Click here to learn about this year's Construction Zone songwriters!!!!
To apply to perform at Steel Bridge...
• Please sign up on this website by creating a new user account (if you haven't already), and
• Send an email with the subject heading "OFFER TO PLAY" to: steelbridgebooking@yahoo.com
PLEASE DON'T SEND MUSIC OR PHOTO ATTACHMENTS!! Just include links to your MySpace page and/or EPK so we can visit it online.
We need to confirm artists no later than one month prior to the event.
Hey SBSF2 and SBSF3 2008 CONSTRUCTION ZONE WRITERS please click here for a quick update.
FOR INVITED SBSF4 CONSTRUCTION ZONE SONGWRITERS:
The Construction Zone - June 8-15, 2008
This is an event specifically for songwriters: The Construction Zone. Participation is by invitation only. It will involve a week of collaborative songwriting and performing with a purpose in mind.
We'll begin Sunday, June 8th with a meet-and-greet dinner for all writers. Out-of-towners will stay at the Holiday Motel, located by the bridge in lovely downtown Sturgeon Bay. We've booked all 18 rooms for the event. The motel will be available Sunday afternoon, June 8th for early arrivals. Accommodations will be free of charge for all invited guests.
Monday, June 9th, will begin three intensive days of songwriting. Collaboration will be encouraged, and facilitated if requested. Writers will be encouraged (but not required) to write songs loosely based around the metaphor of a steel bridge.
The Bridge-with-a-capital-B has long been a potent metaphor in popular song. The Steel Bridge is a great symbol of strength and of joining together, the melding of diverse cultures, divergent views, the old and the new, the words and the music, the tangible and the intangible…
The word “bridge” doesn’t need to be used in expressing thoughts and emotions inspired by the presence of a steel span. The connection need not be conscious. It just happens..
Writing will take place in motel rooms, in coffee shops around town, by the waterside, any place writers want to go for focus, stimulation, or solitude. There'll be 2 full recording studios operating 24/7 with full-time engineers for documenting songs.
We'll release a "Best of 2008" CD in time for SBSF5 in June of 2009.
Wednesday night at dusk, there'll be a round robin for all attendees, where writers can play for each other the songs they've written.
Thursday night will begin a 3-day series of concerts in various bars and other venues around town, all within walking distance of the motel, where attendees and some local/regional bands will play longer sets. These shows will be open to the public.
SB4 will climax Saturday afternoon/early evening with “Take It To The Bridge!” This concert by the waterside drew roughly 5,000 people last year. A set of songs written in The Construction Zone will be performed on the main stage by the writers. Every writer in attendance will be encouraged to get on stage for at least a song.
This event subsists on voluntary donations of cash and labor. Each year, people’s energy and contributions surpass all our expectations. The overwhelming success can be attributed to the massive generosity of Jackson Browne, good weather, and the ass-busting enthusiasm of many locals.
Along with the Bridge (please explore this website for more information on our ongoing struggle to save her), music-and-song is the heart and soul of Steel Bridge. In appreciation for this, every songwriter is an honored guest and will be treated as such. Each was invited for the special gift they'll bring to the mix. Unlike some other songwriting events, there are no attendance fees for “aspiring” writers. Food, drink, and accommodations are free.
And you retain full ownership of your contribution to songs written at the event. If your song is chosen to appear on the “Best of 2008” CD, you contribute only your performance as an artist (we can’t pay session fees) but you retain full ownership of your share of the song. (Contributing your mechanical royalties to the Steel Bridge Fund would be appreciated, but entirely optional!)
Local volunteers will provide free continental breakfast (8am ‘til NOON), light lunch, and evening dinner for all three writing days. Other basic needs will be within walking distance, but a local shuttle will be provided for special consideration, emergencies and such.
SBSF might be able to help with other transportation, but due to the volunteer nature of the event, attendees are responsible for their own airfares, bus tickets, etc. to and from Sturgeon Bay. Last year, even the headliner (thank you Jackson!) paid for his own plane ticket. If you are flying in to Green Bay, however, please send us your flight info and we’ll arrange to pick you up!
I think it’ll be a lot of fun. And some great songs will come out of it. And you’ll be helping a small community.
Not a bad way to spend a few days..
melaniejane is currently acting as our past and present Construction Zone liaison.
You can email her with any questions, comments, concerns at:
mj@steelbridgesongfest.org
Feel free to call 920 495 3779 with any questions or email me at: steelbridgebooking@yahoo.com
Thanks for your interest in attending!
-pat mAcdonald, Steel Bridge SongFest host and co-founder