I'm excited to introduce you to the SpinTunes 22 judging panel, five talented and thoughtful musicians, all of whom have competed in SpinTunes themselves, and all of whom are excited to hear what you have to offer in Spintunes 22.
Read on to meet your SpinTunes 22 judges before heading over to the sign-up page to throw your hat in the ring!
Josh started playing music on the classical guitar when he was nine, hated the lessons, and didn't practice much. Now he's glad he took them. He switched to bass guitar when his younger brother gave him an old bass someone left at his studio that was "broken" (only worked on volume 7 setting) around 2007. The fingerpicking practice from classical guitar made the transition easier. He joined his friend's band, the Vico Cycle, in 2009 or 2010 when they needed a bassist and has been playing in the band ever since. In 2016, his younger brother moved out to Las Vegas to pursue a music production career, and due to those pressures, committed suicide. In 2017, Josh threw himself into music creation and production, partly to carry the torch for his brother, and partly for himself to see if he could. This process started with FAWM.org in 2017 (and each year since), continued and culminated with his first and only album release December 30, 2020, DC Dreamers. The album is a collection of cover songs from local DC artists that influenced his music, including a posthumous collaboration with his late brother. Somewhere along the way he took 6-12 months of drum lessons at School of Rock to become a passable drummer to cover for a flakey drummer in the band, and finally figured out how to play non-terrible lead guitar solos. He found SpinTunes in 2023 thanks to a recommendation on the FAWM forums from DutchWidows, and it has been a fun contest to focus musical energy against challenges and receive helpful feedback from other musicians.
Josh grew up eating rock music in the 90's, his favs were the Foo Fighters, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the like. He misses new rock music and laments it not being as popular of a genre anymore. He doesn't know much music theory, so forgive him if he misses something you do that is clever or cool with theory. He mostly plays and composes by ear, and does his best from there. At least now he knows how to play more instruments that he doesn't practice enough. He is currently crippled with indecision about whether his next album should be comprised of serious songs, or silly songs for kids performed by his alter-ego, DadBodRadBod. Between work and family, (two kids aged 4 and 6), there's not a lot of time for much else, but I will strive to be fair, objective, and prompt with my reviews.
Website | Bandcamp | Spotify | Vico Cycle on Spotify | Soundcloud
Georgia-based singer/songwriter/sometimes-experimentalist.
I usually enter my projects as "Phlub" but you can call me Ian cause it's what my driver's license says. I've been entering music contests on the internet since 2006 and while I don't win much, it's always a blast and I treasure the comradery and feedback that comes with the territory! Spintunes is probably my favorite, and after entering it about 4 times with various levels of success, I thought it was a good time to finally give back to the community and serve as a judge!
I play a lot of instruments, but mostly stuff with strings, stuff with keys, and stuff I can hit with a stick. I can never settle on a genre and I like a whole host of things. Basically, I'm likely to be pleased if your music is original and well executed, kind of pleased if your music is unoriginal but well executed, somewhat pleased if your music is original but poorly executed, and disappointed if you're both unoriginal and poorly done.
I can't wait to hear what y'all come up with!
Please don't suck.
I've been writing songs for as long as I can remember, and dabbled in all sorts of creative projects over the years. These days I'm mostly writing jazzy funky pop music and occasionally releasing it through my band Business Stuff. I came aboard starting with SpinTunes 20 and narrowly took home the gold for SpinTunes 21 last year. I've absolutely loved my time in this community and can't wait to hear another round of original music from all of you. Cheers!
Valerie has been creating music since childhood, winning several composition contests, and has written over 400 songs as an adult. She records vocal electronica and singer-songwriter music under the moniker “Huge Shark.” Although as a youngster she complained loudly about her ten years of piano and music theory lessons, they’ve come in handy (she is a self-taught vocalist). Also a published writer, Valerie reviews music for British music mag Echoes & Dust, Portland popular culture mag Spectrum Culture, and Canadian pop culture newspaper Orca Sound. As a day job, she is a senior IT director for a large research university — retiring in July! She finds the process of close listening and assessment for review very rewarding, and is honored and excited to serve as a SpinTunes judge.
Bandcamp | Facebook | Mastodon 1 | Mastodon 2 | Bluesky
Zoe Gray (they/she/he) is a Brooklyn-based indie pop musician, musical theatre composer, actor, playwright, and director. They are a two-time winner of SpinTunes, having submitted entries into the competition since the age of 11. She has performed original music at Sidewalk Café and Rockwood Music Hall in NYC, World Café Live in Philadelphia, and on the open seas. His musical The Body goes up this summer with Foul Fiend Theatre Troupe, of which he is the co-artistic director. They write music about such things as Dungeons and Dragons, astronaut romances, vampires, queer pirates, and Shakespeare. You can support them via Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/zoegray.
I've been running SpinTunes since 2021, starting with ST17, and I am so happy to be part of this music-making community! I've also been active in the online music competitions Song Fight and Nur Ein. I also create crossword puzzles, which have appeared both on my personal crossword blog and in national newspaper syndication. Offline, I direct a church choir and perform in Northeast Wisconsin with the choir NEWVoices and the band Mother Tree.
I try to listen widely and generously, and although I'm not an official judge, I try to give feedback each round that meets your music where it is, celebrates what it does well, and offers advice for growth. I can't wait to hear your songs in SpinTunes 22!
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