The 2023 Scholarship Winners!

 Pictured L to R: Faith Elizabeth Terborg (Mike Lane Horizon Award), Carly Bryant (2nd Runner-Up), Corbin Stanchfield (1st Runner-UP), and Maddy Conner (2023 Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters Award)

 

Congratulations to the 2023 Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters Winners! There will be a scholarship awards night with performances from our winners on Monday, May 8, 2023 at The Arts Federation (638 North Street) in downtown Lafayette 7:00 pm

2023 Shirley Martin Scholarship winner: Maddy E. Conner, for her song "From Me Now"

First Runner Up: Corbin Stanchfield, for his song "Something Funky (In the Turkey)"

Second Runner Up: Carly Bryant,for her song "Power High"

Mike Lane Horizon Award: Faith Elizabeth Terborg, for her song "Guided Heart"

 

 

 

online application 

 

2023 Scholarship Applications Being Accepted Now

Shirley Martin Scholarship Application and Information

Beyond Collaboration is..."living proof the whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

  Joe Peters Scores Another Home Run!

The new 21-song salute to working together, Beyond Collaboration, is the culmination of months of "work-play" among roughly two dozen musical collaborators across the time-space continuum. It spans  multiple recording studios in various cities, including our own REC Room Studio in Lafayette, IN. You are  invited to stream the new songs on Bandcamp and/or purchase the new album.

Beyond Collaboration Free Streaming and Purchase Link!

 

 

Songwriter Showcase

This event will take place December 9th 2022 7:30pm. at The Arts Federation, 638 North Street, Lafayette, IN 47901, doors open at 6:45pm. The event sponsored by, The Songwriters Association Of Mid-North Indiana and REC Room Recording. The event will feature songwriters Justice Fuller, Vickie Maris and Lauren Grace. These fantastic writers will preform their original works and talk about the stories behind the songs. The performances will be very acoustic and simple with emphasis being placed on lyric and vocal delivery. Admission is free and donations will be taken for the Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters.

Congratulations to the 2022 Winners!

Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters Winner: 

Jessi Chase "You Don't Know" 

 

First Runner-Up: 

Madison Conner "Twenty Minutes" 

 

Second Runner-Up: 

Jaimee Myers "Flip Your Frown" 

 

Co Mike Lane Horizon Winners: 

Lian Leiva "Platonic Plastic Love" 

Eliana Starkley "You Still Are"

 

SAMI Gathering November 16 and the Minutes from the Annual Board Meeting

 

We will have our monthly in-person SAMI Gathering in the SAMI studio (lower level of the Tippecanoe Arts Federation) plus online via Zoom on Tuesday November 16th at 7:30pm.  If you want to attend virtually and do not have the permanent Zoom link or need information about this meeting, please contact Cheryl Fletcher at: secretary@samisong.com

The SAMI Board of Directors met in-person and virtually on Monday November 8, 2021.  The following are the minutes from that meeting:

Monday, November 8, 2021: 7:30pm- 8:30pm
 
In attendance: 

1. President Scott Greeson  
2. Vice-President Michele Newman 
3. Secretary Cheryl Fletcher 
4. Treasurer Todd Williams
5. New Venue Development Chris June 
6. Vice Pres of Studio Operations Ethan Bates (not present) 
7. Michael Longcor board member
8. Attorney Rebecca Trent 
9. Scholarship Coordinator Justice Fuller (not present)

