GUY CHAMBERS, DAVID STARK & OTHERS ON MBF CONTEST JURY

David Stark and Tony Moore with 2011 winner Dan Croll

Songwriter, producer and musician Guy Chambers will chair the jury at the annual Musicians Benevolent Fund Songwriting Awards Showcase Final on Wednesday 23rd May. Three-time Ivor Novello Award winner Paul Barry, hit writer Andy Hill (Celine Dion, Westlife, Cher etc) plus SongLink editor & publisher David Stark will join him on the panel. Previous winners of the £5,000 award include The Wombats and Hannah Rei. The finalists have been selected from universities and colleges all over the UK and will perform in front of a panel including some of the best songwriters in the business. They will compete for the £5,000 award, to be used for a creative songwriting project.

The finalists, who will each perform two songs, are:

James Brander from Leeds College of Music
Paul Hepworth from Colchester Institute
Laura James from Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts
Alex Johnstone from University of Salford
Martha Paton from Academy of Contemporary Music
Eddy Smith from Kingston University

They represent a diverse mix of genres from folk and pop to alternative rock. The showcase will also feature a performance from last year's winner, Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) graduate Dan Croll. Dan is using his award for the production of an EP. Other past winners include The Wombats and RnB singer Hannah Rei.

Hosting the evening is The Bedford's Tony Moore. With a diverse career of music-making that spans over two decades, Tony has recently become the regular presenter of a one hour live show called Lets Talk Music for the Maltese television station One TV. Tony's passionately musical past includes being keyboard player in Cutting Crew (I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight) through the mid 80's. He was responsible for creating the Kashmir Klub in 1997, a unique venue in central London that almost single-handedly led the singer/songwriter acoustic revolution in the UK. As well as The Bedford, Tony also runs the music at acoustic venue, The Regal Room, based in Hammersmith, London W6.

About the Musicians Benevolent Fund

For more than 90 years the Musicians Benevolent Fund has been supporting musicians of all ages and genres. We step in, providing crucial help and support to professionals when a crisis such as an accident or illness hits. We help in later life with the challenges that growing older can bring and also support talented emerging artists, playing our part in shaping a new generation of rising stars. Today, the help of the Musicians Benevolent Fund is needed more than ever. In 2011, we gave crisis support to 170 professional musicians, an increase in demand of 80% compared to 2010. 50% of those we supported in 2011 were aged under 50 and 75% under 65.

www.helpmusicians.org.uk