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White Elephant (New York)

The New York run of (La MaMa E.T.C.In Association with Stepstone Media p r e s e n t s) White Elephant is fini!

Thank You!

Thanks to all who made it out to White Elephant.
We were so happy to share our new work & spend an evening with you.
Thanks for your spport & feedback.

White Elephant (Texas)

We will be bringing White Elephant to Hip Pocket Theatre in Fort Worth, TX this coming September.

"The elephant hauls himself from the mud" - Buddha


http://www.whiteelephantplay.com

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Setlist for John Dyer * @ Knitting Factory. New York, NY 12/3/08

* with Rima Fand (violin), Hilary Hawke (banjo, vocals, washboard), & Brian Geltner (drums)

New Harpoon

Born In Notes

Half-built Highway

All The Darling Little Specials

Ocean Of You

Center To Hold

Don't Get Sour On Us

Good Day

I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground (Bascom Lamar Lunsford)

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"A horse is a horse is a horse - of course, of course" - (Mr. Ed)

"A rose is a rose is a rose" - Gertrude Stein

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"This is not a pipe" - Rene Magritte

"These aren't the droids you're looking for" - Obi-Wan Kenobi

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Setlist for Hilary Hawke & Hot Owl @ Jalopy. Redhook - Brooklyn, NY 11/21/08

Sail Away Lady =================(Traditional)

Home =======================(Hilary Hawke)

So Lonesome I Could Cry ==========(Hank Williams)

Center To Hold =================(John Dyer)

Mother Night ==================(Hilary Hawke)

Effortless Lines Of The Butterfly ====(John Dyer)

I Know I'll Make It To Heaven Yet =====(Hilary Hawke)

I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground ====(Bascom Lamar Lunsford)

Don't Get Sour On Us ==============(John Dyer)

The Coo Coo Bird =================(Clarence Ashley)

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You'll Be With Yours (Song for Kevin Brock / 1971-2008) 11/5/08

................................................Count B. - mon ami
................................................I see you dancin' in the street
................................................I hear your yelp as you kick off the beat
................................................You got the feel and spread it

................................................& Now you're drummin' in the clouds
................................................Oh - & it's rainin' down
................................................Yeah, & we love it

................................................For in the rain, when next it drizzles
................................................& In the rain, when next it pours
................................................You'll be there drumming
................................................The saplings'll clap along
................................................You'll be there drumming
................................................& You'll be with yours

................................................& We will dance there with you
................................................Where there is no key or drum
................................................Where boats are made of water
................................................A kick drum made of sun

................................................You'll be with yours

................................................You'll be with yours

................................................You'll be with yours

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Alice in Scotland 10/27/08

Dear PapertrumpetEars, Hope you had a great summer & are enjoying the turning of the leaves. `Tis my favorite season indeed. Recently returned from a wonderful trip to Scotland & England. We performed our puppet + music adaptation of Carroll's Alice In Wonderland at the Edinburgh Fringe Fest to enthusiastic houses - some of whom yelled "BRAVO!". We played at the Bedlam Theatre which was an old Church in the center of town. We blew some fuses & I had an adventurous, just-hours-before-tech bus ride to a nearby town in search of a particular UK-built adaptor that would allow my effects pedals to run. I performed all the music & narration (one-man-band-style) alongside the students/ graduates of Texas Woman's University, with puppets, choreography, & set by Lake Simons. After two days of rehearsal & one day of tech, we performed six shows - each time setting up & striking with lightning speed & clockwork precision - as the jam packed festival schedule required. We had a great cast & crew.

While knocking about in Edinburgh we enjoyed some traditional music sessions (featuring flute, accordion, acoustic guitar, mandolin, & frame drum), the Belhaven & (of course) Guinness on tap, & the traditional "bangers & mash" at the Halfway House - an 18th Century pub. Among the festival highlights, I most enjoyed productions of "Midsummer Night's Dream" & Nola Rae's "Exit Napoleon - Pursued By Rabbits" (a solo clown show) by the world-famous "Footsbarn" circus. These productions were literally in a big tent on top of a hill which overlooked the North Sea. Quite the view at sunset (with the glistening lights of the city below) - I must say! Before we left town Lake found a rather beautiful blue hat in a shop where the whole thing was hand-dyed/ constructed in the basement below.