General Membership attendees:
Corbin Stanchfield
 
 
Proposed meeting subject: 2021 Year-end Board meeting, Review and Planning
 

1. Opening Statement and General info update from Scott Greeson:  Welcome to everyone present.  “Lots of good things going on.”  Scott asked each attendee about their lives and current music projects. 
2. First Fridays: Michele Newman There has been a staffing turnover at TAF, so there has been a lack of coordination for a little while that complicated scheduling and communications.  That seems to be resolved now. Winter poses obvious problems with outside performances and outdoor dining.  At least 8 small businesses are willing to host musicians.  Some of these businesses have very small spaces set aside, so larger music acts are difficult to place.  Anyone wanting to play should let Michele know so that she can match them up for First Fridays through the coming months.
3. Financial Update: Todd Williams gave a Treasurer’s report and financial update. The actual report is filed under the Financial Docs for SAMI 2021 in Google Drive.          
4. Studio Update: Scott Greeson (for Ethan Bates) An anonymous person has donated 2 expensive equipment upgrades to REC Room studio.  SAMI will resell the older equipment. Cheryl suggested that better communication between the studio and the general SAMI membership would increase interest and help the membership understand what is happening in the studio.  It was suggested that a monthly ‘report’ of sorts could be included in the emailed newsletter.  What projects are being produced and what community events the studio is involved in can be listed as well as links to the newly released music. 
5. Grant Update: Scott Greeson  SAMI was awarded a second grant of $123,000.  The grant will be used to eliminate the sound leakage in the closets of the studio, sonically treat TAF’s dance studio with sound suppression with the goal of adding a much needed rehearsal and performance space, adding new cameras and wiring upstairs linked to the REC Room studio downstairs to allow multi-channel recording, and purchase and install more elaborate lighting with controllers upstairs that will improve performance and video work.  The end objective is to use the proceeds of this grant to enhance the performance and recording spaces in the building and allow live streaming for the community.  TAF was renovated and redesigned about 3 years ago, but there were some heating and cooling airflow flaws that have caused noise issues. Separate from the grant, the architect and engineers have met and will start making corrections to TAF next month.  Matt Call will probably be in charge of heading that up
6. 501c3: Rebecca Trent the process is held up with the IRS. We are waiting to have a specialist assigned to our case in order to move forward.
7. Internships at REC Room: Scott Greeson  Corbin Stanchfield has been interning with REC Room by helping with various events that REC Room is involved with. Corbin is learning various aspects including videography and has been integral with the ATLYS project recently produced.  The other intern at REC Room is a young lady that wants to be a broadcaster.  Hans and Brittany have worked with her.
8. Facebook Security Chris June has brought to the board’s attention that Facebook is changing the policy regarding public and private groups.  The SAMI Facebook group defaults to public, which means that anyone can see posts on the page without being admitted as a member of the page.  It is the new goal to set in place moderation to prevent spam and irrelevant posts.  This issue is being looked into and dealt with by Chris and Cheryl.
9. Open Forum:

 
Chris June has partnered June IND with NOISEtrends, (Frank Muffin,) to create a music cooperative.  Chris said, “We’ve discovered that you can get more done together than separately.”  He also said that they hope to widen the net to bring more people into this idea of cooperation. By coordinating events, promotions, and venues, they eliminate a great deal of competition for those gigs. June IND will donate all online streaming revenue to LTHC Homeless Services this month.
 
Scott and Malachi Jaggers have co-written the song, “An American Hero” that was recorded in Nashville. Malachi’s most recent album, “Fearless,” is receiving attention and is in contention for a Grammy. 
 
Hans and Brittany Rees, Frank Muffin are working on a benefit performance on the 27th of November at Carnahan Hall.  They will be reenacting the band and characters in “The Last Waltz” from The Band. All money raised will go to The Arc that Promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
 
Cheryl is working with Chris June to add a button to the www.samisong.com website for both donations to SAMI’s general fund and for the annual SAMI dues.  Chris said that he will work on designing the graphics and then add them to the samisong.com web page with the appropriate links attached. The goal is to simplify and streamline the donation process.

 

 
Todd asked about putting together the 2022 budget.  Scott answered that it will be worked on and approved at a future date separate from this board meeting.
 
