Songwriter thrilled by contest win

“This is huge for me,” said Eileen Hemphill-Haley after winning the Sisters Folk Festival Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest.

Hemphill-Haley was an established folk singer in the Eugene area through the mid-to-late 1990s before moving to California.

“We relocated to Arcata because my husband (Mark) got the teaching job of his dreams” teaching geology at Humbolt State University, she said.

That meant rebuilding a music career while also being a mom to eight-year-old Ethan.

“I’ve really been focusing on my writing a lot,” she said. “I’ve been really trying to work on that craft.”

Being recognized among the five finalists was validation for those efforts, she said.

Also significant to the singer-songwriter was the association of the contest with Dave Carter.

Carter, a Portland songwriter, won the first festival contest in 1995 and went on to become a songwriting legend in folk circles before his untimely death in 2002.

He also inspired many other songwriters, which was one reason the Sisters Folk Festival renamed the contest in his honor this year.

“Dave had such a huge influence on me,” she said. “He really encouraged me to pursue this. I was really, really touched to be part of (the contest) and have his name attached to the event.”

Hemphill-Haley writes in a strongly traditional folk vein, serving up many story songs, including “Tennessee Peaches,” which she performed as part of the contest on Saturday, September 10. It is a tale told from the perspective of a soldier who died in the battle of Shiloh in the American Civil War.

“When I write, I envision characters,” she said. “I guess I start with a concept of a song and the characters suggest themselves to me.”

Hemphill-Haley said she is drawn to recounting tales of “ordinary life” and she writes them in a straightforward manner.

“I do try to be very clear,” she said. “There was a time when I thought it was poetic to be obscure, but I’ve grown up since then and I really want people to know what the heck I’m talking about.”

The songwriter clearly got across to the contest judges.

As the contest winner, she received a $750 cash prize, a performance slot on the main stage on Saturday night and a return engagement for next year’s festival.

The other finalists were: Trevor Reichman of Portland; Dave Zandanotti of Bend; Anastasia Scott of Sisters and Steve Kritzer of San Ramon, California.

About 140 songwriters entered the contest from across the United States.

For more information on Eileen Hemphill-Haley visit http://www.ehhmusic.com.

Note: Jim Cornelius is a board member of the Sisters Folk Festival and director of the songwriting contest.