NSAI Announces Winners Of The 19th Annual Song Contest Presented By CMT And Martin Guitars & Strings
Grand Prize Package: $5,000 cash, mentoring sessions with Hunter Hayes and Craig Wiseman, a Martin Guitar, one-year single-song contract with ole and more!
Jacob Noe Grand Prize Winner
(Nashville, Tenn.) -- The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), along with presenting partners CMT and C.F. Martin & Co.® (Martin Guitars & Strings), is proud to announce JACOB NOE (Nashville, TN) as the Grand Prize Song+Lyric winner of NSAI’s annual Song Contest with his entry “Weight of Words” (Co-written with Canaan Stanley), and MICHAEL ROTH (Rio Rancho, NM) as the Lyric Only Winner with his entry “The Price Of A Song.”
With the welcomed addition of presenting partner C.F. Martin & Co. this year, the Grand Prize winning package was bigger than ever and included $5,000 cash, a one-year single-song contract with ole, mentoring sessions with legendary hit songwriter Craig Wiseman and multi-talented musician, writer, performer and Martin ambassador Hunter Hayes, and a Martin guitar. Additional prizes included a round-trip flight to Nashville, TN, tickets to the 2019 CMT Music Awards, a mentoring session with a CMT executive, a performance slot during the 2019 Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival and more. The total prize package was valued at over $15,000! All eight runner-up entrants in the Song+Lyric category also each were awarded their very own Martin Dreadnought Junior acoustic electric guitar as well as an industry meeting and a year membership to NSAI.
Official final judging panel of the 19th Annual NSAI Song Contest presented by CMT and Martin Guitars & Strings.
Pictured (L-R): Chris Martin (Chairman & CEO, C.F. Martin & Co.), Craig Thatcher (Recording artist and International Clinician/Ambassador for C.F. Martin & Co.), Bart Herbison (Executive Director, NSAI), Lindsay Gum (Director of Events/Pr Membership, NSAI), John Ozier (Vice President, Creative, ole), Jordan Walker (Manager, Music & Talent, CMT), and Brett James (Grammy-Winning Songwriter/Producer)
Michael Roth Lyric-Only Winner
Roth, the winner of the Lyric-Only category won a prize package that included a mentoring session with hit songwriter Lori McKenna, a Martin guitar, industry access, a round-trip flight to Nashville, TN, a pass to the annual Music Biz conference and more.
Beating out nearly 2600 entries, each placing song advanced through several levels of judging with the final judging event taking place on February 5, 2019, where the Grand Prize-winning song was determined by a panel of elite judges.
Judges included Chris Martin (Chairman & CEO, C.F. Martin & Co.), Craig Thatcher (Recording artist and International Clinician/Ambassador for C.F. Martin & Co.), Brett James (Grammy-Winning Songwriter/Producer), Jordan Walker (Manager, Music & Talent, CMT) and John Ozier (Vice President, Creative, ole). For the final judging, each song was played and received a score of 1-10 from each panelist. The song with the highest score in total was declared the winner. The final judging is available to replay at www.nashvillesongwriters.com.
Every contest entrant will receive a numerical judging report. These reports have been emailed to all entrants using the email address provided on the entry form. If there was no email address provided, then the judging report was mailed to the address provided on the entry form.
Special thanks to ASCAP, BMI, CMT, Martin Guitars and Strings, ole, SESAC, Southwest Airlines and We Make Tapes & Discs for supporting the contest and NSAI Mission!
About Jacob Noe
Born and raised in Nashville, TN, Jacob Noe’s introduction to music occurred at the young age of five, when he began playing the fiddle. As his proficiency advanced, he began playing the fiddle at various festivals, and performed for the first time on the iconic Grand Ole Opry stage for a private event by the age of ten.
In high school, Jacob began playing piano, which prompted his interest in writing melodies. He soon found a love for songwriting, and eventually attended Middle Tennessee State University. He graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Recording Industry.
After graduating, Jacob formed a pop/singer-songwriter duo called Noe & Stanley. The duo released an EP, which was produced by Grammy-nominated Ed Cash, and featured on iTunes Alternative charts. Noe & Stanley toured the Southeast, playing colleges, clubs, house shows and Young Life camps. The duo eventually rebranded itself to Wakeville and now operates as a side project.
Most recently, Jacob co-wrote and produced “Strangers”, which was released by Amberlee Fletcher and has been featured on Spotify’s New Music Nashville playlist. He’s also co-written and produced Dogwood Heart’s “Waiting for July”, and has become a regular collaborator of Nashville’s rising independent artists and songwriters.
About Michael Roth
The recipient of a Gold Award for lyrics in the 2018 Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, songwriter Michael R. J. Roth has been called "a cool dark troubadour" and "an amazing writer" by fans and industry professionals, evoking a mix of Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, Johnny Cash, Paul Simon and others with lyrics known for their intriguing imagery and "deep, profound truth."
He is featured in the Great American Song Hall of Fame, and is known for his award-winning, original acoustic songs with "the kind of lyrics that make Nashville writers salivate." NSAI named him "One to Watch."