The next SAMI Board meeting (2022) will take place in April - TBA

Song Sharing Meeting August 17th and Other News

 

 

You are invited to our regular SAMI songsharing gathering this Tuesday at 7:30pm. This will be a hybrid meeting (zoom link below) and if the weather is good, we will meet outside on the front steps! Bring a mask just in case we have to move it inside.  We will have our usual song share and discuss what’s happening in our songwriting community.  If you'd like constructive feedback on your song, don't forget to bring printed lyrics.  Feel free to bring a friend.  If you need the Zoom link for the meeting, email secretary@samisong.com

There Are Still A Couple of Slots for The Youth Stage

Go to their website, on the bottom of the schedule page to book the slot:
https://ouibache.com/schedule

 

Have You Heard About This?

June IND is donating their streaming funds to the Songwriters Association Of Mid-North Indiana this month. When you stream their music, you get great music as well as helping songwriters develop their craft, check it out! Songs are set to 'pay what you want' at juneind.bandcamp.com.  June IND is donating proceeds to the Songwriters Association of Mid-North Indiana. Click on this link to take you to June IND's Bandcamp page to find out all about it and start streaming now!

Click here to watch the official music video from June IND featuring Justice Fuller -
Come to Hand (Official Video)

 A GIANT 'Thank You' to June IND from SAMI!

 

 

SAMI Applies For Second Major Grant!!

For those that went to this year’s Shirley Martin scholarship reception, you witnessed great talent in an amazing venue at TAF. During that event you would have also experienced the abundance of natural reverb in the main room. The combination of natural reverb, music from our reception, plus the conversation from the side galleries turned the event into a challenging audio experience.

This event motivated the studio team to apply for a new grant to improve acoustics in the main room, and at the same time improve the lighting to assist with live broadcasts and performance. Additionally, we would connect the main hall and dance studio digitally with CAT 5 cable to allow live recording from multiple rooms in the building back to REC Room Recording. We have also proposed sound treatment of the dance studio to allow for the room to be multipurposed for music rehearsal and enhance dance instruction. The natural reverb in this room is challenging at best. We would also make some enhancements to REC Room acoustics to additionally minimize sound leakage into and from the room.

The team spent a month getting quotes, having professional assessments and filling out the application. We are blessed to have two mechanical engineers on our team to assist. A special thank you goes out to Hans & Brittany Rees, Ethan Bates, Neil McTavish, Gibson Wells and Scott Greeson for their combined effort on the application. The impact for SAMI and our community would be big, allowing this perfect size venue to easily broadcast and record our singer songwriters in these live settings. The modification would also assist with live and recorded arts education opportunities. We will keep you posted as to the outcome as the grant application moves forward! 

 

 

Collaboration CD Release
Friday Oct 15, 2021 - 7:30 PM

It's a regular who's who of music talent from the area: Joe Peters, Michael Kelsey, Scott Greeson, Vickie Maris, Lee Anna Atwell, Michael Longcor, Amanda Parker, Cheryl Fletcher, Kitty Campbell, Sharon McKnight, Rick Mummey, Linda Hicks, Chase Cotten, Jeff All, Hans & Brittany Rees and others.
Held at the Delphi Opera House in Delphi, Indidana.  Check out the Delphi Opera House website and reserve your tickets now!
Joe Peters Collaboration CD Release

Congratulations Lauren Grace

 

Debut Single from 2019 Shirley Martin Scholarship Winner, Lauren Grace!!
Lauren says this: "Hello SAMI people!! I just wanted to let you guys know that my debut single “Songwriter” came out today!! I literally would not have been able to do this without this amazing community."

And THIS is REC Room Studio's mission in a nutshell.  To provide the Recording and Educational opportunities to the overall Community that we serve.  Lauren is the perfect example of how SAMI and REC Room are positively impacting our young songwriters and community at large. 

To hear Lauren's new single:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2qw2yALPFXDiRUCAlTFOd2

Congratulations to the 2021 Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters Award Winners!

This year's Scholarship winner is Alice Lin, 18, with her song, "Wanna Be A Kid,"  She'll receive $500.

