Tony Rich	Doria Roberts

This innovative workshop/showcase combination illustrates BMI's continued dedication to development for artists at all career stages. BMI's Lynn Oliver, who will serve as moderator, comments, "We want this event to be informative, educational and fun! Tony and Doria will discuss what makes a hit song, how to get your music heard, their personal success in the industry, and play an intimate show for participants and fans to top it all off."

"We are excited to host this special series as we are always looking for ways to create the best songwriting community possible here in Atlanta," adds Eddies Attic owner, Eddie Owen.

A general information session entitled "BMI 101" gets the evening rolling at 5 p.m., followed by the Songwriting Workshop with Tony and Doria from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. At 9 p.m., attendees will be treated to a special show by Rich and Roberts, both of whom are promoting new records out this summer. A $40 package includes the workshop, dinner and one ticket to the show. Individual admission tickets to the 9 p.m. show are also available for $20.

Tony Rich has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, boasts four Grammy nominations, and has earned Grammy, Billboard and Blockbuster awards. Singer, songwriter and political activist Doria Roberts has been recognized both for her ground-breaking folk, jazz and pop-infused sound and her community involvement. She has been recognized with the 2004 Anderson Leadership Award; received nominations in 2003 for OUT Musician of the Year, Outstanding Album for Alive & Well, and OUT Song of the Year for "Black Pearl"; and was named Southern Voice's 2002 Editor's Choice for Favorite Songwriter of the Year.

Born in Boston and raised in Kentucky, Colorado and South Florida, school brought her back to Cambridge. She started to sing as a child and spent years studying classical voice and piano, and in high school sang in everything from alt rock garage bands and Motown funk bands to jazz and classical choirs and church. At the end of high school, she taught herself guitar when an uncle gave her his old acoustic. But the sum of these parts wasn’t clear to anyone until she left home for college, where the truth was revealed on the streets of Harvard Square.

Mieka’s ability to captivate audiences first made her a favorite of Boston’s best clubs including The Paradise Lounge, House of Blues, Club Passim and Kendall Café - and next at New York’s renowned Bitter End, Living Room, Makor, Knitting Factory and Village Underground. In Summer 2002 she graduated from Harvard with a degree in Biological Anthropology, won BMI’s Rock Boat Song Contest, and placed top three at the famed Telluride Troubadour Competition. In 2003 she was invited to perform at four of the top music festivals in the country: The Newport Folk Festival, On The Bricks in Atlanta, Dancin’ In The District in Nashville and a return trip to The Rock Boat. 2004 included the month-long Citizen Cope Northeast Tour, the first ever BMI/NACA “See It Hear First” showcase, sharing a bill with Eric Clapton at Boston’s Tweeter Center, and winning the prestigious Rocky Mountain Folks Fest Songwriter Showcase. In 2005 she was nominated for a Boston Music Award, won the first ever Starbucks Emerging Artist Award, and recorded a new EP with producer John Alagia (John Mayer, Dave Matthews, Jason Mraz, Rachel Yamagata, Josh Kelly, Lifehouse, Liz Phair, Trevor Hall and others), due to be released in early 2006.

Over these first 36 months of her young career, she’s become the embodiment of the musician road warrior: A girl, a guitar, and a car - crisscrossing the country and playing over 450 club and college shows from northern Maine to southern Florida, from the Pacific Northwest to southern California, from the Colorado Rockies to the Tennessee valleys to the Great Lakes States and all points between - and back around the bases of street corners, cafés and clubs of Boston - even sliding into home plate at Fenway Park for a National Anthem. She has shared the bill with such artists as Eric Clapton, Wyclef Jean, Jason Mraz, John Legend, the Black Eyed Peas, John Hiatt, Blues Traveler, Martin Sexton, Jesse Harris, Mindy Smith, Edwin McCain, Citizen Cope, Shawn Mullins, Marc Broussard, Talib Kweli, North Mississippi All-Stars, Ben Lee, Tift Merritt and Erin McKeown, among many others.