We then flew to London, where I got to visit with my brother & his family. I duly began a collaboration with my three-year-old Niece entitled "CHeeKY MONKeY!", in which she repeatedly jumped up & down yelling "CHEEKy MOnkEY! CHeeky MONKEY CHEEKY monkey!" while i tried my darndest to give the tune some semblance of structure. We took long walks - taking in the neighborhood of Hampstead, the woods of Heath (with ostriches nearby), The South Bank of the Thames & it's bridges, Abby Road, Buckingham Palace ("her majesty's a pretty nice girl... i wanna tell 'er that i love her a lot but i gotta get a belly full of..), more beer. George Inn (frequented by Shakespeare & Dickens)!, and the pie at Holly Bush Pub.

Finally we traveled by train from Paddington Station through the country (passing many a station whose name I've heard mentioned in the songs of the great Robyn Hitchcock) into Stroud & unwound at the Magic Cottage in nearby Chalford. Within minutes of our arrival we were laying gravel & helping to expose an old stone wall along the drive. It was green everywhere. There were sheep, butterflies, stars at night, & misty mornings. Magic indeed. And yes, i do believe the Magic Cottage birthed a new song. Also found, while wandering through Stroud, a new silver kazoo. I'll play it for you.

Hope to see you soon. Yours In Song, John

<<< Here are some Alice/ Festival reviews >>>

An Absolute Joy
"The hugely talented and elegantly top-hatted multi-instrumentalist John Dyer's subtle, stripped-down compositions are an absolute joy to listen to, and they seem especially well-suited to the more restrained, low-fi shadow puppetry sequences. In fact, it's easy to imagine a more laid-back version of this show, featuring Dyer, his music and the odd shadow puppet routine becoming a late-night Fringe sensation. - Roger Cox. The Scotsman. 8/9/08

***** Alice as it should be... 
"This is a superbly re-imagined Alice. Not only is it hilarious, but the design and concept of the production is truly original. The writers and creators here are very talented and were really thinking here. On top of that - it is beautifully performed. Alice is a very talented actress and she has the best Alice I've seen. To me, Alice isn't supposed to be dumb, she's supposed to be confused: in this production she captures it perfectly. The rest of the large cast does a superb job with all of the many puppets and brings a wonderful sense of energy to the stage. Special note has to be made to the composer and performer of the score. The music is sensational and the one man band performer is that rare combination of sensitive musician who also has a keen eye for the stage. Go see this show. It is worth it!" - Kevin Noe 8/7/08

***** Don't miss!
"This telling of Alice was charming, magical, and very out-of-the-box. Told with a mixture of acting (though only Alice ever spoke on stage), music and foley-work (written and performed by alterna-rock songwriter John Dyer), puppetry (both bunraku and the very underused shadow), and physical theatre, the production perfectly captured the essence of being down the rabbit hole. Any subsequent theatrical tellings will always be marred for me by the perfect concept of this one." - Lindsey Goodman, United States 8/4/08

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White Elephant World Premiere in New York 2009

White Elephant, the latest collaboration between puppeteer/ performing artist Lake Simons and composer/ lyricist John Dyer will be produced by New York's La MaMa E.T.C. - running April 24,25,26 & May 1,2,3. After enjoying developmental opportunities & work-in-progress showings at HERE Theatre, the Puppet LABAPALOOZA at St Ann's Warehouse, Blender Theatre at Gramercy, & a residency at Dixon Place, Dyer & Simons will finally present the full-length version of their White Elephant.

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Dyer Receives 5th Consecutive ASCAPlus Award (2008-2009)

Dyer is the recipient of five ASCAPlus Awards (2004 - 2009). The ASCAPlus Awards Program provides financial support & recognition to active writers in the early to mid stages of their careers and to writers whose main activity is outside of broadcast media. Awards are determined by a panel of distinguished music experts and are based on the activity generated by ASCAP members' catalogues with emphasis on recent performances.

