Support growing for Kiwi finalist Wayne Mason

21 February 2006

The 2005 Nashville International Songwriting Competition:

Support growing for Kiwi finalist Wayne Mason

New Zealand singer/songwriter Wayne Mason has edged out hundreds of aspiring songwriters worldwide to become a category finalist in the prestigious 4th Annual International Songwriting Competition, based in America’s song capital, Nashville, Tennessee.

Mason’s new song Sense Got Out, not yet commercially released, is among the final twelve songs chosen in the Alternative/Roots/Americana category. Kiwis are urged to listen to and vote for their favourites in the Public Voice Online Poll on the competition web site at www.songwritingcompetition.com. Voting closes 28 February.

Category and overall competition winners will be announced mid-March, in what has been described by the New York Times as “the songwriting competition to take note of.” Mason’s song and its competition will be judged by a ‘who’s who’ of world renowned recording artists, including Tom Waits, Loretta Lynn, Charlie Musselwhite and Lee Ann Rimes, and representatives of the international music industry.

Wayne Mason is best-known to New Zealanders as the writer and performer of Nature, the country’s first home-grown No.1 chart hit in 1970, and which has since been voted the top New Zealand song written in the past 75 years, according to the APRA Kiwi Top 30 Poll. He received the NZ Order of Merit in 2002 for his contribution to the New Zealand music industry.

The Paekakariki-based singer-songwriter believes “New Zealand musicians are world-class. It’s been great to see how the international audience has developed over the years for New Zealand music and New Zealand artists. Competitions like this get Kiwi music listened to and appreciated by a lot of influential music people and audiences around the world.”

Mason says it is also very encouraging to see other New Zealand finalists in the competition, with bands Goldenhorse, Tourist and Zebulun also making the finals in other categories. Finalists are vying for prizes worth tens of thousands of dollars, but also for the recognition and industry interest that the annual competition generates.

Wayne Mason’s song Sense Got Out will be released on a new album scheduled for release later this year.

ENDS

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