International Songwriting Competition Announces 2015 World Music Winners

The song “A Leggenda Du Piscaturi” composed by Maurizio Giannone and Roberto Giannone won the first place award at the 2015 International Songwriting Competition (ISC). Maurizio Giannone and Roberto Giannone are brothers and members of Italian band Corimè from Marsala in Italy. “A Leggenda Du Piscaturi” appears in the band’s album La Scelta.

The Second Place award went to “Ho Jamalo” by Chris McKhool, Kevin Laliberte, Anwar Khurshid and Waleed Abdulhamid of Canadian band Sultans of String from Toronto. “Ho Jamalo” is featured in the ensemble’s Subcontinental Drift album.

The Third Place award was given to “Ntsumi” by Isabel Novella from Maputo in Mozambique.

American singer-songwriter Skrizzly Adams took home the Grand Prize for his song “Tipping Point.” In addition to winning $25,000 (US) in cash, Skrizzly Adams receives almost $25,000 in services and merchandise, including a custom-built Lowden guitar valued at over $11,000, a Marshall amp and cabinet, a PDP drum kit, an Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM speaker, and much more.

ISC recognizes and honors excellence in the craft of songwriting. With over 18,000 entries submitted from almost 120 countries, a total of 351 deserving songwriters are honored this year in the competition, winning First, Second, Third, and Honorable Mention placements. ISC is now accepting entries for 2016. More information can be found at: www.songwritingcompetition.com.

Winners were selected by a panel of judges which included: Kesha; American Authors; Pat Metheny; Lorde; Sara Evans; Bastille; Bill Withers; Keane; Danilo Perez; Hardwell; Gerald Casale (Devo); Joy Williams (The Civil Wars); Keb’ Mo’; Sean Paul; Afro Celt Sound System; Craig Kallman (Chairman/CEO, Atlantic Records); Dan McCarroll (President, Warner Bros. Records); Daniel Glass (President, Glassnote Records); Craig Balsam (Owner, Razor & Tie Records); Kevin Welk (Chief Creative, Vanguard and Sugar Hill Records); Steve Yegelwel (Senior Vice President, Capitol Records); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); and many more.

ISC is sponsored by: Ableton, Artist Growth, Berklee College Of Music, CAD Audio, Celebrity Access, D’Addario, Disc Makers, DW Drums, Focusrite, Gauge Microphones, George Stein, Esq., GigSalad, Gretsch, Indie Venue Bible, Latin Percussion, Lowden Guitars, Marshall Amplification, Musicians Institute, Ovation, Pacific Drums, Sessions Headphones, SongU.com, Thayers, The Music Business Registry and Ultimate Ears

The following is a complete list of winners:

Grand Prize

“Tipping Point” – Skrizzly Adams (Westfield, NJ, USA)

AAA (Adult Album Alternative)

First Place
“Never Be” – Megan McInerney (Meg Mac) – Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Second Place
“Trying” – Nick Fowler (Afternoon Men) – New York, NY, USA

Third Place
“Carousel Ride” – Alexander Toth (Rubblebucket)” – Lambertville, NJ, USA

Adult Contemporary (AC)

First Place
“Halfway Out Of Love” – Jordan Richman, Griffith Frank, Rayvon Owen, Samuel Plotkin – Sacramento, CA, USA

Second Place
“Lava” – Danielle Baylor, Jerome Baylor, Naïmah Muhammad, Dwight Baylor (Danni) – Fort Washington, MD, USA

Third Place
“Echo” – Paul Stark, Michael Arcaro, Kevin Arcaro, JD Perone, Alex Silverman, Sean Silverman (Wild Sons) – Palm Springs, CA, USA

Americana

First Place
“Love’s First Lesson” – Joel Rafael, Jack Tempchin – Escondido, CA, USA

Second Place
“Walking In The Dark” – Brock Zeman – Carleton Place, ON, Canada

Third Place
“Wolves (At My Door)” – David Roddie – Glasgow, Scotland

Blues

First Place
“I Won’t Forget About You” – Hailey Calvert – Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Second Place
“An Honest Man” – Xavier Dphrepaulezz (Fantastic Negrito) – Oakland, CA, USA

Third Place
“Tied My Worries To A Stone” – Matt Isbell (Ghost Town Blues) – Memphis, TN, USA

Children’s Music

First Place
“The Bright Side Of Me” – Alastair Moock – Melrose, MA, USA

Second Place
“Strawberry Love” – Morgan Taylor (Gustafer Yellowgold) – Kingston, NY, USA

Third Place
“Monday I Woke Up Purple” – Steve Weeks – Colorado Springs, CO, USA

Christian

First Place
“Circles” – Aaron Buchholz – Langley, BC, Canada

Second Place
“Jesus Forever” – Jeff Markey – Hopatcong, NJ, USA

Third Place
“Reaching In” – Brad Nickel – Edmonton, AB, Canada

Comedy/Novelty

First Place
“Let’s Get Wasted (Like We Do On Christmas)” – Sylvie Simhon, Hughie Stone Fish – Bogota, Colombia

Second Place
“Dead With You” – Gareth Cooper – London, England

Third Place
“Joe’s Ex-Girlfriends” – Carla Ulbrich – Clemson, SC, USA

Country

First Place
“Hands“ – Brad Hull, Deanna Harper, Holly Furman (Due West) – Whites Creek, TN, USA

