Folk festival hosts songwriting contest

The Sisters Folk Festival opened entries on May 1 for its annual songwriting contest.

The Sisters Folk Festival is set for September 9-11.

The contest is a showcase for outstanding but under-recognized performing songwriters. Past contest winners such as Darryl Purpose, Alastair Moock, Chuck McCabe and Christopher Smith have gone on to marked success in the folk music scene.

The late Dave Carter was the winner of the first Sisters Folk Festival Songwriting Contest in 1995. The contest has been renamed The Sisters Folk Festival Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest in his honor.

This year, five finalists will vie for a $750 cash prize. Entries will be accepted through July 31.

“As the legendary Guy Clark will tell you, songwriting isn’t a competitive sport,” said contest director Jim Cornelius. “But putting your songs out there with others in the genre and testing them against the savvy of experienced judges is a great way to hone your craft.”

This is a “performing songwriter’s” contest, not a “song” contest, according to organizers. Entrants selected as finalists will be expected to perform their songs on stage. Entrants must submit at least two but not more than three songs.

Songs will be judged on overall consistency of quality, on originality and uniqueness, on song structure, on prosody (fit of words and music), and on memorability. Five finalists will be selected from the entries. The finalists will perform the songs they entered in the contest at the Festival on Saturday, September 10.

The winner will perform a short set to open the Festival’s Saturday night show.

The entry fee is $20 per entrant. Mail entries to: Sisters Folk Festival Songwriting Contest 2005, P.O. Box 3500, PMB 304, Sisters, OR 97759.