Roth was also the First Place Lyric Winner in the Unisong International Song Contest, the Great American Song Contest, the Austin Songwriters Group and the Dallas Songwriters Association competitions and received two Honorable Mentions in American Songwriter Magazine. He has been a First-Place winner and finalist in numerous other competitions. His poetry has appeared in Rolling Stone and various literary magazines. See more at http://easyheroes.com/
About Craig Wiseman
From Craig Wiseman’s early days of writing and drumming in Hattiesburg, MS, to being crowned Songwriter of the Century by ASCAP, he has created for himself a monumental platform in country music. As the writer of songs including Brooks & Dunn’s “Believe” to Blake Shelton’s “Boys 'Round Here,” Wiseman has amassed over 300 cuts, 100 singles and 27 number ones.
After moving to Nashville, TN, in 1985, he received his first chart success after co-writing Roy Orbison’s “The Only One.” In 1990, Wiseman signed his first publishing deal with Almo/Irving Music, then later signed with BMG Music Publishing. In 2003, Wiseman opened his own publishing company, and within the first year of its operation, the first single of the catalog, “Live Like You Were Dying” by Tim McGraw, not only peaked at the top of the charts for 10 weeks, but was also named NSAI Song of the Year, CMA Song of the Year and ACM Song of the Year and won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song.
Not only was Wiseman proclaimed ASCAP’s Songwriter of the Year in 2003, 2005 and 2007 and Writer of the Year by NSAI and Music Row in 1997, but he was named NSAI’s Songwriter of the Decade in 2009 and won the 2014 Heritage Award from ASCAP as the most performed country songwriter of the century. In 2017, Wiseman was awarded with his first CMA Triple Play Award for having three number-one hits within a year.
For the past 14 years, Wiseman has hosted the Stars for Second Harvest show at the Ryman, which, to date, has raised $1.2 million for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. After years of success, accomplishments and hard work, Wiseman was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2015.
About Hunter Hayes
Hailed as a "force to be reckoned with" by the Huffington Post, multiplatinum recording artist Hunter Hayes has accumulated over 40 award nominations and wins including five Grammy nominations, a People’s Choice Favorite Male Country Artist award and a CMA New Artist of the Year award. His most recent releases include the unflinchingly honest and introspective “Dear God” followed by the radically unfiltered “One Shot.” Both have earned much critical acclaim from outlets including Rolling Stone, Billboard, Paste and more. The Louisiana native recently celebrated the 100 millionth Spotify stream of his five-times multiplatinum single “Wanted,” which received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Solo Performance in 2013. Featured on his two-times multiplatinum debut album "Hunter Hayes," the smash hit became his first number one single on the country airplay charts and solidified the multi-instrumentalist as the youngest solo male artist to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in over 40 years. The self-titled debut has accumulated over half a billion on-demand streams in the U.S. alone and also includes the platinum-certified number one “Somebody’s Heartbreak,” the two-times multiplatinum “I Want Crazy” and the gold-certified singles “Everybody’s Got Somebody but Me” and “Storm Warning.”
About Lori McKenna
Home and the people who make it have captivated Lori McKenna for years. Over the last three decades, as she became a wife and mother of five, she has also emerged as one of the most respected, prolific singer-songwriters in popular music. Her 2016 release The Bird and the Rifle netted three Grammy nominations along with Americana Music Association nods -- all firsts for McKenna as an artist. Then, she made history: In 2016, she became the first woman ever to win the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year two years in a row thanks to co-writing Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” and penning Tim McGraw’s number one “Humble and Kind” solo. Both songs also clinched back-to-back Grammy wins for Best Country Song. In 2017, she became the Academy of Country Music’s first female Songwriter of the Year. The Tree is her much-anticipated eleventh studio album. Produced by Dave Cobb, The Tree takes one of McKenna’s signature themes -- family -- and builds a tapestry of experiences she has lived, overheard, been told, and dreamed up to create a stunning ode to life’s defining relationships.
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), radio (CMT Radio), digital (CMT App, CMT.com) and social (CMT on Facebook, CMT on Instagram and CMT on Twitter). CMT is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB). For more information, please visit CMT Press.
About Martin Guitars and Strings
C. F. Martin & Co.® has been Inspiring Musicians Worldwide® for nearly two centuries with their superior guitar and string products. Martin guitars and strings remain the choice for musicians around the world for their unrivaled quality, craftsmanship, and tone. Throughout the company’s long history, Martin products can be seen and heard across all genres of music and in all segments of pop culture, from concert and theater stages to television and movies.
With an unwavering commitment to environmental sustainability and responsible manufacturing practices, Martin continually drives the acoustic guitar market forward, introducing innovative features that have become standards across the industry. These groundbreaking innovations include the introduction of X-bracing, the 14-fret guitar, and the “Dreadnought” size guitar.
Martin has also led innovations in strings, such as introducing the first high-tensile strength steel-string core wire; the first nickel acoustic strings (Martin Retro®); the proprietary Titanium Core strings; and now the groundbreaking, new Authentic Acoustic line, which offers unmatched stability, tone, comfort, and longevity. Learn more here: www.martinguitar.com/aa.
Connect with Martin Guitars and Martin Strings on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and via www.martinguitar.com.
About NSAI
The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is the world's largest not-for-profit songwriters trade organization. Established in 1967, the membership of more than 5,000 spans the United States and 10 foreign countries. For over 50 years, NSAI has been dedicated to protecting the rights of and serving aspiring and professional songwriters in all genres of music. For more information, visit nashvillesongwriters.com.