Back in February, I entered a contest to be the featured local act at this year’s Lilith Fair in Nashville. I hadn’t thought much about it, since I was busy with FAWM and the voting process wouldn’t even start until May.

May came, and so did the BIGGEST flood in Nashville’s recent history, and Lilith Fair was the last thing on my mind…until last night. Something on Twitter caught my eye, “Top 20 Finalists Announced!”

Oh man. I hadn’t even asked for people to vote, I had forgotten all about it. I clicked the link to see where my name would fall, assuming it would be near the bottom of the 172 other Nashville contestants.

I didn’t even get past the 2nd page. There I was. #14.  I FLIPPED out. I actually felt hot and shaky.  Lilith Fair isn’t just another music festival to me.  From the moment of it’s birth in the late 90’s I’ve dreamed of playing it.

Sarah McLachlan isn’t just another artist to me either.  Through Lilith, she proved that more than one female artist could play the same bill with HUGE success. She rekindled my  love of the piano and inspired me to write my own music. She was one of the greatest influences over my early music career.

I know the voting process is tedious, but I have some of the BEST fans in the whole world and I have total faith in your support. You have been loyal album after album, project after project.

Currently I am in the semi-finals!

May 29 – May 30: Semi Finals: The top performer is chosen by fans during this time.

May 31: Contest ends and winner is chosen by OurStage and Lilith, with strong consideration of fan votes.

This is huge for me. PLEASE help me get on the Lilith Fair stage!

Step by step instructions follow:

To Vote on FaceBook:

1. Use This Link: Vote for Lilith Local Talent Search Nashville!
2. You’ll see four songs, listen to both drag them in the order your like them and click vote.
3. Keep doing it until you get a chance to vote for me.
4. Keep voting if you want!
5. Tell your friends, cross your fingers for me and come to Lilith Fair in Nashville!

To Vote Not on FaceBook:

1. Use This Link: Vote for Lilith Local Talent Search Nashville!
2. You’ll see two songs, listen to both and vote.
3. Keep doing it until you get a chance to vote for me.
4. Keep voting if you want!
5. Tell your friends, cross your fingers for me and come to Lilith Fair in Nashville!

Your Turn Again!

Now that all the songs are out, there’s something else that I need your feedback on. The next step with these 14 songs for FAWM is to decide which 4 I should take into the studio. That’s going to be decided by your votes!

The songs are here to listen to if you need a refresher, so have a listen and vote for the 4 you think I should record at studio quality. You can vote for 4 songs every 24 Hours. The poll will close Friday at Midnight. Poll is closed. Results to follow.

FAWM stands for February Album Writing Month. Can you write 14 songs in 28 days? What are you waiting for…inspiration?

Every January, these guys tell me they’re participating in FAWM and try to convince me to do the same. This year, I’m going to, with your help! Here’s how we’ll do it:

You Make Up a Good Song Title

It can be anything, but keeping it under 10 words will probably help.

Post It In The Comments

If you want to include suggestions, elaboration, whatever that’s fine. If you want to “second” someone else’s title, that’s OK too. Comments will close on January 31st at midnight because…

February 1st I’ll Pick My Faves

And start writing and recording songs based on submitted titles, but I won’t tell which titles I picked until…

March 1st I’ll Post Songs Here

for free download. I’m going to do something nice for the folks whose brilliant song titles get picked, but I don’t know what yet. I’m open to ideas (comment below) for that too.

Update: FAWM has begun, so I’m writing and recording songs for 28 days. Thanks for the great titles, stay tuned for the songs!