Songwriter Competition - Hosted by Joyce Whorton

The Inkwell Art Bar Presents “The Old School Songwriters Competition”Monday July 20, 2026Topic for this competition is: “Obstacles”Thar’s right folks, we are going “Old School” for our songwriters’ competition. Back in “the Day”’ theoriginal Songwriters Competition was hosted at the Florida House Inn. We had the great Mike Hendricksas host along with Terry Smith providing and running sound. Musicians from far and wide would cometogether to express their take on one common topic. We always had a packed house and the music wastremendous. There were some ground rules for eligibility to enter the contest. We will get to those in aminute.We are presenting The Inkwell Art Bar Songwriter’s Competition in a “Listening Room Environment”. Thismeans that we expect the audience to be quiet during performances. Loud or distracting behavior will notbe tolerated. If we feel that you are distracting from the “Listening Room Environment” we will come andlet you know. If you need to have time to practice or converse during performances, we ask that you takeadvantage of the courtyard behind the venue. The “Art Bar’ side is also available for quiet collaborationwill be the staging area for performers. Please bring all instrument cases into that room for storage so wedon’t clutter up the performance area.Songwriters Competitions are a great way to promote Open Mics. Every Thursday night, The Inkwell ArtBar opens its doors to musicians of all experience to come out and hone their skills and try out newmaterial. Open Mic’s must be beneficial to the venue. This means that we all need to support this venue.Too many times, musicians have come in to take advantage of an open mic venue, perform and leavewithout buying so much as a soda. They don’t tip the bartenders or stay after their performance to supportthe other musicians performing. This type of behavior does nothing to support the open mic venues we allenjoy, free of charge. The following format is set to show support to our gracious hosts and to raiseawareness of this wonderful venue and the excellent staff who work so hard to bring this great resource toour music community.Musicians and Audience Members Agree to the Following;1. Support The Venue!!!We must do our part to make open mics work for everyone. We need to promote our open mic throughsocial media and word of mouth. Encourage friends who may not be performers to come and support us.To be eligible to enter The Art Bar Songwriting Competition you must have attended and performed atleast 3 times between April 30 th and July 18 th . Supporting the venue means you take an active role inpromoting the Thursday Night Open Mic. This will stop those who do not support our venue from justentering the competition to catch the prize money. This is Our Open Mic! We work hard to provide aninviting atmosphere for musicians to showcase their talents, collaborate with other like-minded musiciansand entertain our friends and family with our unique talents.2. Don't "Play and Run"!Stay and support your fellow musicians and the venue. We understand if there are times when you mayhave obligations that restrict your time. Coming to any open mic to just play and run is bad etiquette anddoes nothing to attain the primary goal to support the venue. There will be a separate paper sign-up sheetat open mic from April 30 th – July 16 th to document your required attendance for eligibility. Please writelegibly and provide a current email and/or phone number so we can keep you all up to date withannouncements and information you will need to be successful in this competition.3. Social Hour Will Begin at 6:00 pmWhen you arrive, you will sign in and your name will be put in a hat. Names will be drawn and you will beexpected to be ready to perform in the order your name is drawn. If you are not available at the time yourname is drawn, you will be put at the bottom of the list. If there is time, you will be able to perform later inthe night. The only exceptions will be if you have a previous re-occurring commitment that keeps you frombeing at the venue before 7pm, or you are coming from more than 45 miles away and cannot arrive before7pm. Prior notice must be given to the host by 4:00pm the night of the event to be considered for theseexemptions.4. Songwriters Contests entry fee will be $10.00, used for prize monies. There will be a panel of 3independent judges. They will judge each song on lyrical content, melody and structure.5. Bring Three copies of song lyrics with you for the judges.This will help judges to be able to more accurately judge the composition and to confirm your songis “on topic”. You can request your lyric sheets be returned to you after the competition.6. Performance is NOT judged. Some performers are more adept at performing to audiences and in‘live’ conditions. This competition is open to all levels of musicians, and no one will be judged onthe quality of the performance, ONLY on the song itself.7. Sound...

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