Thomas Alan Waits is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the folk scene during the 1970s, but his music since the 1980s has reflected the influence of such diverse genres as rock, country, Delta blues, opera, vaudeville, cabaret, funk, hip hop and experimental techniques verging on industrial music. Per The Wall Street Journal, Waits “has composed a body of work that’s at least comparable to any songwriter’s in pop today. A keen, sensitive and sympathetic chronicler of the adrift and downtrodden, Mr. Waits creates three-dimensional characters who, even in their confusion and despair, are capable of insight and startling points of view. Their stories are accompanied by music that’s unlike any other in pop history.”
James Keelaghan is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. Born in Calgary, Alberta, Keelaghan is now based in Perth, Ontario. Many of the lyrics in his songs display a concern about social problems and justice in society. Examples of such themes include "Kiri's Piano", about the internment of Japanese Canadians, and "October 70", about the FLQ crisis, inspired by events and figures in Canadian history. Some of his songs concern tragic historical events, such as "Fires of Calais," about the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation of Allied troops during World War II, and "Cold Missouri Waters," about the Mann Gulch fire of 1949. Keelaghan's lilting baritone voice, driving rhythm guitar, and a sense of scene and narrative result in his ability to bridge traditional folk music with roots revival and Celtic music.
David Francey is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. He is the recipient of three Juno Awards and three Canadian Folk Music Awards.
"Corona" is a protest song by American punk rock band Minutemen. It was included as the seventh song on the second side of their third studio album Double Nickels on the Dime (1984). The song was composed by lead singer and guitarist D. Boon and produced by Ethan James. Its minimalist composition harbors elements of neo-norteño and polka. The song derives its title from a brand of Mexican beer of the same name. Lyrically, "Corona" is a Latino-inspired protest song with politically-charged lines. The song later became famous as the main theme song for the MTV reality stunt show Jackass.
Saúl Alfonso Hernández Estrada, is a Mexican musician, writer, poet, songwriter and the lead singer of Jaguares and Caifanes, two prominent Mexican rock en español bands.
Tom Jans was an American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from San Jose, California. He is perhaps best known for his song "Loving Arms", which was recorded initially by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, and notably covered by Dobie Gray, Elvis Presley and Petula Clark.
Christopher James Ross is an Australian musician. He was the founding bass guitarist and keyboardist of hard rock band, Wolfmother, from 2000 to August 2008. His trademark stage antic is playing the keyboard at a slant or vertically. At the APRA Awards of 2007 Ross and bandmates, Myles Heskett and Andrew Stockdale, won the Songwriters of the Year category. After leaving Wolfmother with Heskett, the pair worked as Doom Buggy, then they formed Palace of Fire in 2009. In 2011 Ross and Heskett formed Good Heavens with Sarah Kelly (ex-theredsunband). Ross was formerly a digital designer and has three children.
Panda was a Mexican rock band formed in Monterrey, Nuevo León in 1996 as part of the musical movement known as Avanzada Regia. The last line-up consisted in singer José Madero, drummer Jorge Vásquez, lead guitarist/Backup vocals Arturo Arredondo and bassist Ricardo Treviño.
Roman Maksimovich Miroshnichenko is a Ukraine-born Russian jazz fusion multi-award winning guitarist, composer, producer, recording engineer and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades, including four The Independent Music Awards, 1st Prize of the USA Songwriting Competition, 1st Prize of the International Acoustic Music Awards, Gold medal of the Global Music Awards, World Entertainment Awards winner, Film Music Contest absolute winner, four Hollywood Music in Media Awards nominees and two Hollywood Independent Music Awards nominees. He has worked with musicians such as Steve Vai, Al Di Meola, Mike Stern, Marco Mendoza, Paul Wertico, Jennifer Batten, Heather Headley, Djivan Gasparyan, Dominique DiPiazza during his career. In 2008 - 2017 he toured regularly in a duo with fusion guitarist Larry Coryell.
Los Rabanes is a Latin Grammy winning ska rock fusion band from Chitré, Herrera, Panama. With a career spanning two decades and eight albums, they are considered pioneers in the region, and are the first band from Central America to win a Latin Grammy in the Best Rock Album Category.
The Glitter and Doom Tour was a concert tour by American rock musician Tom Waits from June–August 2008.
Mazgani is an Iranian-Portuguese singer-songwriter. He was born in Iran in 1974. In 1979, when the revolution took place in Iran, he and his family emigrated to Portugal.
Glitter and Doom Live is a live album by Tom Waits, by the ANTI- label on November 23, 2009. The songs were recorded during the Glitter and Doom Tour of the US and Europe in the summer of 2008.
The Mercy Now is a Canadian rock band from Toronto. The group's members include X-Shikasta frontman Russell Fernandes, Adam Burnett, David Viva and Lee Rogers. They formed in 2006 and have released several independent recordings including 2010's Ian Blurton-produced Self Control, which included the song "Hard Times", nominated as a finalist and receiving an honorable mention in the rock category in the International Songwriting Competition whose judges included Peter Gabriel and Tom Waits. Benjamin Bowles of Toronto's Now Magazine gave the record a four out of five star rating stating, "When you find yourself involuntarily banging your head 10 seconds into an album and the hard-rock fever doesn’t break until the end, that's a very good sign." Johnson Cummins of the Montreal Mirror stated, "If there is a better current rock band in Canada, I've yet to hear them."
King Charles is an English singer and songwriter.
Elis Paprika is an independent musician, singer, songwriter, and activist from Guadalajara, Mexico, active in Mexico's Rock scene since 2004. She has performed in important music venues such as Auditorio Nacional in México City (with Julieta Venegas in 2007, Belanova in 2008, and Juan Gabriel in 2009., and Hidden Agenda in Hong Kong, as well as performing in international music festivals like Vive Latino in México City, Playtime in Ulaanbaatar Mongolia, Meet in Beijing in China, and Altavoz in Medellín, Colombia. Elis Paprika has also performed internationally in North and South America, South East and East Asia, and Europe. She was named "Artist of the Month" on MTV Latin America in August 2006. Musicians in her band have varied throughout the years, and her current live and recording band is called The Black Pilgrims. Elis started her career in Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico.
Billy D and the Hoodoos are an American musical group from Portland, Oregon, United States.
Vincent Henry is an American saxophonist and guitarist who plays jazz and R&B.
Sophie Villy is a Georgian-Ukrainian singer-songwriter, composer and producer, she performs internationally in both English and Georgian. Villy has composed soundtracks for feature films from Georgia, US and France, one of which "Lost in Escapade" was selected for the Cannes Festival Short Film Palme d'Or competition in 2015 and won Best Original Music at Spain's Euro Film Festival. She has been reported by KEXP, KCRW in Los Angeles, BBC Radio 2 and London's The Guardian newspaper as a representative of Georgia's new wave in music. Periodicals in Kyiv also document Villy's role within domestic songwriting. At a time of increasing nationalist tensions, her multilingual songs are debated by the Ukrainian and Georgian media as a protest of people who are tired of politics and aspire for peace in their country.
The International Songwriting Competition (ISC), founded in 2002, is an annual songwriting contest for both amateur and professional songwriters. There is no physical event to attend as the competition is held online, and anyone in the world can enter. Each year the competition gives away over $150,000 USD in cash and prizes, including $25,000 USD in cash to the overall Grand Prize Winner. Additionally, ISC offers an opportunity for artists to have their songs heard by celebrity artists and music industry executives.