Second Place
“I’m Down” – Andrew Peebles, Joe Fox – North Vancouver, BC, Canada

Third Place
“Like I Would ” – Megan Mace, Elizabeth Mace (Megan & Liz) – Edwardsburg, MI, USA

EDM

First Place
“Two Bodies Ft. Emma Louise” – Flight Facilities – Sydney, NSW, Australia

Second Place
“Hologram” – Ioana Udroiu, Felipe Mejia Saldarriaga (Elline) – Bucharest, Romania

Third Place
“It’s A London Thing” – Ninnee, JCX – Bromley, England

Folk/Singer-Songwriter

First Place
“A Ghost” – Kelsi Fadness (NickNervous) – Twin Falls, ID, USA

Second Place
“Life Without Sundays” – Joshua Meltzer – Northampton, MA, USA

Third Place
“Silk Ft. Thelma Plum” – Dustin Tebbutt – Armidale, NSW, Australia

Instrumental

First Place
“Oriental Fantasy” – Emma Lin – Taichung, Taiwan

Second Place
“Tanger” – Christian Xavier Rizo (Risengard) – Monterrey, Mexico

Third Place
“Wunderbaumgartner” – Esko Jarvela (Esko Jarvela Epic Male Band) – Kerava, Finland

Jazz

First Place
“Sad Meeting” – Omar Sosa – Camaguey, Cuba

Second Place
“Quantum Leaps (And Bounds)” – Carl Bartlett, Jr. – Queens, NY, USA

Third Place
“Halloween Song” – David Smith – Brooklyn, NY, USA

Latin

First Place
“Un Poquito De Amor” – San Miguel Perez, Colin Hay – Granma, Cuba / Los Angeles, CA, USA

Second Place
“El Dia Es Hoy” – Rakel, Jorge L.Piloto, Julio Reyes, Yoel Henríquez – Medellin, Colombia

Third Place
“Amor Sin Barreras” – Georgina Recamier (Madame Recamier) – Mexico City, Mexico

Lyrics Only

First Place
“Silence” – Jack O’Rourke – Cork, Ireland

Second Place
“Apple And Poison” – Suk Lan Ser – Subang Jaya, Malaysia

Third Place
“You And I” – Josh Birdsong – Howell, MI, USA

Music Video

First Place
“Clair De Lune” Directed by Dave Ma – Flight Facilities – Sydney, NSW, Australia

Second Place
“To The Bird” Directed by Vandad Kashefi – Felix Lajku – Budapest, Hungary

Third Place
“Ruthless Love” Directed by Montana Mann – Alexz Johnson, Brendan James Johnson – Vancouver, BC, Canada

Performance

First Place
“Gods Of War” – Celeste Buckingham – Borinka, Slovakia

Second Place
“Another Man’s Gun” – Mike Stocksdale – Palos Verdes, CA, USA

Third Place
“Wake Up” – Carito Plaza, DJ Acres – Santiago, Chile

Pop/Top 40

First Place
“The Girl On The TV Screen” – Aidan James, Tommy Cecil, Jay Brunswick, Matt Alderman – Honolulu, HI, USA

Second Place
“Climbing Trees” – Zimri, Gladius – Nashville, TN, USA

Third Place
“Gasoline” – Nick Bailey – Virginia Beach, VA, USA

R&B/Hip-Hop

First Place
“Stay Up” – Donnovan M. Blocker, Kehlani Parrish (DyMe-A-DuZiN) – Brooklyn, NY, USA

Second Place
“Sweatin’ Ft. Famous” – Pinnacle TheHustler – Cincinnati, OH, USA

Third Place
“Take This” – Zack Gray – Roseville, CA, USA

Rock

First Place
“Anchor” – Ian Berney, Ian Kenny, Glenn Sarangapany, Adam Spark, Adam Weston (Birds Of Tokyo) – Perth, WA, Australia

Second Place
“Kisser” – Step Rockets – Minneapolis, MN, USA

Third Place
“Waterslides” – Tropical Zombie – Byron Bay, NSW, Australia

Teen

First Place
“Labyrinth” – Julia Graye – Saint James, NY, USA

Second Place
“Who Am I” – Carmel Buckingham (The House United) – Borinka, Slovakia

Third Place
“O Captain! My Captain!” – Mitchell Brady (The Static Shift) – Calgary, AB, Canada

Unsigned Only

First Place
“Monsters Of The North” – Brady Parks (The National Parks) – Provo, UT, USA

Second Place
“Wax ‘n’ Wane” – Mickael Fortin (Orange O’Clock) – Sherbrooke, QC, Canada

Third Place
“When We Kiss” – Peter McVeigh – Belfast, Ireland

World

First Place
“A Leggenda Du Piscaturi” – Maurizio Giannone, Roberto Giannone (Corimè) – Marsala, Italy

Second Place
“Ho Jamalo” – Chris McKhool, Kevin Laliberte, Anwar Khurshid, Waleed Abdulhamid (Sultans Of String) – Toronto, ON, Canada

Third Place
“Ntsumi” – Isabel Novella – Maputo, Mozambique

People’s Voice Award

“Fake Fruits?” – Gergana Noykova, Ersin Mustafov, Tasho Kolev (JEREMY?) – Sofia, Bulgaria