 

Alec Swank, 18, is First Runner Up with his song, "Don't Gotta Man." He'll receive $300.

 

Jackie Wiley, 16, is 2nd Runner Up with her song, "Flowers for Another."  She'll receive $200.

 

Corbin Stanchfield, 14, was named this year's Mike Lane Horizon Award winner with his song, “Hole Underground.”  He'll receive $100. 

 

Jessi Chase, 17, has been given an Honorable Mention with her song, “How We’re Taught,” and will receive a special gift that has been donated to SAMI by Mike Byers.

 

This year’s award night will be held in-person on June 4^th at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation at 6-7pm.  Each winner has been invited to perform their song on stage.  The start time is a change from previous years to accommodate the additional music of Lafayette’s First Friday that same night.  Come join us to celebrate these bright young songwriters!

Best of Both Worlds!

Join us for the First IN-PERSON Songwriting Gathering of 2021!

Upstairs on the main floor of the Tippecanoe Arts Federation (638 North Street, Lafayette, IN) starting at 7:30 pm, Tuesday, May 18th.  Bring 10+ copies of your lyrics and a song to share!  If you can't be there for any reason, be sure to check out the Zoom info that was sent out in the newest newsletter.  If you need the new and temporary May link, contact: secretary@samisong.com for the Zoom credentials.  

SAMI's President, Scott Greeson,  will be out of town for our monthly gathering and Cheryl Fletcher will host this hybrid meeting (In-person and online) via a Zoom account that only has a 40 minute time limit.  This Zoom room will only be open from 7:30pm - 8:10pm.  If you would like to share a song to the group in person, we will have that option upstairs in the main room at TAF.  If you would like to join us via zoom, plan on being timely so as to be present for that 40 minute time frame 

 

Hope to see you all there!

Scholarship Awards Night Moved to June 4th!

 

The deadline/application window for the Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters officially closed on April 16th as scheduled, but the awards night has been moved to June 4th to coincide with the First Fridays in Downtown Lafayette.  The awards will be held at TAF (Tippecanoe Arts Federation) located at 638 North Street, Lafayette, IN 47901.  Judging will take place prior to this time and the winners will be notified on or before May 28, 2021.

What's Happening

 The 2021 Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters will be held this year.  Applications being accepted now through April 16, 2021!

SAMI will have our monthly gathering of songwriters, Tuesday March 16, 2021 at 7:30pm. This month we are offering a Zoom option only.


  Please join us by clicking on the Zoom link shared in our recent newsletter.  (Contact secretary@samisong.com for additional info)

 

 

A big thank you to Mike Byers for his donation to SAMI and TAF to display his amazing glass piece called “Silk Road”. It is for sale and when it sells the proceeds will go to SAMI. Mike & Pam are incredible friends of artists and we love and appreciate them! Please send Mike and e-mail or contact him on Facebook to express your gratitude.

 

A SPECIAL THANK YOU

REC Room Recording is taking part in some amazing community projects to include streaming of virtual events.  This month, Ethan and Kelsey Bates, Hans and Brittany Rees, Gibson Wells and Neil McTavish assisted the Greater Lafayette Commerce in streaming the virtual 2021 Golden Apple Awards.  The Golden Apple Awards recognize excellence in area teachers who make a positive impact on many of the same students that apply for the Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters.  The flawless work of our SAMI engineers helped make this ceremony flow without a hitch and was highly appreciated in regards to our community outreach and relations. REC Room (Recording, Educational, and Community) Great job all around!

 

 

SAMI Insignia Masks: Scott Greeson and Vickie Maris have designed SAMI / REC Room masks in cooperation with Freckles Graphics. This will be a unique way to stay safe while showing your SAMI pride. Talk to Scott or Vickie to get your mask today.  (suggested donation of $8 to cover costs of printing.)

SAMI's Celebrating in September!

