Brian Gray - SpinTunes #12 Champion
Brian is a long-time SpinTunes competitor. His entries have been often funny, sometimes poignant, and always excellent. This excellence paid off with a win in our last competition, earning him a spot as this contest's lead judge. Here's what he has to say for himself:
Hi, I'm Brian Gray. You may remember me from such online songwriting competitions as "SpinTunes #1", "SpinTunes #9", and "SpinTunes #12". Now I'm back, and ready to judge the shit out of you. What makes me qualified to do so? Well nothing really, except I have a SpinTunes #12 champion t-shirt and a keyboard, and I'm not afraid to use either.
I grew up in a musical household, listening to 80's pop, musical theatre, and random other stuff. Studied a few instruments (violin, piano, percussion), played in the band, and dove into theory during high school and college. Learned about orchestration and composition on my way to not earning a degree in music because I had no patience for the 2 required history courses. Fast forward to 2009 and I thought it might be cool to try writing songs, something I'd done exactly once before. It went ok. Then I bought a guitar. Now I am here because Dave likes me.
I live in Philadelphia with my wife and daughter, and my favor can totally be bought.Brian has written Every Song in the Universe, as well as A Bunch of Stuff. You probably thought there would be more. I know I did.
Dave Cheetham - Musician
Dave Cheetham is the Welsh singer/songwriter behind the website SongsDaveWrote.com. Here you can not only learn about the songs Dave wrote, but also about the stuff Dave tried, the books Dave read, and the sites Dave likes. I discovered Dave on Twitter, tracked him down to his eponymous website, and having sampled some of the things Dave likes, tried, read and wrote, found that this Dave likes them, too. Like him on Facebook.
Paul Rosenbluth of McKinney, TX is an avid music fan with eclectic tastes. Paul played trumpet all through school where he did some arranging and composing but now mostly just plays guitar for fun and the love of music. Paul hosts a weekday email group called “Name That Tune - Lyric Quote of the Day” where he brings familiar as well as unknown, deep tracks to the attention of fellow music lovers. Paul’s favorite thing is to spend the day making a gourmet meal with a fine bottle of wine or two while listening to Miles Davis. Paul is a student of eleven languages and is often prone to wax philosophical about his passion for history, language, arts, and culture.
DJ Ranger Den - Songfighter
DJ Ranger Den (not to be confused with Cherry Pi or @suspiciousden) has been involved in the Spintunes community since its inception and has also been Song Fighting since her first Nur Ein in 2010 (She has an artist page to prove it). She is a fervent collaborator and over-participator, and has begun remastering and setting to video some of her favorite contest songs, as well as writing a "definitive work" of song stories about just what all these vague lyrics actually refer to, maybe.
Although increasingly absent from public life, she nonetheless continues to prolifically write stories, poetry, and instrumental music and songs; and to occasionally perform for select audiences throughout the country--as she has for over three decades. Her current favorite project is to write the tiniest and yet most complete songs possible--in order to perhaps set them to charming videos. She currently studies improv at both The Institution Theater and at Merlinworks in Austin. She dislikes corn.
Daniel Prince - Radio Personality
Daniel has been at WBCU since February of 2004. Daniel graduated from Toccoa Falls College in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in Radio Broadcasting. He credits his voice change and love of music to leading him into the radio field. “Everyone would always tell me I should be on the radio with my voice sounding the way it did when it changed,” he said. “I always loved music and wanted to be around it, but didn’t think I had the talent to sing for a living, so I figured I should play music for a living, instead.”
Daniel is the operations manager/traffic director/webmaster/social media director/technical support provider/[insert new responsibility here] for the local radio station, WBCU. He is also the host of Union County's Morning Show, filling that role since 2012. In his nearly non-existent spare time he enjoys reading, music, church activities, and acting in community productions. He serves as music director of First Baptist Church. His married his wife Katie in 2007 and they have two children: Grace and Abby.
Stealth Fun Fact: Both Daniel and Katie have appeared on SpinTunes and Song Fu entries.
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