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Singing Again (With The Cicadas) 7/25/08

"Just returned from TX where I heard many a cicada, visited with family & friends (which is always nice & grounding), and played my first full-on set in almost a year. It felt great. I had to take a little break (and have been busy with theatre projects as well as generally trying to figure how to stay afloat as an independent artist/ living in a crazy expensive city!). Anyway, at the tail end of my singing hiatus i had a thought: Not singing I learn what it is to sing. It's never far off. After a few weeks of rehearsing off & on before traveling south & then a full-blast/ open up the dusty box vocal warm up before the performance, I got up there - on the outdoor stage at Hip Pocket Theatre & sang....like 1 million songs. with lyric sheets standing by for only a few tunes, I sang & sang & sang.

Songs included: New Harpoon, Born in Notes, Elephant Waves - Over The Orange Coals (for Mary Louise), Join The Dance, Shybreeze, Ocean Of You, Two Can Play Too, Duster People Lock Of Hair, Initial Canoe, Oh, Better Off, Limbo Prolonged, Sew This, Down Window, All The Darling Little Specials, Oh Mouse, Fetch, Dry Lecture, Moist With Joy, Charades, Postcard, Yesterday's Here (Tom Waits), Mole in the Ground (Bascom Lamar Lunsford), Think About Your Troubles (Harry Nilsson), Coconut (HN), I Shall Be Released (Bob Dylan), Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Neil Young) - Between Us, Ancient Refrain, Mr Peabody & The Mermaid, & Play or Place - Paint It White. Instrumental/ guitar LOOPS: Molemo Valley & Reminiscent Of

I enjoyed the company of singer Beth Calahan (formerly Beth Van Tilburg of my old TX band Drama Tiki) on: Shyb, Everybody Know This Is Nowhere - Between Us, Charades, Moist With Joy, Initial Canoe, & Down Window. Lake Simons sang harmony parts on: Limbo Prolonged, Dry Lecture, Fetch, Better Off, T. Troubles, Oh, Coconut, I Shall Be Released, Join the Dance. Lake's uncle Eddie (aka Clem/ Austin based musician & all around swell guy) joined us on our zany cover of Nilsson's "Coconut" - complete with coco-clapping vocalizations & silly characters visiting in an array of octaves, as well as my blues tune "Born in Notes", the Mole song, & a rollicking New Harpoon. Finally, Eddie's violin & my harmonica did weaveith oh-so-smoothe like o'r Bobby D's "I Shall Be Released".

Thanks to all in Texas & in particular to Hip Pocket for a wonderful evening. All hail the evening breeze. Oh to be, even if for just an instant, a leaf in a tree.

Your amigo, John

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Amplifier Magazine Reviews Gostayplay

JOHN DYER GOSTAYPLAY INDEPENDENT

"If you dig the "old-school" of singer-songwriters who nimbly traversed genres but never lost their true identity and artistic vision - think Steve Goodman, Loudon Wainwright III, Leonard Cohen, Tim Buckley, and her holiness Joni Mitchell, then Gostayplay is your cup of meat. Dyer's wordplay, cinematic arrangements, and sinewy melodies are the stuff of a grand statement, yet the multi-instrumentalist (along with the help of some truly talented sidemen) pulls it off almost effortlessly. The goofy horn intro to "Shybreeze" evokes the mid-sixties quirkiness of the Kinks and Stones when no instrument or off-the-wall idea was considered out of bounds. A paean to Nick Drake ("Nick") cobbles together lines from the late great bard in a manner that would fit neatly on Bryter Layter. Could the Beatles have used the rambling shuffle "Center To Hold" in Yellow Submarine to chase away the Blue Meanies? Probably! Just when you think pop music has become formula - along comes Gostayplay. - Tom Semioli

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Better Than A Thousand...