 

The Songwriters Association of Mid-North Indiana (SAMI) is celebrating several things in the month of September. On September 18^th from 6:00PM until 9:00PM, SAMI will be a part of the Tippecanoe Arts Federation, Gallery Walk. SAMI’s part in this event will be very special for two reasons, the first being an open house/grand opening celebration of our new recording studio located within the TAF facility at 638 North Street, Lafayette, IN 47901. This facility called, Rec Room Recording, was made possible through a grant from NCHS and was designed and constructed by local contractors in conjunction with a very dedicated group of SAMI members. The public can stop by and tour the facility, learn about the recording process and meet the SAMI folks that made it all happen. You can visit the website at: www.recroomrecording.com

 

That same evening, there will be music featuring SAMI members in conjunction with several of the 2020 Shirley Martin Scholarship Winners. The scholarship winners will kick things off at 6:00PM featuring Lauren Grace, Alicia Weise, Margot Hawthorne and Alec Swank. The featured SAMI artists for that night include: Justice Fuller, Frank Muffin-Acoustic, Scott Greeson, Vickie Maris and Lee Anna Atwell. There is plenty of room for social distancing and masks are required while in the TAF Building.

Check out the very cool lessons about PRO’s (professional rights organizations) and what they mean to songwriters as well as other great songwriting tips. Stay tuned on the social media channels for www.recroomrecording.com to see the videos. 

 

A special thank you to June IND for donating their proceeds for music sales in the month of August to SAMI. Chris and Emily are true servants to the artist community. Check out their music at: https://juneind.com/ and tune in on September 24^th @7:30pm to watch their livestream to benefit Food Finders  Juneindphilanthrocky

 

We will have our monthly SAMI Gathering via Zoom AND in person on Tuesday, September 15th.   We will meet on the front steps of TAF (638 North Street, Lafayette, IN 47901) at 7:30pm so bring a chair and a song to share.  If you are not ready for small groups, please join us at 7:30pm and our host will add you to the video meeting. If you don't have the link that was sent in the newsletter, contact secretary@samisong.com to get the meeting link and ID.

 

 

We have been meeting and sharing songs for a few months now, and I have to tell you, it is wonderful seeing our SAMI members again.  It is really easy to join via Zoom but we have now added the in-person option.  All are welcome in whichever way you are most comfortable.

Please give this a try, we'd love to see you again, and best of all, we can share some songs!

2020 Winners in the Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters

Congratulations to the 2020

FIRST PLACE WINNER:

 Abigail Bannon –

 "Thank God for the Gold and Blue"

1ST RUNNER-UP
Alicia Weise - "Ethereal"

2ND RUNNER-UP
Margot Hawthorne- "Same Game"

CO-WINNERS OF THE MIKE LANE HORIZON AWARD
John Waterworth- "GoodbyeRosey"

Jackie Marie Wiley- "Way Too Good at Frowning"

HONORABLE MENTIONS

 Alec Swank- "Sixteen"

Alice Lin- "Cold" 

Click this link to the Virtual Awards Ceremony with videos from our award winners!

Deadline has been EXTENDED to MAY 31, 2020

 

Check out our scholarship application for our 20th annual Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters.

The Shirley Martin Scholarship for Young Songwriters is open to

songwriters ages 14 through 19 that are a permanent resident of

the State of Indiana and live in any of these Indiana counties:

Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Howard, Jasper,

Montgomery, Newton, Pulaski, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Warren

or White.

MP3's of Original Songs (No Co-writes)

Cash Scholarships Awarded ($500 for First Place)

Additional Prizes Will be Awarded Based on Merit.

