what I missed last week”¦

…was giving you a good explanation of the songwriting contest.  It hit me somewhere in between my Thursday night StageIt concert, the Friday night concert with findingBethel, and this recap blog post that I had not done an adequate job of giving you the FULL details of this songwriting contest I am hosting.

So, I would like to start again. This time by first introducing the person who could put YOUR song in his upcoming movie…John.

Everybody – this is John (& his lovely wife). I had the pleasure of meeting him at the DreamYear Weekend (Nashville) in January of this year. Felic and I were running a few minutes late to the conference, and when arrived we were without a place to sit. John smiled knowingly and invited us to be a part of his table. We liked him immediately. Later, we heard  his life story and his dream, and we KNEW we liked him. Now I want to tell you his story because I’m confident you will want to be a part of it.

When John was eleven years old, his dad committed suicide.  Little did he know the incredible impact that act would have on him 30 years later. Because he did not having the reassurance and affirmation that he craved from a father, John attempted to fill this void in unhealthy ways for many years.  As a result, John became a social alcoholic, and like a lot of men, he believed the lie that your value as a man is based on how much money you make.  He worked extremely hard to create a persona that was totally false.  It was only when John finally realized that he had some unresolved issues (a Father Wound) as a result of his dad’s death and life-long absence that he totally surrendered to God and became a new man.

Now John is on a mission. He’s currently making a film that will be shown in hundreds of churches across the nation. Some of his goals for this film are to:

• awaken fathers to a real understanding of the significant impact their words and actions they have on their children.

• help men become better fathers.

• capture the critical and powerful impact of fathers in a documentary so compelling that it ignites intentional and purposeful actions by the men who watch it.

The only dilemma is that John needs music for his film. I happened to be telling him about our [5in5] challenge when we met up again at STORY Chicago. He asked me if I thought my songwriter friends would want to help him out and have a chance for their music to be placed in a film that will go around the country. I said that we would definitely be up for it.

So, if this interests you, here are the details for the songwriting contest “accompanying” John’s film:

First – you must leave a comment on the blog to let us know you’re in. Plus it will help you commit to doing this. Come on and join, it’s going to be great!

Second – go and write that song!! It could be a simple instrumental, a broadway-sounding tune, or whatever genre of music you would like to attempt. Maybe just dig out a song you’ve already written, (one of your songs from [5in5]?) just apply the polish, and….

Third – contact me to let me know your song is submitted and where it’s submitted (facebook, youtube, vimeo, soundcloud, your blog, etc). The contest officially closes November 18th, 2011 – 6pm (CST). 

Bonus Step – sign up for my newsletter, using the form below, to be contacted when the winner is announced. By doing so you’ll receive a couple free songs from me along with occasional updates and music tips.

We will begin listening to all of the music and within the next next few weeks we will post the winner here on the blog. I cannot wait to hear what you create so hurry because there are only 12 days remaining!

DJ