Hamilton's Steve Strongman continues to rack up the kudos for his incredible work. His duet with Suzie Vinnick, Leaving (co-written by Rob Szabo) has landed him a spot as one of the finalists in the International Songwriting Competition (Blues category). He will be up against musicians from around the world including Canadian blues performers 24th Street Wailers, Layla Zoe, and Bob Tunnoch. Good luck Steve!
Links: Steve Strongman, More Steve Strongman stories
Blast From the Past: Steve Strongman plays acoustic@Slainte
Multi-instrumentalist Yiannis Kapoulas from Hamilton is a finalist in the intrumental category as well. Great job!
Winners will be announced in April. Judges includes James Cotton, Martina McBride, Tom Waits, Jeff Beck, Bernie Taupin, Bruce Hornsby, and others.
Here are a few highlights of the finalists. Click here for the full list.
BLUES
25 Places - Tim Lothar (Denmark)
Devil In Me - Oli Brown (England)
Don't Blow My Cover - William Troiani, Haykon Haye, Ian F. Johannessen, Alexander Pettersen(Norway)
High Gas Prices - William Morganfield - Big Bill Morganfield (Stone Mountain, GA,)
How Long To Heal - Nicolas Toussaint (France)
I'm So Shallow - Darren Watson (New Zealand)
Leaving - Steve Strongman, Rob Szabo (Hamilton, ON)
Let's Get Crazy - Layla Zoe, Henrik Freischlader (Montreal, QC)
Longtime - Ash Grunwald (Australia)
Love Spell - Teeny Tucker, Robert Hughes (Columbus, OH)
Nothin' In Your House - Gina DeLuca (Baltimore, MD)
On A Mission - Lindsay Beaver (24th Street Wailers) (Toronto, ON)
She's Trouble - Bob Tunnoch (Toronto, ON)
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FOLK/SINGER-SONGWRITER
Be Kind To Boston - Thomas Smith - An Atlas to Follow (Knoxville, TN)
Before My Time - J. Ralph (New York, NY)
Blood And Bone - Wes Carr (Buffalo Tales), Eric Silver (Australia)
Burning Daylight - Sam Eliot (England)
Dreams And Country Lanes - Russell Joslin (England)
Festival Song - Tim Easton (Nashville, TN)
Fire Escape - Matthew Mayfield, John Paul White (Birmingham, AL)
Golden Hearts - Teejay Terblanche (Black Handed Kites) (South Africa)
Happiness Comes In A Box - Joshua Hanson (Yellow Red Sparks) (Yellow Pine, ID)
Hell And Back - J. Ralph (New York, NY)
Hit Me With Your Heart - Sam Buckingham (Australia)
Jesus Was A Rollin' Stone - Tony Villiers (Ireland)
Mercy - Ben Kyle (Minneapolis, MN)
Monsters With Misdemeanors - Joshua Hanson (Yellow Red Sparks) (Yellow Pine, ID)
One Little River - Clare Bowditch (Australia)
The Calendar - Kara Francavillo (Nola Wren) (New York, NY)
Tinman - Andy Brown (Fredericton, NB)
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AMERICANA
All I Recall - Catherine Britt (Australia)
Audrey's Song - Harry Hookey (Australia)
Circus Comes To Town - Sara Petite (San Diego)
Collide With Me - Rebecca Haviland (Mamaroneck, NY)
Dangers Of The Night - Matt Ellis (Australia)
I Can't Stop Thinking About You - Marshall Chapman (Spartanburg, SC)
La La Blues - Pokey LaFarge (St. Louis, MO)
Learn Those Lessons - Kieran Glasgow (Australia)
Love Inside A Jar - David Garnham - (Australia)
Not In Kansas Anymore - Jokull Jonsson (Iceland)
Pieces Of My Mind - Philip Beach (Southbury, CT)
Roots - Brandon Clark (Cumming, GA,)
Sally Bones - Catherine Britt (Australia)
The Devil Drives - Stuart Earl (England)
When You're Dreamin' - Ed Romanoff, Josh Ritter (Brooklyn, NY)
You Might Come Around - Dale Boyle (Dorval, QC, Canada)
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COUNTRY
Anonymous - Rachel Honza (Nederland, TX)
Bone Dry - Marc Christian and J.C. Andersen (Brother Slade), Victoria Shaw (Franklin, TN)
Car That Runs - Lisa Torres, Karleen Watt (Nashville, TN)
Classic Rock And Jesus - Jon D'Agostino, Jason Eustice, Adam Searan (Holmdel, NJ)
Cold October - Savannah Berry, Zac Maloy, Kevin Griffin (Houston, TX)
Coming Home - Paul Cowderoy, David Carter, Jane E Robertson (Australia)
Find A Way To Fly - Bill DiLuigi, Mark Carson (Nashville, TN)
He Said - Tiffany Kuenzi, Liz Rose, Keith Follese, Adrian Follese (Silverton, OR)
Home - Troy Cassar-Daley (Australia)
I Wish I Could Hate You - Jaylene Johnson, Heather Longstaffe, Wendy Wills (Winnipeg, MB)
I'm A Dreamer - Lee Bowman, Paula Bowman, Julian Sammut, Simon Ross, Jason McCoy - Jetty Road (Australia)
It Gets To Me - Kirsty Akers (Australia)
Prove You Wrong - Chelsea Gill (Grand Ledge, MI)
The Suitcase - Liz Hengber, James Dean Hicks, Anthony Smith (Franklin, TN)
This Ain't A Love Song - Denis Dufresne and Lynae Dufresne (Pear), Bryan Wayne (Calgary, AB)
Wings - Brad Cunningham (Columbia, MO)
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