For more info visit:  www.samisong.com

The deadline has been extended due to the impact of the Covid 19 Virus. Deadline for Submission is now May 31, 2020

SAMI To Host Workshop
With Entertainment Attorney
Peter Strand

On January 21, 2020 at 7:30pm, The Songwriters Association of Mid-North Indiana (SAMI) will host world-renowned entertainment attorney, musician and songwriter, Peter Stand, UPSTAIRS at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation. This event will provide an open forum to ask questions related to entertainment, copyright and intellectual property law. If you have specific questions to pose to Peter, please let us know in advance so that those questions may be properly addressed.

Peter’s extensive career includes client contract negotiation for film, TV, recording, songwriting and publishing. A partner in the entertainment, media and intellectual law firm of Mendell Menkes LLC in Chicago, Peter represents content creators and providers in all facets of the entertainment industry. Peter has taught entertainment law and music law as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University School Of Law, Chicago Kent College of Law and Marquette University School of Law.

As an accomplished songwriter, entertainer and musician Peter and his band “Yipes” achieved national success on the Millennium/RCA label with recordings produced by Grammy Award winning producer, Jimmy Ienner. “Yipes” success yielded well deserved performance dates with acts such as Kanas, Foreigner, Cheap Trick and countless others. “Yipes” latest release was in 2018, which has resulted in continued touring opportunities and amazing reviews. For more information about Peter Strand: https://mandellmenkes.com/lawyers/peter-strand/

Come join SAMI and Peter for a very informative and entertaining evening. Suggested donation is $5 at the door with all proceeds going to the Shirley Martin Scholarship for young songwriters. Please RSVP by responding to this email to help us know how many people to expect.

December Holiday Party!

We are having our annual holiday gathering this Tuesday, December 17th. We will meet at 7:30 pm at TAF. We will kick off the first 15 minutes with our SAMI Featured Artist of the Month: Mike Byers.
 

You are encouraged to bring a finger food or beverage, and of course, a song to share (holiday themed or otherwise.) This will also be a time for the annual White Elephant Gift Exchange. This fun little activity involves wrapping up some kind of unwanted, possibly re-gifted, or ridiculously useless item, and playing a game of gift exchange. This item should be of the low-cost or no-cost variety. Each person wanting to participate should bring 1 wrapped item. Fun, food and song, this is gonna be fun, so bring a friend!

A Message From the President

Scott Greeson: 2019 SAMI President

For twenty seven years, SAMI has served the songwriting community through mentoring, education and commitment to each other. SAMI’s unequivocal success can largely be attributed to the unselfish and giving nature of its members. Members have learned that through community growth, comes personal growth. When you consider the areas of the United States that are leaders in the music industry, you will always find a solid group of people like SAMI, committed to the continuous improvement of the artistic community in which they exist. Do I believe that Lafayette could become the next Nashville, Asheville or Austin, with a world class music scene that people come to be a part? The answer is ‘yes!’ You might ask how that could happen; well my friends, the seeds have been planted. With an increasing number of quality venues, theaters, festivals and artists, we are primed for exponential growth.  

While I firmly believe that SAMI is on the cusp of exponential growth, I think it’s critical to never forget what has gotten us to this point as a group. Simply put, it is our practice to foster an environment at events, meetings and performances where people are safe, comfortable and welcome. These elements are the foundation of our organization without exception. 

 

With this said I am reaffirming our expectation that SAMI members and leaders are, at all times, to conduct themselves professionally and with respect towards each other.

• The SAMi organization will not accept discrimination of others at sponsored events or meetings.
• The SAMI organization will not accept harassment of any kind, by one member to another via email, phone, text or social media. Behaviors of this kind are strictly prohibited.
• An authenticated violation of these policies by any individual will result in disaffiliation from the SAMI organization. 

If you see or are concerned for someone, feel you are experiencing, or have witnessed this type of behavior within our organization, I would ask that you reach out to a SAMI leader immediately. 

 

Yes, these are tough topics to address, but if we are to see our full potential we must maintain a safe environment at all times. If you have questions please reach out to me.

 

Now let’s go write some songs!

Sincerely,

Scott Greeson
Co-Founder of SAMI, SAMI President