"Better than a thousand hollow words Is one word that brings peace
Better than a thousand hollow verses Is one verse that brings peace

- Dhammapada/ The Sayings of the Buddha

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John Dyer Featured in Skope Magazine (US, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand)

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Dyer's "Hot Owl" receives an Honorable Mention (AAA/Americana) in 11th Annual Unisong International Song Contest, 2006-2007

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Dyer's "Gostayplay" is a Kweevak Album Of The Year nominee

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Fan Reviews at Itunes (Online Music Store)

AN EXTRAORDINARILY AWESOME PIECE ***** review by cloudpie
I have owned this music for two years now. It has held up to the test of time very well. It is a fanciful, highly layered, softly executed, musical journey into the world of this fine artist. Not only a musician, he has many successful forays into the world of painting and theatre as well. But this CD is, by far, his best work. The title cut, "Gostayplay" is rightly among the strongest, but my personal favorite is "Hot Owl". Try this out and spread the good word. This work will appeal to almost everyone.

THIS ARTIST IS COMING INTO HIS OWN ***** review by Hrenders
Grab more than "Nick" or "Hot Owl". This work won't disappoint. I'd loved the One Among album for years when I discovered that Dyer had even more tapped into his talent on Gostayplay. If I can't experience his theatre performance in NYC or be inspired by his painting and drawings online, I will still be able to hold on to the treasure of this album. What a living, breathing creature his talent is! It's melody is addictive and it's full potential has yet to be filled.

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"Nick (Song For Nick Drake)" Is Dyer's Most Popular Download

CD Baby handles digital distribution for all of Dyer's releases. Records show sales increasing in the Uk, with "Nick" as top seller.

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Dyer To Continue As President/ Man Of All Hats @ Papertrumpet Dot Ink Etc LTD And So Forth 1/1/08

"well it's official. i've just had a meeting with the board of directors & i've been reinstated/ will retain my position here within the papertrumpet organization - functioning in the role of singer - songwriter/ guitarist/ booking agent/ personal manager/ business manager/ road manager/ publicist/ publisher/ (lawyer - or not)/ stylist/ & therapist/ & tooth brusher. I hope to retain my position within this organization as "dreamer in residence" , but - no word on this yet. In the meantime, I figure I can dream away & they'll never know! (Beware the dream police). Mucho Amore, John of York

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HOLA! John Dyer In Argentina 8/24/07

On August 24th, John played his first show in South America at a club called Niceto in Buenos Aires. He played to a few hundred (!) curious onlookers. His set was short & explosive.
Pics by Oliver Dalzel to be posted at http://www.myspace.com/johndyermusic

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Set List for John DYer @ Knitting Factory, NYC 8/1/07

Mr. Peabody & the Mermaid

New Harpoon

Join the Dance

Initial Canoe

Born in Notes

Half Built Highway

All the Darling Little Specials

Ocean Of You

Paint it White

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Hot Owl - Honorable Mention/ THANKS! 7/13/06

"by the by .... i forgot to say thanks to everyone who voted (in the people's choice contest) for my song "Hot Owl" - a Finalist in last years International Songwriting Competition. In the end it received an Honorable Mention for Best Song/ Performance - John Dyer "Hot Owl". Anywho, thanks!

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Go Stay Play = Three Options For Any Given Moment

* * *

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"A What Owl ?! "Gostayplay" - Song by Song - reflections by John > > >

Airtime
A "don't give up/ never say die" song. It uses what I understand to be typical gospel chord changes - like C to F. The chorus lyric was inspired by the buddhist saying "when it's cold, open your shirt to the cold". In other words - lean into the sharp points. Not the first time for me to write on this theme. Similar sentiments are found on the album ONE AMONG's "Oh"...in which we are encouraged to "run at the boogie man". Sometimes there is no way around - only through. Use the force. Three cheers for Buddha. KATZ !  

Moving Fast
Probably the oldest song in the collection. Although it's a good bit different than it was. This song dates back to my Drama Tiki (1992-1998) days. One of my favorites to play live with the band. Drama Tiki's recorded version is much slower. Totally different feel. The 2002 model is more up-tempo/ poly rhythmic. It was written in 1995. It's about time. It's about gaps in our realities. There's a little hero worship in it too. "Like my guitar hero's fingers movin' pretty fast". That's funny to me because most of my guitar heroes don't really play fast. Sometimes they do. That's cool too. I'm not a big fan of air guitar. Although I have played a bit. They're not very expensive. Everyone should have an air guitar. Very light weight. Relatively easy to maintain. I really like all of the layering we did at the end of this track - with guitars & contrapuntal vocals. The idea was to hit the half time & then build into a nice little explosion.  

