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We can add another rising star to the firmament of local musicians.
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edmontonians Scott Robinson has taken first place in the International Songwriting Competition’s Lyrics Only category for his words to A Man Should Own Land.
The win is a first for Robinson, who records with a loose collective of local musicians called The Scot Free Sessions. The singer-songwriter has been a five-time finalist in the global songwriting contest, which receives upwards of 20,000 entries each year from more than 125 countries. It’s a prestigious award, with an impressive list of judges including Tom Waits, Nancy Wilson from Heart, Jack DeJohnette and Greg Johnson, VP of A&R at Columbia Records. A small sampling of previous winners includes Vance Joy, Fantastic Negrito, The Band Perry and Tenille Townes.
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“I was very pleased when I found out,” says the 61-year-old Robinson. “It’s been a very long time, and it’s nice to be recognized.”
Robinson wasn’t the only singer-songwriter in town to make an impression at the awards. Payge Owen and Candace Owen of Payge Owen received an honorable mention for the song Still in the Folk/Singer-songwriter category.
Robinson is in the midst of prepping his debut album, Edmonton Skyline, with an assist from guitarist-producer Bobby Cameron and musical help from such local notables as Dan Shinnan, Andrea House and Samantha King. He’s also roped in a number of big-name players from the United States for the albums’ first single, Ford Motel, which drops on May 20: drummer Kenny Aronoff, who has held down the beat for the likes of John Mellencamp and Bob Dylan , and bassist James LoMenzo of John Fogerty and Ozzy Osbourne fame. The full album will be released sometime in the fall of this year.
Among the prizes Robinson receives as part of his win is a YouTube Monetization campaign provided by TuneCore, a digital music promotion distribution campaign from Play MPE and one pair of headphones from Audeze.