TYLER, Texas - Music Veterans 'Surprised' at High Level of Amateur Talent in East Texas

23 July 2010

TOP TEN: David Cook of Palestine, right, was in the Top Ten of amateur artists picked to play at the Cross Walk Performing Arts Center  in Tyler, Texas on Saturday.  A panel of 10 professional musicians chose Cook's composition and nine others  from a field of 65 submissions. The venue at Cross Walk was donated by Tyler's Green Acres Baptist Church so musicians from various denominational backgrounds could showcase their combination of faith and music

"I was surprised at the number of great songs that come to us out of the East Texas area. I’ve literally been handed hundreds of songs over the years and maybe two or three really stood out.” - Dallas Holm, of Dallas Holm and Praise and Amatuer Songwriter's Concert judge

THEY HAVE FAITH - AND MUSIC

Amateur Songwriter’s Concert Shines, Surprises Professional Musicians

By PATRICK BUTLER

Editor, ResonateNews.com

   TYLER - Surprise seemed to be a major ingredient as the musical firmament of faith shone brightly at Saturday’s Amateur Songwriter’s Concert in Tyler, Texas, some audience members admitted after the free showcase concert. The event was conceived and carried out by the volunteer efforts of ten area professional musicians who evaluated a field of 65 compositions submitted for their approval.

    The inspirational musical event at the new $24 million Cross Walk Performance Center at Green Acres Baptist Church featured the efforts of the top ten amateur songwriters.

    And there is gold in the musical hills of East Texas, said contest judge Jim Fielder, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee formerly of the band Blood, Sweat and Tears.

MUSICAL TREASURE

    “There’s just an amazing amount of musical treasure in East Texas,” he said. “It was our privilege to help showcase and encourage these great young musicians with this rare opportunity of a wonderful concert venue. Many thanks goes to Green Acres Baptist Church for their wonderful generosity and support.”  Fielder attends Tyler Presbyterian Church.

    With Fielder’s back-up House Band providing additional musical support, the concert featured the judge-lauded amateur songwriting abilities of Peyton Neil of Ben Wheeler, Britnee Wilson of Tyler, Ryan Proudfoot of Lindale, Russell Wilson of Athens, Lydia and Emily Laird of Tyler, Emma Ramsey of Brownsboro, Jerry Miller of Tyler, Brittany Arndt of Lindale, David Cook of Palestine and David Darst of Chandler.

     Darst’s song “When You Can’t Get to Him” was chosen as “Best Song” by the judges, with Emma Ramsey’s “Color Me” second and Lydia Laird’s “My Deliverer” third.

     The musical and songwriting abilities of East Texans amazed some of the professional judges.

     “Honestly, I was surprised at the number of great songs that come to us out of the East Texas area,” said Holm, of Dallas Holm and Praise, on Saturday. “I’ve been handed hundreds of songs over the years and maybe two or three really stood out.”

     The judge’s panel also included songwriters Jerry and Emmy Lou Hubbard of the Hubbard Family, Platinum-earning songwriter Gregory Swint, Jim and Dee Patton of Bongo and the Point, bassist Bill Scott formerly with Miranda Lambert, songwriter Rita Balouche, wife of worship leader Paul Balouche, and guitarist Terry Fancher of Zoe Ministries.

     It wasn’t that easy for them to choose, “Best Song,” said Holm.

     “All of the judges agreed that it was very difficult to pick any kind of winner because there were any number of songs that qualified for top of the heap,” said Holm.

     The judge’s panel was seeking to encourage songwriters in their faith and practical songwriting abilities, said Fielder, who was also the musical director for the event. Judges provided free written critiques to songwriters seeking to improve their skills, he said. Writers submitted lyric sheets and a demo CD to enter.

     And the song had to be about God, said judge Dee Patton, a Platinum earning songwriter  with her husband, Jim, also a judge.

    “We provided evaluations about songs written to, for or about faith in God,” said Ms. Patton. “That was our intention to help the body of believers in East Texas.”

“AWESOME, ACTUALLY”

     Concert attendees expressing surprise included recording percussionist Charles Barnett of Tyler’s Vineyard Church, who has played with Michael W. Smith, Phil Keaggy’s “How the West Was Won” tour and the Second Chapter of Acts among others.

     “This was really something; really good music,” said Barnett. “There was a lot more variety to the styles played and it was very well done. Very cool. Those who didn’t make it to the concert missed a blessing.”

     The smooth and musically sensitive evening was a delight, said Frank Kimlicko who teaches classical guitar as instructor of the musical program at Tyler Junior College. After the concert, Kimliko was onstage, lauding the singers.

    “This was a very good concert,” said Kimlicko, who brought “Blue Lou” Marini of Blues Brother fame to the Tyler Junior College Jazz Festival in 2008. “The sounds, the harmonies, the way the musicians blended in, the voices, the way it was put together. It was awesome, actually.”

     The Cross Walk Performing Arts Center is the recently completed $24 million performance venue at Green Acres Baptist Church., 1707 Troup Highway in Tyler. But the center is not just for Baptists, said the church’s senior pastor, the Rev. David O. Dykes. Dykes  opened the event with a welcome to all denominations to the sparkling, even stunning-looking venue.

    The auditorium was equipped with superlative sound support systems managed by a Green Acres technical staff led by Jon Easterling. The church donated their efforts and costs to the concert night for a reason, said Dykes.

"GREAT SONGS”

   “We want everyone in Smith County, in East Texas, to feel they are welcome here, no matter what denomination they are,” Dykes said to ResonateNews.com. “This is our way of saying ‘welcome’ to them all, despite any doctrinal differences we may have.”

     Fielder chose contest judges Jerry and Emmy Lou Hubbard and The Hubbard Family, and Jim and Dee Patton and Bongo and the Point, to perform alongside the contestants.

   “What a great concert this was,” said Jerry Hubbard afterwards. “What surprised me about this was finding out how many people were writing great songs about Jesus in East Texas. And, by and large, they were doing it because they loved the Lord, not for fame and glory. It was wonderful.”

     To learn more about volunteering to support amateur faith songwriting in East Texas, call Fielder at 903-363-5058