Nick (Song for Nick Drake)
The quoted lines (in the lyrics) are titles of Nick Drake songs. Nick's sister had said that he was "born with a skin too few". He died at the age of 26 from an overdose of prescribed antidepressant drugs. Its unknown whether it was intentional or accidental. By his bed lay the book "The Myth of Sisyphus" (you pushed the rock to top of hill). He had an elaborate, original and beautiful style of picking. It's said that he would sometimes go for drives until the car ran out of gas. Time has been good to his music. Nick's work is more appreciated now than it was in his lifetime. Sadly, he felt he had failed to reach his audience. I just wanted to tip my hat to Nick & thank him for all the songs he did leave behind - which will never die. I don't think his music would touch me so if he were born with a suit of armor.  

Shybreeze
Another older tune. From the Tiki days. Performed live but never recorded. Again, slower then & faster now. Although it's still gaining speed. I was curious to try writing something that started with "Oh to be..." & see what would come out. It seems like a lot of poems start with something like that. It's about time, seasons, & destiny. It's about waiting for the dam to break, the gates to open, the kettle to boil. It's about being shy / having a type B as opposed to a type A personality. It's about the cat waiting for the mouse. It's about the whisper of inspiration. It's about ambition & getting it on. I often equate the creative experience with sexual experiences. There are a lot of parallels.  

Ocean of You
Lift your skirt. You can read it figuratively or metaphorically. Written for Nancy. She moved to California. I was sitting in Texas, thinking about her out there...over there... way over there....by the ocean. Dreamt that we were wading in the ocean together. It's a love song. I like the little outro - with the harmonicas & the E-bows. The best harmonica stuff happens when you play like your talking. Really, like your saying something in your head & thinking about what you're saying - not what you're playing. I always thought that was what made John Coltrane & Elvin Jones such great players. I don't think either of them thought "I'm playing the horn" or "I'm playing the drums". More like "I am thunder" or "I am the ocean". In any case, I was dreaming.  

Surely It'll Shine Through
Sometimes you just get fed up with negativity. But it's also about sympathy, empathy, compassion, communication....how intertwined we all are. I played around with segueing into "It's A Small World After All" but couldn't quite make the leap.  

Two Can Play Too
At one time there was some wordplay in the lyric involving Toucans (the birds). The slide whistles were inspired by some cool arrangements (with whistles) on David Byrne's album "Uh Oh". As for the little whooper - the little plastic "wooo" thing - i call it the "red whooper" - well - i just had to get that in somewhere. Loved the arrangement that Kenny & Brian came up with for the bass & drums. It threw me off the first time I heard them play along. Two can play too. Again, it's about physical communication & the creative process at once. It's about playing - alone & together. Ok, it's about birds.  

Center to Hold
When I lived in Pittsboro, NC. I had a little pad surrounded by trees. One day they came in their electric cats & tore all the trees out. It's about being uprooted, letting go, casting your eye elsewhere, Change. Balance in the midst of imbalance. Celebrating imbalance. The munchkins on the chorus were A) provided by Willy Wonka or B) created in the studio - as the trick goes - by slowing down the tape - singing onto the tape - playing it back at normal speed. A good one to play on the porch. That's it - slap them knees !  

Hot Owl
A play on words. A cross between "It's hot out", "eat your heart out" & "night owl". I am a bit of a night owl. I've had my heart eaten out. It was written not long after I'd moved into my pad in Brooklyn. Looking out my window I saw a whole lot of bricks & on Grattan Street, a wall of tin with graffiti on it. A lot of the horns on the record were based on melodies that I would hum or scat & then transfer to or double up on the horns. But on this one Kenny (co-producer) said - to Alan (trombone) & Jeff (trumpet) - "Ok boys, like you're in New Orleans....&........rollin !" So the horns just kinda swim in & out of the vocal. One thing that changed in my writing when I moved to New York was that I started writing some vocals really low. I began singing in a lower register because I was self conscious about writing & rehearsing with people all around me - neighbors above, people outside on the street below. Same thing with "Two Can Play Too". But it does sound better to say "Hot Owl Baaaby" in a low voice as opposed to say...Mickey Mouse voice. When I was in college I had a teacher by the name of Thad. He taught sculpture. He had a big mustache & was very spirited. Come to think of it, he had a low voice. Anyway, he used to always walk around the room as we worked saying "Gotta love it". Cut to - "ya gotta love it when the sharks eat your hot owl - baby".  

