01 May 2012 :
ISC 2012 | Success for Shane Nicholson & Eskimo Joe
It has been a truly magnificent 12 months for Shane Nicholson who continues to enjoy further success from his fourth solo album ‘Bad Machines’ which was released in March 2011 through Liberation Music.
Nicholson has most recently taken out first place honors in the ‘Americana’ category of the International Songwriting Competition with his track ‘The Broken Things’, just one of a host of Australian acts to do well at this years awards.
The announcement is another cherry on the cake for Nicholson who was nominated for seven Golden Guitars at the Jayco C.M.A.A. Country Music Awards where he proceeded to win the coveted APRA Song Of The Year gong for the title track from his critically acclaimed album Bad Machines. Furthermore he toured nationally with superstar K.D. Lang, appeared along-side Paul Kelly in the clip for his track “Whistling Cannonballs”, and welcomed his new baby girl, Poet into the world last October with wife Kasey Chambers.
Nicholson was particularly delighted to take out the honor, since wife Kasey took out the ISC grand prize last year.
“The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) is an annual song contest whose mission is to provide the opportunity for both aspiring and established songwriters to have their songs heard in a professional, international arena. ISC is designed to nurture the musical talent of songwriters on all levels and promote excellence in the art of songwriting. Amateur and professional songwriters and musicians are invited to participate. ISC has the most prestigious panel of judges of all the songwriting and music contests in the world, offering exposure and the opportunity to have your songs heard by the most influential decision-makers in the music industry” - ISC.
Depending on the category, submissions are judged on the basis of the following criteria: Creativity, Originality, Lyrics, Melody, and Arrangement.
This year the ISC was judged by a panel of acclaimed songwriters including Tom Waits, The Cure's Robert Smith and Tori Amos. The competition offered cash and other prizes totalling $US150,000.
Also among the winners circle was seminal Aussie rockers Eskimo Joe who placed a very respectable second place in the ‘Rock’ category between two other Aussie icons Jebediah (First) and The Living End (Third). Their successful track “Love Is A Drug” is from their 2011 ARIA award nominated LP 'Ghosts Of The Past’.
Honorable mentions were also credited to the following Mushroom Music songwriters for their distinctive songwriting abilities in their respective categories.
AAA (Adult Album Alternative)
Everybody's Lost Someone - Matt Joe Gow (The Dead Leaves)
Dance/Electronica
Borrowed Time – Carolyn Tariq, Shehab Tariq (AUDEGO)
Folk/Singer-Songwriter
My Love To Be – Daniel Lee Kendall
Pop/Top 40
Kitchen On Fire – Caterina Torres, Jarrad Rogers, Si Connelly (Caterina Torres)
Unsigned Only
Kitchen On Fire - Caterina Torres, Jarrad Rogers, Si Connelly (Caterina Torres)