Aspiring youth songwriters will soon have the chance to put their skills to the test.
Organized by Dustin Jones, from Mission Control Studio, the Sault Youth Songwriting Contest is set for June 5 at the White Pines Community Theatre – where local youth will perform and compete for the chance to have their song professionally recorded.
The competition is open to elementary and high school students at Algoma District School Board. Jones is hoping to encourage local youth to get out and share their art with the world.
“My motivation behind all of it is to get the kids writing, and to get them to work together,” he said.
After seeing his daughter go through school, Jones noticed there was a lot of “raw talent” with local youth, and he began organizing these competitions as a way to help them.
“I say there's never a bad song – you can always rewrite them – just get it out, finish the song,” he said.
“It's not easy for somebody to stand up and play in front of people, especially your own song – I think that's a really big breakthrough for somebody to just play it alone.”
In June, Jones will host a workshop with the students to help them fine tune their sound.
“We also go in the back and we talk about things that everybody can do better – we do an overview to help the kids with what we think they could do better on these songs,” he said.
Jones has previously hosted workshops to help youth with their songwriting, and – up until COVID – also organized youth songwriting competitions locally.
Three previous competition winners have since gone on to take up careers in music.
“We did it five years in a row, and then COVID hit, but about three of those five have gone on to continue in music, in their careers as music teachers and in the arts,” he said,
Those interested in participating in the Sault Youth Songwriting Contest can send a recording of their songs to Jones at dustin@tidalrecords.ca or Greg MacLachlan at maclacg@adsb.on.ca.
The event begins at 7 p.m. on June 5, when a panel of adjudicators will select a winner.