Accord
inspired by Bolin Creek in Chapel Hill, NC. I used to run on the rocks along the creek there. It was a physical & mental exercise. It was a meditation with consequences. I found it was easy to leap from rock to rock without falling if I moved quickly & thought little. As soon as you think about what you're doing .... that you might fall ..... "where will the next rock be ?" ....... "where shall I put my foot ?" - you fall. It's also - again - if times are rough, things are gettin' rocky - go double time & run at it. run at the boogie man. Oh yes - there are Toucan birds in this one too. Sometimes, while in love, we loose track of time - which is almost always a good thing. Carry time away. In the "Dhamapada", the buddha says "Be quick to do good". There are two definitions for the word Bay in the dictionary. Either one will work. There's more than one definition for the word Babe as well. Babe Ruth is a candy bar and also a famous baseball player.  

Gostayplay
My father pointed out the similarities between this song's lyrics & a passage from "The Record of Rinzai" - another buddhist text. I'm not sure which came first. Either I'd seen the words or what I wrote just happened to key up with this preexisting text. The words found each other. It's one of them chicken & egg things. Don't stew too long. Go if you go. Stay if you stay. But either way, always - play. My friend Ruy (with the heavily existential name - if you spell it out - and make it a question) is a writer. We used to sit at Henry's Bistro in Chapel Hill. Ruy talked about the acid coursing through his veins & about the castle. The castle that was so hard to reach. My hunch was that - at least from time to time - he actually enjoyed his pain. You hold the castle. Get out of your way. Makes me think of that image in Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends" where the guy's head falls off & rolls away. After searching in vain for his head & at a bit of a loss, he sits down on what must be a rock to rest for a minute. Turns out he's sitting on his head. It's right there. Your sitting on it ! Get out of your way. From the Record of Rinzai: "Turn round and look into yourselves. An old master said: 'Yajnadatta thought he had lost his head. When he ceased from his frantic looking for it, he had nothing further to seek'".

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International Songwriting Competition 2005 Honorable Mention Best Song - Performance: John Dyer - "Hot Owl"

"THE songwriting competition to take note of." - Robbie Woliver, New York Times  

WHAT IS THE ISC?
The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) is an annual songwriting contest whose mission is to provide the opportunity for both aspiring and established songwriters to have their songs heard in a professional, international arena. ISC is designed to nurture the musical talent of songwriters on all levels, and promote excellence in the art of songwriting. Amateur and professional songwriters and musicians are invited to participate. ISC has the most prestigious panel of judges of all the songwriting contests in the world, offering exposure and the opportunity to have your songs heard by the most influential decision-makers in the music industry. ISC: http://www.songwritingcompetition.com

What is the Performance category?
This category is based not only on songwriting but also on overall performance. The criteria include vocal delivery, instrumentation, melody, arrangement, lyrics, creativity, and overall likeability. It will be judged on the overall performance and delivery of the song, as well as the songwriting. This category will be judged on the total package - the overall quality of the song and the performance of it. "Hot Owl" is one of 13 finalists in this category. ISC 2005 received almost 15,000 entries; the finalists represent 1.4% of the total number of entries.

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Independent Music Awards 2006 BEST ALBUM FINALIST (Folk/ Singer-Songwriter): John Dyer - "Gostayplay"

"The IMAs recognizes excellence in Music, Music Promotion, Packaging and Merch Design. The program's year-long marketing campaigns, partnerships and distribution alliances put IMA Winners & Finalists in front of millions of music fans and industry decision makers around the world.

