NSAI Announces Winners Of 22nd Annual Song Contest

Walston was awarded $5,000 cash; a mentoring session with hit songwriter Rhett Akins; NSAI and CMT prize packs, including tickets to the CMT awards; and a one-year single-song publishing contract with Anthem Entertainment. She will also take part in the 30th anniversary Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival where she’ll perform the winning song at the Hard Rock Cafe Nashville tonight (March 29) to open the round featuring Jamie Floyd, Ty Herndon, Jake Hoot and Rachel Thibodeau.

Maltese won a mentoring session with hit songwriter Ali Tamposi; $2,500 cash; an NSAI prize pack, including a new acoustic guitar; and more.

In addition to the prize packages given, the nine song category runners-up will each receive a meeting with an industry professional and a one-year NSAI membership. The Lyric-Only category runner-up receives an event certificate to attend one of NSAI’s education events as well as a one-year NSAI membership.

The contest was presented by The Bluebird Cafe and CMT, with final judging held at Anthem Entertainment in Nashville. In total, the contest had nearly 2,500 entries and, after several rounds of judging, 22 songs placed in this year’s competition.

The judging panel featured Kelly Archer (professional songwriter), Fletcher Foster (President and CEO of F2 Entertainment Group), Leslie Fram (Senior Vice President, Music Strategy and Talent at CMT), Erika Wollam Nichols (COO and General Manager of The Bluebird Cafe), and Tim Wipperman (President of Publishing at Anthem Entertainment Nashville).

Full List of Winners:
Grand Prize Winner – “Tabs On You” – Tarrah Walston (Nashville, TN)
Lyric-Only Winner – “Ferris Wheels” – James Maltese (Princeton, NJ)
Lyric-Only Runner-up – “Where The Green Grass Glows” – Everton Rocca (Franklin, TN)

Song Category Runners-up
“Better On You” – Lauren Eliza (Nashville, TN)
“Comes To Light” – Andrew Marik (Memphis, TN)
“Cowboy Buddha” – Andrea Brodeur (Boston, MA)
“Hold That Thought” – Elysse Yulo (Nashville, TN)
“How Many Angels” – Sam Varga (Louisville, KY)
“Jingles In My Heart” – Sal Cosentino (Brooklyn, NY)
“John Denver” – Chris Nurthen (Memphis, TN)
“Make It A Habit” – Hayden Cain (Richmond, KY)
“The Devil’s A Liar” – Russell Dritz (Chappaqua, NY)

Honorable Mentions
“Beer Thirty” – Robert Starnes
“Broken Heartland” – Matt Jordan
“Buying Houses” – Sam Blasko
“Colors Of God” – Russ Parrish
“Seven Day Weekend” – Steven Sumners
“Starts With A Spark” – Jon Eborn
“Stealing Home” – Alli Carruth
“Till It Happens To You” – John Frank
“Why We Drive Trucks” – Ryan Price
“Wrong Turns Right” – Carin Fradin