I am pleased to introduce you to your judging panel for SpinTunes 19, five talented and thoughtful musicians who will be giving feedback on each round of the tournament. If you are ready to compete, head over to the
sign up page to throw your hat in the ring!
Brian Gray - SpinTunes 18 Champion
Brian got an early start in music, being selected to sing “You Are My Sunshine” for his pre-school graduation. Since then, he hasn’t looked back, studying violin, piano, percussion, voice, theory, composition, orchestration, guitar, and ukulele.
Brian progressed from musical theatre in high school to contemporary a cappella in college, and finally tried his hand at songwriting. We’ll let you know how that turns out. Or you can judge for yourself by listening at his
website.
Matthew Keeler
With an educational background in music history and ethnomusicology, Matthew Keeler has performed music from the British Isles and rural America at festivals and reenactments for over a decade.
His songwriting is largely influenced by the traditional music he studies, particularly pre-WWII acoustic blues and old-time American ballads. For a better understanding of this, check out his
YouTube channel or his
website.
Alongside his musical interests, he keeps busy backpacking, raising five children with his wife, Jennifer, in Ottawa, Ohio, and working full-time as a high-pressure boiler operator at a nearby ethanol plant.
Since Covid, he mainly focuses on presenting his music on YouTube, but if you would like him to perform in person feel free to contact him via his website or on Facebook. He'll talk your ear off about old music and unusual instruments!
Nancy Rost
I'm a piano teacher, songwriter and performer based in Madison, Wisconsin. A long-time participant in
February Album Writing Month and
50 Songs in 90 Days, I appreciate the power of collaboration and online musical communities. I'm also a band coach and keyboard instructor with
Girls Rock Camp, an Ashbory bass aficionado and a cat lover.
Red Watcher
Red Watcher is the musical alias of Ted Kiper. Invited by JoAnn Abbott of Menage a Tune, he has been participating on and off since ST4, as a competitor or as a judge. And he would like to apologize for co-creating the Viagra song in ST7R3. No one likes hearing about their inadequacies. Or maybe no one likes hearing the sounds of a floppy trumpet and a zipper. Maybe that.
Bandcamp
Sara Parsons
As a competition veteran back to the Song Fu days of the late 2000s, I'm no stranger to low-stakes songwriting contests. While I can't claim to have ever won the grand prize, I've very much enjoyed following along and getting my brain gears buzzing when each new round is announced.
I'm a multi-instrumentalist and enjoy creating music with just about anything that makes a noise, though I am probably best known in this community for my voice - I am a classically trained singer and when I'm not doing my boring day job in HR, I can usually be found at choir rehearsal or learning a new mezzo aria with my voice teacher.
Each time SpinTunes comes around I always find myself getting excited about songwriting all over again, and I look forward to sitting down with all of the entries in the coming weeks to hear what everyone comes up with.
Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
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