A recent Boston Globe feature on her perhaps said it best: “While the eyes may be the windows to the soul, Mieka Pauley lets you in through her voice (as unstoppable as a flood) and through her lyrics (as personal as diary entries). She’s making her voice heard, and not just on the streets of Harvard Square.”

Wes Hutchinson	David Roland	Michael Flynn

Wes Hutchinson, who is currently working on his record while living in New York City, effortlessly blends influences ranging from early Elton John to Bill Withers, from Crowded House to The Who to Pearl Jam, to create songs that are saturated with melody, intellectually honest lyrics, and music that moves with meaningful undercurrents of rock and pop.

	Listen: "Sheltering Sky" by Wes Hutchinson
	Listen: "Gina" by David Roland
	Listen: "Everything Is Exactly What It Seems" by Michael Flynn

David Roland currently calls Atlanta home, but you can hear the time he spent in New York and Miami in his music, in the anxiety drifting in and around the lyrics. Drawn to songwriting at the age of 14, he currently has a catalog of 127 songs. His latest effort,The Hum of Anxiety, features 12 tracks that echo early Bowie, Nick Cave, Scott Walker and George Harrison.

A South Carolina native, Michael Flynn's influences include Wilco, Eliott Smith, and Tom Waits. His self-released album No Disassemble features emotionally-charged songs of melodic and lyrical pop that go straight to the heart and make it burst with pent-up feelings. Michael was also named the second place winner of the 2001 BMI Foundation-sponsored John Lennon Scholarships.

The Rock Boat Concert Cruise sets sail Columbus Day weekend (October 7 - 11) and will feature BMI artists Sister Hazel, Cowboy Mouth, Gavin DeGraw, Michael Tolcher, Shawn Mullins, Ingram Hill, The Clarks, Dexter Freebish, Will Hoge, David Ryan Harris, Peter Searcy, Chuck Carrier, Evenout and others.]]> 2004-09-22T18:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234132 Artists, Clarks, The, DeGraw, Gavin, Harris, David Ryan, Hill, Ingram, Ingram Hill, Mullins, Shawn, Searcy, Peter, Sister Hazel, Tolcher, Michael, Musical Styles, Pop, Rock The Rock Boat Washed Ashore Concert Cruise 2004 Song Contest. Sponsored by BMI, The Rock Boat is a four-day rock n' roll sea cruise to Grand Cayman, from October 7 to October 11, 2004. You could win cabin accommodations and airfare for two to Miami, Florida (departure city), as well as an opening acoustic spot on the bill aboard The Rock Boat! (terms and conditions apply - please see official Contest Rules).

Confirmed to set sail Columbus Day weekend are BMI artists Sister Hazel, Cowboy Mouth, Gavin DeGraw, Michael Tolcher, Shawn Mullins, Ingram Hill, The Clarks, Dexter Freebish, Will Hoge, David Ryan Harris, Peter Searcy, Chuck Carrier, Evenout and more!

We are looking for great rock, pop and Americana songs from BMI songwriters who are serious, unsigned performers. Enter your song in The Rock Boat Washed Ashore Concert Cruise 2004 Song Contest for a chance to perform, mix and mingle with musicians, music lovers and music industry executives aboard The Rock Boat. HURRY!! All applications must be postmarked no later than August 23, 2004.

Artists welcome the chance to drift away with 2200 of their most devoted fans, joining them by the pool to enjoy games and music while soaking up the sun's rays or to enjoy the sights and sounds of Grand Cayman. Fans begin each evening with a first-class dinner alongside artists and their families before heading to several intimate concerts.

Unlike passengers on a traditional cruise, guests on The Rock Boat share a common, relatable interest: they are all loyal music lovers. After experiencing The Rock Boat, fans keep in touch long after the ship has docked back in Miami through message boards on The Rock Boat website. Here they reminisce about their past adventures on the cruise, discuss plans for their upcoming journey and even make plans to reunite in the meantime. There have even been engagements and weddings resulting from relationships made aboard The Rock Boat!

