Teenage songwriters
Kelley Hagood and Cori Harding received an honorable mention in the Grand Slam
Songwriting Contest sponsored by Music Connection Magazine and Sam Ash Music
Megastores for their song Beat
of Your Heart. The song
characterizes a young girl's ambivalence about a romantic relationship and a
yearning for one that is more substantive.
This accomplishment marks the first contest win for the two teenaged
songwriters.
Kelley, 17 and a
student at Broad Run High School, had written the chorus for the song in the
summer of 1999 when she lived in Annapolis, MD but had difficulty finding the
right versus to complement the chorus. Then
Hagood moved to Ashburn, VA in August 1999 where she met schoolmate Cori
Harding, 17, who had written a poem about a romantic relationship.
When Hagood read the poem she knew the poem’s two stanzas were the two
verses for the song. She used Harding’s lyrics and quickly composed the melody
for the song’s verses. Next,
Hagood wrote the then song’s bridge. “I
could just imagine the bridge being sung by a church choir, “ she said.
At the time Hagood was working with Dennis Balin, a talented
songwriter-producer, on a demonstration tape in his Columbia, MD recording
studio with members of her all teen female vocal group, By
Chanz. Balin contributed the song’s pre-chorus that added a
plaintive longing from the teen girl for her boyfriend to realize what they have
experienced and shared together.
When asked how she
became such an accomplished poet at such a young age, Harding responded,
“It’s just what I do.” Beat of Your Heart was the
first song this talented duo wrote and the first one they submitted to a
contest. They are still in a bit of
shock that their first composition has won then recognition.
These two songwriters clearly have a bright future.
Hagood recently penned
a second song entitled I
Can't Breathe, which is a ballad about the feelings of desperation a
teen girl has when the relationship with her boyfriend is going through those
inevitable ups and downs. By
Chanz will add two- and four-part harmonies to both of these songs to
improve their production value and ready them for a CD release in the summer of
2001.
The Grand Slam
Songwriting Contest was hosted online at Molly-Ann Leikin’s Songwriting
Consultants Limited web site www.songmd.com.
Ms Leikin was one of the contests judges. She
is an author and hit songwriter who has authored such books as How to Write a Hit Song
and How
to Make a Good Song a Hit Song. To
hear a sound clip of Beat
of Your Heart, go to the Songwriting Consultants Limited web site and
click on the song’s title.
By
Chanz will be performing both Beat
of Your Heart and I
Can’t Breathe live in concert at The
Planet Club, an alcohol and drug free teen night club in Chantilly, VA on
December 8th and 9th and on December 31st at
First Night Leesburg. The
Planet Club is located at 4600 Brookfield Corporate Drive near the
intersection of Route 28 (Sully Road) and Willard Road.
Look for details in the local papers for the exact times and location of
the By Chanz performance at First Night Leesburg.
To learn more about By
Chanz, go to their web site www.bychanz.com.