Our goal continues to be to highlight the best music and graphic designs produced by and for indie artists. Once this is accomplished, the mission is to gain wider recognition for these musicians and designers among audiences who can help spread the word about these artists within the industry and with communities of fans.

The Independent Music Awards draws entries from artists throughout the world who create, record and market music without the benefit of access to major media channels, a restriction that places special demands and challenges on these fine artists' abilities. Among the program benefits IMA Winners receive is access to tools that can help them market, manage, promote and build their careers. Benefits: http://musiciansatlas.com/pages/awards.asp.

It's not just artists who benefit from this increased exposure, it's fans who are constantly searching for new sounds & new ideas."

Amen!

Judges: http://www.musiciansatlas.com/pages/judges.asp Winner & Finalists listed: http://www.musiciansatlas.com/pages/ima_finalists.asp

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"Top Ten Indie Release" (John Dyer Gostayplay) - Todd Mack, Off the Beat-n-Track    

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"Dyer's Best Work Yet...The Elusive Beauty of Suggestion" 

"Gostayplay is Dyer's best work yet. It has this amazingly personal "jukebox of memories" feeling that rolls out a carefree carpet of familiarity. Somehow it incorporates everything that is good about life fondly remembered - friends, faces, music, nights at summer carnivals...cozy sunlit Sunday afternoons in the den. It's the kind of album you can hear best out of the corner of your eye - look away and the elusive beauty of suggestion floats right by." - Charles Jones, Synergen  

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John Dyer <> Gostayplay
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An Old Soul Production
Recorded at Old Soul, Catskill, NY
Produced by Kenny Siegal & John Dyer
Engineered by Tom Schick
Mastered by Greg Calbi @ Sterling Sound
Featuring - voice, guitars, keys, trombone, trumpet, drums, bass, harmonica, bells & whistles...
<<<>>> Available now @ www.cdbaby.com/dyer3
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From There to Here - Up & Down the Hudson - The making of "GOSTAYPLAY"
...or...The Ballad of SHoe, Little Tity, Little Rocky Balboa, & Brian.
by John Dyer

Once Upon a time....err.....um... About 3 years ago I moved from Cedar Grove, North Carolina to Brooklyn, New York. I used to frequent the "old" Living Room (in Manhattan), a shoe-box-sized spot on the corner of Stanton & Allen, to listen to music & see what was happening. It was always good & there was no cover. I happened to be there one night when Blueberry (aka Gwen - a friend from TX) was playing. On bass was this guy Kenny Siegal who I recognized. I had met him & seen his group Johnny Society play in North Carolina & had heard about Kenny' s work with other artists at his studio upstate. I also remembered digging/ being very impressed by Johnny Society when I first heard them down south.

Here I am in NY, thinking about cutting some new demos/ laying down some tracks.

After Blueberry's set Kenny walks by. I grab his arm & reintroduce myself. I mention that I'd like to do some recording & ask if he'd be interested in helping - maybe at his studio upstate. He tells me to send him some of my songs to check out. I'd come to find that Kenny is someone who picks his projects/ collaborations very carefully.

So, over the course of the next few weeks, I send him like 4 or 5 90 minute demo tapes. He likes a lot of the songs, thinks I have a great voice & says he'd like to produce a record with me.

We begin song selection for the record & a few of the songs he picks (Hunyacutusup/ Golden Elise Gardening) happen to be from a body of material that i'd tried unsuccessfully to lay down in North Carolina. So i said well - those songs go with the other songs in that body of (Phantom Fire) songs & if we're gonna record ANY of them then we should do ALL of them - which is a different record. Kenny says - lets make the record that we set out to make. So i tried to split the difference & throw down the Phantom songs quickly - solo & acoustic - as i had down in NC - and get them out of the way - so to speak. Then he jumps on one & puts some cool overdubs on "Upon These Swords" & all of the sudden it's a whole new ball game. The lid had been thrown off. So the two of us lean into it & between July & Nov. of 2002 we lay down Phantom Fire http://www.cdbaby.com/dyer2. - recorded & mixed at "Old Soul" & mastered by Fred Kevorkian back down in the big city (aka the Big Kitty).