This adventure of a lifetime begins when The Rock Boat 2004 departs Miami, Florida, on Thursday, October 7 at 3:30 pm. All day on Friday, October 8, The Rock Boat will navigate the waters to arrive in Grand Cayman on Saturday, October 9. On Sunday, October 10, the high seas will be rockin' again as the ship heads back to Miami dropping anchor on Monday, October 11, 2004.

Click here for the official rules, application, and more info.]]> 2004-07-22T18:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/events/entry/532883 Artists, Camps, Nini, Carey, Edie, Day, Howie, Ferrick, Melissa, Mullins, Shawn, Awards, Musical Styles, Pop, Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Showcase, Showcase Templated

Brian Winton, Shawn Mullins, BMI's Brooke Primont, Nini Camps, Edie Carey, and Melissa Ferrick hang out after the BMI showcase

Jeffrey Gaines

Edie Carey, Nini Camps, and Melissa Ferrick film Toronto's 'Breakfast T.V.'

Brian Winton and Melissa Ferrick

Shawn Mullins sings from his new album "Beneath the Velvet Sun"

Nini Camps performs with some help from Melissa Ferrick

Brian Winton, Edie Carey, Melissa Ferrick, and Nini Camps

Shawn Mullins

The assemblage of Atlanta club-scene veterans - which also includes guitarists Dean Roland (Ed's brother) and Ross Childress, bassist Will Turpin and drummer Shane Evans - first caught the public's attention with its double platinum 1994 debut album, Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid, which spawned the ubiquitous hit "Shine." The triple platinum follow-up, Collective Soul, spawned such popular numbers as "Gel," "December," "Where the River Flows" and "The World I Know." 1997's Disciplined Breakdown featured the successful tracks "Listen" and "Precious Declaration," while 1998's Dosage yielded one of the band's biggest radio hits ever with "Heavy," underlining Collective Soul's impressive staying power.

"We were supposed to be the one-hit wonder of '94, and then the two-hit wonder of '95, but we never paid any attention to that stuff," Ed Roland says. "We always knew that we could do it as a band."

True to its title, Blender - whose first single, "Why Pt. 2," debuted as the most-added track on rock and alternative radio stations - finds Collective Soul expanding its sound via some adventurous rhythms and exotic sonic textures. But despite the album's introduction of new sonic frills, Roland insists, "We're a guitar band. That'll always be the cornerstone of what Collective Soul does. And you can expand from that."

Indeed, the recording sessions that spawned Blender were deliberately designed to take place in a laid-back, organic manner, with most of the material written and recorded during loose, laid-back jam sessions at the band's rehearsal space.

"We had an absolute blast making this one," says Roland. "It was the most enjoyable one to make, mostly because everyone was in a good mindspace; there was no real drama going on in anyone's life. Where we were recording was just a big room, so it kind of had an open vibe. We set up couches, people would come in and watch us... It was a real loose vibe, which was good, because with the last record, we spent a lot of time in the studio making sure everything was performed perfectly and arranged perfectly. This time we wanted to have a little more fun. We wanted to enjoy the process."

The sessions' loose, informal atmosphere resulted in some prominent local musical figures dropping by to lend their talents, including Atlanta resident and longtime band admirer Elton John, who contributes duet vocals and piano on "Perfect Day," singer/songwriter Shawn Mullins, and Marvelous 3 members Jayce Fincher and Bruce Walker. In keeping with the communal vibe, Blender was chosen as the album's title as the result of a local radio-station contest, which attracted over 12,000 entries.

While the less regimented birth cycle resulted in a looser, performance-oriented vibe, the 11-song Blender maintains the band's original appeal, with songs like "10 Years Later" and "Skin" offering the fivesome's trademark combo of hard-edged guitar riffs and supremely catchy melodies, while "After All" and "Turn Around" embrace an introspective bittersweetness. "Over Tokyo" takes a stab at synth-pop, and a cover of Morphine's "You Speak My Language" showcases a more playfully eclectic side.

As Roland recently commented to Billboard, "I think it shows maturity, and I think it's a little bit more of a fun record for it, maybe 'cause that was the attitude we had making it."