West Coast Songwriters

Welcome

Here you will find up to date information about what's going on in the WCS San Rafael location.  It's easy to find who to contact, where to go and when it's all happening!  If you need to reach us, please email the San Rafael Managers.

Please make sure that you membership is current. Take a photo of your membership card so you always have it with you. Non-members are ineligible to win.   RENEW MY MEMBERSHIP and enjoy all the perks including discounts, freebies and more.

SAN RAFAEL SONGWRITER COMPETITION INFORMATION

• FIRST Tuesday of the month
• Location: Yet Wah 1238 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA 94901
• SIGN-UP: 6:30pm. Start time: 7:00 pm. 
• No Cover 
• Small stage with a  Mackie 408s FR Sound System, 
• 88 Key Kurtzweil Digital piano
• Be sure to invite your friends. Audience encouraged.
• Please make sure that you membership is current (Smartphone photo of card is OK)
• Bring 2 sets of your lyrics for the judges
• Non-members are ineligible to win (but can perform, time permitting)  
• Sponsored by: Noisy Planet and Allegiant Records
• CONTACT the San Rafael Managers
• SONGWRITER COMPETITION RULES

Our judges for April 3, 2018 will be: 

Joel Schick is a singer/songwriter whose work covers genres from folk to blues to R&B to country to doo wop to rock ‘n’ roll. He refers to his original Americana music as “brand new old songs of the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s.”Joel grew up in the musical diversity of Chicago, and cut his musical teeth writing songs and fronting the blues/R&B band Gorilla Danish in the mid-’60s. His work with the band led to a job offer as staff songwriter with Buddha Records in New York. Unable to accept the offer and retain his Vietnam-era draft deferrment, he took a different path. He became an illustrator of more than eighty children’s books, including a number of books co-created with his wife Alice. He spent many years working with the Muppets, designing and illustrating countless products for both the Classic Muppets and Sesame Street. In the past decade, since retiring from commercial art, Joel has performed his music in clubs and concert venues in New England and California. He sings and accompanies himself on guitar and harmonica. Since moving to Novato in 2011, Joel has played such venues as the Bazaar Cafe and Bottom Of The Hill in San Francisco, the Hopmonk Beer Garden and Session Room in Novato, and the Aquus Cafe and Corkscrew Wine Bar in Petaluma. Although he usually performs solo, Joel has played behind many musicians, and as a member of Wang Dang Doodle Blues & Gospel Revue, Red House Blues Band and Joel & The Merry Schicksters (i.e., Joel plus the popular trio Domestic Harmony). Joel’s lyrics (380+ and counting) are online at: wombatjellyrollblues.wordpress.com. His CDs, illustration samples, and some of the books and comics he created with his wife, writer Alice Schick, are at: familygorilla.com

Jesse Lee Kincaid began playing music at age 11 when his uncle, 12 string guitar player and folk legend Fred Gerlach, gave him his first guitar. At age 19 Kincaid drove his 1953 Pontiac on Route 66 from Hollywood to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he formed a folk music duo with Taj Mahal. In 1965 Jesse and Taj drove cross country from Detroit to Hollywood where they founded The Rising Sons, along with Jesse’s pal Ry Cooder. Their album, containing six Kincaid songs, was released on Columbia Records. Jesse Lee Kincaid’s solo album “Brief Moments Full Measure”, released in 2014, contains a baker’s dozen songs written by Kincaid that range from the folky, funky “Little Rain”, with Taj Mahal on banjo and harmonica, to “Black Crow,” a country blues with Maria Muldaur singing, and Taj Mahal on banjo, to a touchingly sentimental “My Family,” again with Muldaur on harmony.

In 2014, Kincaid’s memoir “Ibiza Chronicles” was published, documenting his times in the 1970s in Europe’s hip capitol on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Ibiza, performing in a rock and roll band and traveling to the ancient East on the road to India. Don Henley, of The Eagles, has recorded Kincaid’s song, “She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune” for his album release, “Cass County.” released in 2015.

Monthly Awards:

• Competitions run from October - August
• The San Rafael PLAYOFFS are held in August
• Playoff Winner has the opportunity to perform at the WCS Grand Finals held in late August
• Grand Final Winner has the opportunity to perform at the WCS Annual Music Conference (24th September, 2016) in front of a house full of industry leaders, friends and family.

There are 2 winners of the Songwriting Competition each month, Best Song and Best Performance.

• Best Song of the Month receives 3 complimentary recording hours at Allegiant Records.  Additionally, the winner has an invitation to compete in the Playoffs for Best Song of the Year and a chance to compete in the Finals. Additionally, Best song winner will be on the WCS YouTube Channel as a featured artist. Video file (not YouTube link), song title, location and short blurb with link to website/facebook should be provided to ali@westcoastsongwriters.org

• Best Performance of the Month wins Premium Artist Service Package, from Noisy Planet which includes hosting up to 20 songs, 5 photos, and your bio, plus they’ll distribute one album to iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody, Amazon MP3, Napster and others. In addition you will receive 100 personalized promo cards promoting you as a featured artist on Noisy Planet.

• A member can win Best Song Of The Month and Best Performance Of The Month twice during a season (with different songs) in each WCS Location. Playoffs are in July to determine San Rafael Best Song Of The Year. In August, the winners of Best Song of the Year from every WCS Location compete at the Finals for WCS Best Song of the Year. Three winners are chosen to perform at the annual WCS Conference in September. 

MARCH 2018
Best Song:  The Complements “Promise”
Best Performance: Sky Nelson-Isaacs “Always Lose to You"

JANUARY 2018
Best Song:  Sky Nelson-Isaacs “Let Love Run the Show” 
Best Performance: Emily Hamilton “Growing Green”

DECEMBER 2017
Best Song:  Emily Hamilton “Shoes Like Mine”
Best Performance: Liza Marie Sparks "The Immortal"

NOVEMBER  2017
Best Song: Megan McLaughlin “Come On Up”
Best Performance:  The Complements “Lend a Hand”

OCTOBER  2017
Best Song: Mark Nichol "The Word"
Best Performance:  Jo D'Anna "Every Night"