Each top 10 song was listened to, evaluated, and scored on a scale of 1-10 by each judge, with the entry “Hurtable” by Schueler ultimately coming out on top with the highest total score.
In addition to the incredible prize packages given to the category winners, the 9 Song category runners-up each receive a meeting with an industry professional and a one-year NSAI membership, as well as a Bose SoundLink Flex Bluetooth® speaker. The Lyric category runner up receives an event certificate to attend one of NSAI’s educational events a one-year NSAI membership and a Bose SoundLink Flex Bluetooth® speaker. Every contest entry had a scorecard evaluation from the judging that was sent out to the email address provided on the entry form.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS
Grand Prize Winner
“Hurtable” – Drew Schueler (Nashville, TN)
Lyric-Only Winner
“Killing Flowers” – Lauren Murray (New York, NY)
Lyric-Only Runner-up
“He Will” – Brian Williams (Cheyenne, WY)
Song Category Runners-up
“15 Minutes of Fame” – Whitney Miller (Nashville, TN)
“Beyond This Town” – Beldon Burch (Carpinteria, CA)
“Breaking You In” – Madelyn Paquette (Nashville, TN)
“Checking In” – Alex Angelo (Nashville, TN)
“My Type” – Samantha Jayne (Nashville, TN)
“Playing House” – Nell Maynard (Nashville, TN)
“Porch Light” – David Micheal (Nashville, TN)
“Raised Right” – John Frank (Nashville, TN)
“Ruin It” – Mackenzie Erlank (Kamloops, BC)
Honorable Mentions
“Better Off Without Him” – CJ Prather
“C’est La Vie” – Alec Petford
“Google You” – David Chong
“Got Away With It” – Eliza Harrison Smith
“If Only It Worked Like That” – Colin Lockey
“Listen To Country” – Carin Fradin
“Modern Art” – Skylar Lee
“Piece Of You” – Brendan Friel
“Room In My Pants” – Cindy Jollotta
“Same Girl Sober” – Alec Petford
Special thanks to all contest partners: The Bluebird Cafe, CMT, Anthem Entertainment, Bose, Taylor Guitars, Southwest®, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, We Make Tapes & Discs.
About Drew Schueler
Drew is a vibrant pop artist who excels at vocals and songwriting. He has amassed over 5 million total streams on Spotify alone and has been featured on Spotify’s “Sad Hour” editorial playlist. He focuses on melding detailed, meaningful lyrics with intricate hooks and pristine production to create music that is unique yet familiar. With many new releases slated for 2023, it's shaping up to be his biggest year yet.
About Lauren Murray
Lauren Murray is a singer-songwriter in New York City. With influences spanning many genres, Murray finds her home in the experience of storytelling. She joined the NSAI NYC Chapter in 2017 as both a writer and an artist. Last year, her co-written song 'Keep Going (Semicolon)' became the NYC Chapter Winner in the 2022 NSAI Chapter Challenge.
About David Hodges
David Hodges, originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, is a multi-platinum, Grammy, and BMI award-winning songwriter and record producer. He was a founding member of Evanescence and has been penning hits with and for renowned artists for over two decades. Having sold more than 100 million records, his hit singles include “Bring Me To Life” and “My Immortal” (Evanescence), “A Thousand Years” (Christina Perri for Twilight), “Because of You” (Kelly Clarkson), “Dear Hate” (Maren Morris and Vince Gill), "See You Again" (Carrie Underwood), “Miss Me More” (Kelsea Ballerini), “Atlas Falls” (Shinedown), and “Afterglow” & “2Step” (Ed Sheeran). David is one of the most sought-after multi-genre songwriters in the world, with releases by Keith Urban, Blink 182, Weezer, Dan + Shay, Avril Lavigne, Jason Mraz, and more. He is currently working with artists such as Ed Sheeran, 5 Seconds of Summer, James Bay, Jeremy Zucker and Carrie Underwood. David has been very involved in advocacy work for past several years sending letters to Congress, visiting Washington, DC, with NSAI on lobbying trips and serving on the Mechanical Licensing Collective’s Dispute Resolution Committee.
About CMT
CMT is the leading authority on country music and lifestyle, offering a mix of original series, music events and specials. CMT is everywhere its fans are, including two cable channels (CMT and the 24-hour music channel, CMT Music), CMT Equal Play (PlutoTV), digital (CMT.com) and social (@CMT on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok). CMT is a unit of Paramount. (“Paramount”). For more information, please visit cmtpress.com.
About The Bluebird Cafe
The Bluebird Cafe is one of the world's preeminent listening rooms that has gained worldwide recognition as a songwriter's performance space where the "heroes behind the hits" perform their own songs; songs that have been recorded by chart-topping artists in all genres of music. Located in a small strip mall outside of downtown Nashville, the 90 seat venue is unassuming in appearance, but some of the most significant songwriters and artists have performed in this room. Our reputation as a listening room originates from the acoustic, singer/songwriter style music that is performed here nightly. Our shows are supported by The Bluebird’s “Shhh policy” which is designed to support an environment where both the audience and the songwriters can concentrate on the songs. Our patrons repeatedly tell us that they are captivated by hearing songs performed by the creators themselves and the stories behind how the songs came to be in such a quiet, intimate, and unique venue.
About NSAI
Established in 1967, the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is the world’s largest not-for-profit songwriters trade organization and has a membership of more than 5,000 spanning the United States and several foreign countries. Consisting of a body of creative minds, including songwriters from all genres of music, professional and aspiring, for over 52 years, NSAI has been committed to protecting the rights and future of the profession of songwriting, as well as carrying a commitment to educate, elevate and celebrate the songwriter, acting as a unifying force within the music community and the community at large. For more information, visit nashvillesongwriters.com.