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.

Toby Keith and Rand Bishop

While this is Bishop's first #1 single, he has more than 180 recordings to his credit, with cuts by Tim McGraw, Lorrie Morgan, Doug Stone, The Beach Boys, Heart, Cheap Trick, Indigo Girls, Richie Havens, Peter Noone, The Searchers, The Outlaws and Vanilla Fudge, among many others. In addition to writing songs and composing for films, commercials and stage musicals, Bishop has done just about everything in the creative end of the music business -- with experience as a recording artist signed to several major labels (including Elektra, Epic, A&M and MCA), and as a music producer, publisher, A&R and talent development executive.

"My List" follows "I Wanna Talk About Me," "I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight" (from Pull My Chain) and "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This" (from How Do You Like Me Now?!) to the pinnacle of the country charts for Keith. His new album, Unleashed, will be released July 23. For more information, visit http://www.tobykeith.net/

BMI's Thomas Cain, Susie & Gilles Godard, Rand Bishop, Bobby Tomberlin

Rand Bishop, Jody Williams

Holly Butler, Caroline Johnson, Stacey Shaffer-Bishop

David Carson, General Counsel, US Copyright Office; Charlie Sanders, Senior VP of Legal and International Affairs, NMPA; Chris Amenita, VP of New Media and Technology, ASCAP; John Simson, Director of Artist and Label Relations, SoundExchange; BMI's Richard Conlon; Rob Reid, Founder, Listen.com; and Ron Gertz, President, Music Reports

Attorney Jay Cooper; Johnny Temple Girls Against Boys/Akashic Books; Toshi Reagon, singer/songwriter; Moderator Dave Marsh, journalist and critic; BMI's David Sanjek; Dean Keay, ASCAP; and Bernice Johnson Reagon, Sweet Honey in the Rock.

California State Senator Kevin Murray during his keynote address

photos: Maria Tessa Sciarrino

And like good members of their own clan and the human family, the Indigo Girls have generously shared their bounty and personal concerns by working for the social causes they believe in - the rights of women and indigenous peoples, environmentalism, economic justice, gay and lesbian rights, and gun control - as tirelessly as they pursue their music and taking it to their fans on the road. "The most natural thing for us is to marry social activism with our music because our music is so deeply rooted in life issues," explains Sailers.

The duo met in elementary school, and built their career from the grassroots up. After a number of independent records on their own Indigo label, they signed with Epic Records in 1988. Since then, the Girls have enjoyed 10 popular releases, the latest of which, Indigo Girls: Retrospective, is a 16-track overview of their career augmented by two new songs. In the process, they've won a Grammy Award and earned numerous gold and platinum album certifications. Indigo Girls songs have been featured in the films Philadelphia and Girls On the Side, and the duo has issued two home videos.

The two talented singer/songwriters have all along displayed their commitment to touching fans in direct ways, such as their 1993 "Ten-Dollar Tour," where tickets and t-shirts were all priced at $10, or a 1998 series of free concerts in high schools throughout the South, followed by Q&A sessions with their student listeners. The Indigo Girls have also remained committed to musical cross-pollination with such activities as their "Suffragette Sessions" tour mixing female artists from a variety of styles, and a week in Cuba in 1999 collaborating and performing with artists there. When not making music or pursuing their many favored causes, Ray runs her independent Daemon Records label while Sailers owns a restaurant in Decatur, GA.

When the duo put out their first major label album, Ray told an interviewer, "We never expected to be on a major label and we're a little nervous about it. We'll more or less function the way we always have. No matter how many people we play for, it's always important to reach each one of them. That isn't going to change." And it hasn't.