Birmingham band in running for Lennon Award in songwriting contest
The Old Paints, a Birmingham rock, glam and psychedelic band, is getting a significant career boost from the international John Lennon Songwriting Contest that is underway currently.
Thanks to its song “Girl” -- an intense cut with a garage feel that clocks in at a quick 2 minutes and 12 seconds -- the band is in the running to win one of the Lennon Awards given annually in each of 12 musical genres.
Their fans have until the end of April to go online at the JLSC site and vote for them to win in the rock category.
And if the band wins a Lennon Award, they will then have a chance to see “Girl” picked as the overall “Song of the Year” by a panel of distinguished musicians and win a $20,000 prize
“Girl,” the band’s only release in 2017, was written by drummer and vocalist Breely Flower.
Flower recorded the tune with bandmate Andy Harris, who played bass and guitar and sang, and legendary Birmingham guitarist Taylor Hollingsworth.
“I like the song because it rocks harder than most other songs I’ve written in the past,” Flower said.
“It's fun to play, and it rocks,” Harris said.
“It's sexy,” he said. “It's cool. It's exhilarating. ‘Girl’ is our best recording to date.”
The JLSC is open year-round and features two sessions.
A act from Roseland, N.J., Gregg Sgarlata, won the grand prize for rock in Session Two for his song, "Block The Sun."
The Old Paints and Sgarlata now face off in the current round of online voting to determine which act will win the Lennon Award for 2017 in the rock category.
One of the 12 Lennon Award winners will then be picked by the judges to receive the "Song of the Year.”
There are at least 25 judges, according to the website, including Fergie, Flea, George Clinton, Jimmy Cliff, Sheila E, Taylor Momsen, The Veronicas, Bootsy Collins and Kenny Aronoff.
The Old Paints regular lineup features Flower on drums and vocals, Harris on guitar, synthesizer and vocals, Anna Welden on bass and vocals and Michael Carter on guitar.
The group formed in 2013 after Flower met Harris at his weekly open mic. The group has since played hundreds of gigs in Alabama and other states.
The Old Paints are currently recording their second album, “FunnySexyCool,” in Harris’ studio.
Flower said she wrote “Girl” in the fall of 2014, while she was still attending Hoover High School and living with her parents.
“I had been messing around in the basement with my electric guitar for a few months at that point, and writing way more than normal that year and I enjoyed what I was coming up with,” Flower said.
“The whole song is just a metaphor for some emotional turmoil I was experiencing a couple years ago,” she said.
But Flower professes to be rather disinterested in her own interpretation of the song, fearing that she might be “projecting.”
“I will always be more interested in the outside listener’s interpretation,” she said.
It was a lot of fun to play with Hollingsworth in recording “Girl,” according to Harris.
“We had already played a few gigs with Taylor at that point and knew that he could roll with it and come up with a cool riff on short notice. That's exactly what he did. He had never heard that song before the recording session. He did about six takes, each one better than the last. The first couple of takes, he was getting to know the song. By number three, he was starting to play some of the licks that made it on to the recording. By the end, it was fire. He's the best guitarist I know.”
Winning the grand prize in the rock category in Session One of the JLSC has already helped the band.
“We won a recording studio and a lot of instruments, as well,” Harris said. “We're recording the new album in my garage, and with the prizes we've received, things are sounding pretty tight, and the process has gotten a lot easier now that we've added more and better equipment.”
“It’s kind of surreal having instruments sent to your home just for writing a song, but I’ll take it,” Flower said. “Christmas came early for The Old Paints!”
Of course, winning a Lennon Award and, perhaps, the “Song of the Year” award would be even more impactful.
“Ttouring would get a lot easier,” Harris said. “We would use some of the dollars to put a down payment on a big passenger van. “
“The extra instruments and recording gear will obviously be put to good use, as well,” he said.
Harris admiited that he is not sure why “Girl” is doing so well in the JLSC.
“It's a whole minute too short for popular radio, right?,” Harris said. “Mainstream music hasn't really rocked for years. But maybe the material is good enough where that doesn't even matter. I would love to be a part of smashing the watered down radio trends that have only gotten worse since the late 90s. Now seems a good a time as any.”
The song may be helped by the fact that the contest judges are musicians and not music industry executives, according to Harris.
“It seems like the fat cats just create products and brands and don't think about the person,” he said. “Some of the musicians who are also judges...have a brand or product, but also maintain their own unique artistic quality. We are going for that too. There's nothing wrong with selling something. Just don't sell something that everybody else is already selling.”
“Winning the grand prize would not only be totally incredible for the band financially, but it would also give me a desperately needed confidence boost about my songwriting skills,” Flower said. “If Yoko and friends really thought my song deserved to win $20,000 then I guess I’m on to something here.”
The JLSC, which began in 1997, is open to amateur and professional songwriters who submit entries in any one of 12 categories.
The categories are rock, country, jazz, pop, world, rhythm & blues, hip hop, gospel/inspirational, Latin, electronic, folk and children's.
All contest entry fees help support the nonprofit John Lennon Educational Tour Bus mobile recording studio.
To listen to “Girl,” go to theoldpaints.bandcamp.com.
Or click here to listen to the song on Spotify.
Online voting for the Lennon Awards began at the JLSC website on April 1.
To cast your vote for your favorite acts, go to jlsc.com/vote.php.
The winners will be announced on May 1.