The SpinTunes 24 judging panel is excited to hear your brand-new songs. I bet you're eager to find out who exactly they are! All five judges are previous SpinTunes competitors. Read on to learn who will be judging you, then head to the sign-up page to put your hat in the ring!
Judges:
Ethan Ivey
(he/him)
Jim of Seattle
I've been writing music since 1980. As the name suggests, I was born and raised in the Emerald City and have lived within the city limits pretty much my entire life.
In 1980-81 I produced seven "albums" on a cheap cassette recorder with album covers made from cardboard and felt pens. Then I went to music school at University of Washington and wrote music I hated, meanwhile also writing music in my own style which my teachers never saw. Then I wrote a lot for musical theatre, which consisted of a great deal of feedback and reviews on workshopped musicals, and had some success there. Then I abruptly stopped doing that and now loathe all new musicals, go figure.
After a few years writing instrumental children's music as well as a gig with Disney for the cult video game Nightmare Ned, I spent several totally fun years on Song Fight, about 2003-8. After twenty years writing musicals and modern classical stuff, my music again sounded like it did in my basement with a cheap cassette recorder, but now with fancier equipment.
In 2012 I connected with Green Monkey Records, who invited me to produce a real album, which became We Are All Famous, released in 2013. The album made multiple top ten lists and received much critical acclaim. A second album, Both the Planet Frank and The Chet Lambert Show, followed in 2016. My third album, Carkeek Park Suite, came in 2024 and is a suite for two pianos and orchestra. Most recently I started the Jim-of-Seattle-of-the-Month Club in 2024, a free snail-mail-only subscription project in which songs and videos are sent to subscribers via postcard.
I participated in SpinTunes 18 a couple years ago, and got some good songs out of it, but I found it far too stressful. I have always really enjoyed providing feedback on the work of other songwriters, and that was the funnest part of Song Fight. I gave up on it because there was too little context around the songs so I was unable to provide feedback that I knew would be appropriate and useful to the artist. Should I review a one-off by someone just goofing off the same way I review a full band's slaved-over best effort? Without knowing the background, it was just too easy to miss the mark and potentially cause more harm than good. With SpinTunes, the format is more obviously competitive, and the reviews are fully expected, so I'm on safer ground I think.
I'm not a professional, just an exceedingly experienced hobbyist. And that is by choice. I have worked mostly in tech all this time, living on computer money which is a lot easier in an effort-per-dollar equation. No-brainer.
Valerie Polichar
(she/her)
Valerie was a SpinTunes contestant in 2023, and a judge in 2024. She's been creating music since childhood, winning several composition contests, and has written well over 400 songs as an adult. She records vocal electronica and singer-songwriter music under the moniker “Huge Shark.” She is a frequent contributer to the PRF Monthly Tribute Series. 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. She loves all genres and styles of music, and finds the process of close listening and assessment for review very rewarding. She's honored and excited to serve as a SpinTunes judge.
I go by glennny. I am a mechanical engineer at Tesla, I’ve been there the 6th longest out of the 140,000 employees. (18 years). I met truth in high school, we became fast friends over a love of music and Monty Python. We formed the Cavedwellers in 1992. I was a founding member of the Worldly Self Assurance which won Nur Ein 3. I judged Nur Ein 4. I am a founding member of Berkeley Social Scene. I’ve gone on to have the most submissions of anyone for Nur Ein. (between Berkeley Social Scene, WSA, Thank Glennny for the Frisbee, and solo entries).
I have a lot of entries in the Spin Tunes world, but it will be tough to catch Travis. (Megalodon, Faster Jackalope, Cavedwellers, Berkeley Social Scene, and glennny). I was a judge for Spin Tunes 2. I’ve done 11 FAWM albums. Music is the best.
Truth - SpinTunes 23 Champion
truth has been a choral and sometime orchestral conductor for thirty years. He teaches general music in a pre-K to 8th school, and is a church choirmaster. He teaches private lessons on a wide range of instruments, but is primarily a guitarist. He and Glennny founded Cavedwellers in 1992 and continue writing, and occasionally performing, original music to the present day. They won the last edition of Spin Tunes. His band Mandibles released the album “Appalling Silence” last year. Born and raised in Southern California, he and his family live in greater Philadelphia, USA.
Support Staff:
Matt "Shoobs" Schubbe - Graphic Designer / SpinTunes 3 Champion
Matt is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer based in Minneapolis who for years has created a brand-new album cover for each round of SpinTunes, as well as a talented musician who took the SpinTunes 3 title as half of Matt and Donna.
Tommy G - Listening Party Host
(he/him)
I've been doing listening parties for quite a while - going back over 10 years on YouTube and further for ustream, artificition, and other archaic, now dead streaming platforms.
Some background on me - I did comedy TV and Radio at college in the early 80's, which got me a gig as an Air Personality on several radio stations in the Northeast, landed at WHEB-FM in Portsmouth NH in 1985, producing the morning show, and doing comedy bits and skits as Boffo Yux Dudes for syndicated groups and radio stations around the USA. If you were listening to a morning guy in the mid 80's to early 90's, you probably heard us being the funny interactive voice with your favorite local DJ. BYD ended up doing a cable comedy show, appearing on Dr. Demento, and we were all over the place for a while in New England.
Then I worked in cable TV news for a while - shooting and editing a local news program, master control for regional news channel and working in PEG access. I directed a bunch of talk and interview shows for a college that won some awards.
Around 2008 I started back up with internet comedy and writing music with Allan Morgan and friends. I also would video YouTube musicians and met a bunch of people who didn't mind me covering their live concerts, which are scattered around on my YouTube. We entered a few shorts to film festivals, and once won an award for our video of a SpinTunes song!
I somehow got connected to Masters of Song Fu, and that led to the start of SpinTunes. I think around Contest 2 or 3 I began hosting the Listening Parties, and from there I kept adding more contests to the mix. I think I'm up to 4 regular ones now - SpinTunes, Nur Ein, SongFight and SomeSongs. I've also done a bunch of one off interviews and Record release parties if the artists request it, and helped edit the SongFight Video shows when asked.
I've been pretty lucky to meet so many cool folks over the years, and they tend to let me do projects and fun things with them. One of these days I've been threatening to put it all up on YouTube for people to check out. I have a few thousand clips and shows on there now that I need to go through and clean up. Hell, I just noticed it's my 17 year YT anniversary this month - and if you just listened to all the Listening Parties I've posted on YT you'd have to take a month nonstop to hear them all!
Micah Sommersmith - Contest Administrator / SpinTunes 14 Champion
(they/he)
I play the accordion, direct and sing in choirs, and make crossword puzzles.
I'm the one updating the blog, receiving and posting your song submissions, tabulating results, and coordinating with the judges. I've been running the contest since 2021 when I took over from Dave Leigh of Dr. Lindyke. I'm glad to be able to keep this contest going and am looking forward to hearing some great new tunes!
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