Contact: Julie Fowler, Executive Director

Toll Free: 1-800-442-ARTS (2787)

Tel: 250-994-3466   Fax: 250-994-3433

Email: media@imarts.com

WELLS, BC, May 2, 2011…. Island Mountain Arts located in the historic Cariboo town of Wells, British Columbia is pleased to announce a contest to win a scholarship to attend a four-day intensive Songwriting Workshop, July 26th – 29th with Canadian music legend, Dave Bidini. Along with the scholarship (valued at $440), the winner will be invited to perform at the 8th Annual ArtsWells Festival Of All Things Art, July 29th – August 1st, 2011– voted one of the top ten festivals in Canada by CBC Radio 3’s Searchlight Contest, and will be featured in a profile interview and have music played on CBC Radio’s province wide arts and culture program North by Northwest with Sheryl MacKay. The contest is sponsored in part by BC Musician Magazine.

Dave Bidini is the founder of Rheostatics, considered one of Canada’s finest bands. For more than two decades, the band mapped new musical frontiers across Canada, embracing the nation that bore them and reinterpreting its sea-to-shining-sea grandeur in music of startling variety and indisputable beauty. He is also the author of 8 books, including the best-selling Tropic of Hockey – named one of Canada’s Top 100 books of the last century – as well as On a Cold Road and Baseballissmo. He has won numerous magazine and newspaper awards, and writes a regular Saturday column for the National Post. He has also made two films, The Hockey Nomad and The Hockey Nomad Goes to Russia, the former winning a Gemini Award for Best Documentary in 2007. Bidini’s first play, The Five Hole Stories, performed by One Yellow Rabbit Theatre Company, toured nationally in 2009, and his new Bidiniband album, “The Land is Wild,” received great critical acclaim.

The contest is open to emerging and professional songwriters who submit entries. You don't need a professional recording. Entries will be judged on originality, melody, composition, and lyrics. Production/Recording quality and vocal ability are not criteria. This is an invaluable opportunity for both aspiring and established songwriters to nurture their songwriting on all levels while working with their peers and the mentorship of a senior songwriter.

The deadline to apply is Friday, May 27, 2011 and the winner will be announced by June 4th, 2011. Applicants are also encouraged to apply to the “Songwriter Workshop and Seminar Support Program,” offered through FACTOR (www.factor.ca), which provides up to $750 towards attending a songwriting workshop (next program deadline June 15, 2011).

For more information about the contest or any of the programs offered, visit the Island Mountain Arts School of the Arts website at www.imarts.com, call 1-800-442-2787, or email info@imarts.com. For more info on the ArtsWells Festival Of All Things Art please visit www.artswells.com.

This contest is open to all aspiring or proficient songwriters – self-published or unpublished – who are looking for a chance to improve their song writing skills and further hone their craft.

Entries will be judged on originality, melody, composition, and lyrics. Production/Recording quality and vocal ability are not criteria.

• Send 1 song, along with a typed lyric sheet, your name, address and telephone number to:

Song Writing Contest

Island Mountain Arts

PO Box 65

Wells, BC, V0K 2R0, Canada

• You can also enter by e-mail by sending the above information and an MP3 to:  media@imarts.com

• The song must be original

All entries must reach Island Mountain Arts no later than 5:00pm on Friday, May 27th, 2011.

The winner will be announced by Saturday, June 4, 2011.

• Full tuition (value $440) paid to attend the four-day intensive songwriting workshop in Wells, British Columbia with Dave Bidini.

• A coveted performance spot at the 2011 ArtsWells Festival (www.artswells.com), which begins on the last day of the workshop (Friday, July 29th) and runs until Monday, August 1, 2011.

• A profile interview and have music played on CBC Radio’s North by Northwest with Sheryl MacKay

• Full tuition (value $440) paid to attend the four-day intensive songwriting workshop in Wells, British Columbia with Dave Bidini.

• Weekend pass to the 8^th Annual ArtsWells Festival, July 29 – August 1, 2011