Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County (VAAAC), and organizers of the inaugural Annapolis Songwriters Festival are teaming up to create a songwriters competition that provides rising and established songwriters and performing artists with the opportunity to create a tourism theme song for possible use in a future VAAAC advertising and marketing campaign.
The Destination: Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Songwriters Competition was inspired by the Annapolis Songwriters Festival that will take place Thursday through Saturday, September 15 through 17, in Downtown Annapolis. Produced by Rams Head Presents, the event will feature fifty-five (55) national writers and more than thirty (30) local songwriters in free and paid performances at thirteen (13) locations throughout Annapolis.
VAAAC Executive Director Kristen Pironis will announce the Songwriters Competition launch tonight during the 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. kickoff of the Annapolis Songwriters Festival at MC3 in Annapolis. The free event is headlined by the national touring act Robert Randolph & Friends. Pironis says launching the competition on day one of the Songwriters Festival is perfect timing. “Dozens of creative, talented songwriters will be in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County enjoying all that the city and county have to offer. They can’t help but be inspired by what they see, hear, and experience. We believe the Destination: Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Songwriters Competition will motivate them to tell the story of our destination through song,” says Pironis.
In a similar way, Pironis believes locals and visitors will be so inspired by the performers they encounter that they’ll take a stab at songwriting themselves. “The contest will give them a tangible outlet for their first attempt at songwriting, and we can share their enthusiasm with a wider audience,” adds Pironis.
Rams Head Presents’ Director of Marketing, Laura Price, concurs. “We invite all artists to tap into their creativity and submit a song for consideration in the competition. The fact that they’ll be using Annapolis and Anne Arundel County as the backdrop opens a host of possibilities. They’ll be writing a love letter that paints a picture of why visitors choose to come here,” says Price. “At Rams Head Presents, music is our life and our livelihood, and we see the contest as a perfect way of spreading the love of music and love of our destination through songwriting,” adds Price.
There is no cost to enter the Destination: Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Songwriters Competition that kicks off on Thursday, September 15, and wraps up at 11:59 p.m. on November 30, 2022. The creator of the winning song will receive a $1,000 honorarium as well as complimentary accommodations and round-trip transportation to Annapolis to perform the selection before a live audience at VAAAC’s Annual Meeting and Tourism Industry Reception at the 26 West Street Visitors Center in Annapolis on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.
For additional information about the competition and to upload songs, aspiring and established songwriters within the United States are invited to visit the Destination: Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Songwriters Competition page on the VisitAnnapolis.org website to upload their songs.