Twelve hours after that mastering session we begin work on the record that we'd initially set out to make. We'd agreed to use Kenny's A team - so to speak - for this one - so it's gonna be me on voice, guitar & harmonica with Kenny on bass & Johnny Society's Brian Geltner on drums & percussion. Having narrowed our list & selected the songs we spend a few days in Brian's little apartment in D.U.M.B.O (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass - in Brooklyn) rehearsing & working up arrangements.

On November 24th 2002 - we head upstate to Catskill, New York & convene at Old Soul. It's a big brick house. There's snow on the ground. Working with Johnny Society's long time friend & engineer Tom Schick (aka Little Tity) we lay down basic tracks (over the next four days) for the new record.

We all split.

From Dec 4 to Jan 20 I split my time listening to rough mixes at home in Brooklyn & traveling up & down the Hudson River by train - to & from Old Soul where Kenny (aka Shoe) & I (aka Bill/ Little Rocky Balboa) overdub / further shape / flesh out the basic tracks with guitars, keyboards, bells, & whistles. Old Soul is a historic house filled with beautiful instruments. We even put a mellotron (think Alfred Hitchcock or the intro to the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields") on one tune -" Nick (Song for Nick Drake)". Old Soul is also haunted - & that's where Bill comes in - but that's another story. I'll tell you that one over a bowl of marshmallows someday. So up & down the Hudson I go... & the recording grows & grows.

Other musical guests include Lily & Wren (aka "the girls") singing heavenly backing vocals on the opening "Airtime" & two fabulous horn players - Jeff Hermanson (trumpet) & Alan Ferber (trombone & bass trombone) on "Moving Fast", "Shybreeze", "Surely It'll Shine Through", & "Hot Owl."

Then Shoe, Little Tity, & Little Rocky Balboa reconvene at Old Soul to mix / listen/ remix - over a handful of days.

We all split. Back down the Hudson....

We need a remix or two. Back up the Hudson.

We remix. Is that mix better or is this one ? We split. Back down the Hudson.

I wrestle with the sequence.....wrestle......tweek.......wrestle......(3 bells: !!!)

Then, to top it all off we get it mastered back in the Big Kity at Sterling Sound by a one Mr. Greg Calbi. Greg has worked with some of my favorite artists on some of my favorite recordings ever - Paul Simon's Graceland, REM's Murmur, Television's Marquee Moon, numerous Talking Heads & David Byrne records, Patti Smith, John Lennon, & on & on. He recently remastered the Bob Dylan catalogue. Bob who ? I'm thinking "yeah - ok - that'll work - whatever - I guess this guy'll do" (read: quietly beaming). Greg was totally cool...down to earth...enthusiastic & generous.

THEN i made a new painting - just for the cover. I drew & I painted & I drew & I painted & I drew & I scraped & I painted & I sanded & I looked & I drew & I painted & I sanded & I drew.

THEN the new image was photographed by Michael Bodycomb - a totally big time pro rootin' -tootin' -art-shootin' New-Tex-Yorkan dude.

THEN i worked with my friend & designer Jeff Breazeale- who's Matchbox Studio did the beautiful design work.

THEN i had the whole shebang duplicated at Disk Makers....who screwed up the print job TWICE & then got it right (third time's a charm).

THEN i said good day to the UPS guy, signed off & carried 'em all up the stairs....shipped some copies off to Cd Baby..... & so....after some 2 (+) years in the making.....

* GOSTAYPLAY *

All I can say is - if you like my music at all you'll love this one. We had a great time & a great team working together on it & I'm really proud of it. It's been a long haul & great effort. I hope that it'll find a little spot in your world. With all the "laying down" that went on - the only thing left is for you to pick it up (if you haven't already)...and enjoy!

JOHN DYER <> GOSTAYPLAY

Airtime

Moving Fast

Nick (Song for Nick Drake)

Shybreeze

Ocean of You

Surely It'll Shine Through

Two Can Play Too

Center to Hold

Hot Owl

Accord

Gostayplay

available now @ http://www.cdbaby.com/dyer3

Cheers & Thanks, John (Brooklyn, NY Oct 2005)

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KATZ!