My week’s suddenly going pretty well. Like anyone who writes songs, I occasionally enter song contests because…well, you never know, right? And songs are painfully subjective, so I’ve always shrugged whenever nothing’s come out of them. Last year, however, “Starlite Drive-In Saturday Night” was a finalist in the Americana category of the Great American Song Contest. I figured it might be worthwhile to enter a tune or two again this year.

And…my latest single, “See You On the Other Side” WON this year in the contest’s Singer/Songwriter category. I got notice last week that it was a finalist and received the official email yesterday. I could not be happier or grateful.

My cowriting pal John Cirillo and I wrote this back in the early days of the COVID19 pandemic (circa April 2020). Thinking it was too specific, it’s a song I almost didn’t record.

I was told from the president of the contest that they expectedly received a LOT of pandemic and sheltering-in-place songs, but this one bubbled to the top (out of nearly 400 entries in its category). His comment was, “your song approached the topic with humor and optimism, much like a John Prine song.” And that was EXACTLY the vibe we were going for, particularly since Prine is a hero of mine and we sadly lost him last year.

As way-cool icing on the cake, two songs from my “Hey Karma” CD also placed as this year: The title track, “Hey Karma,” (another John Cirillo co-write) in the Americana category and  “Little Angels Everywhere” in the Adult-Contemporary category. Why the heck I entered a song under “Adult-Contemporary” is beyond me, but hey, if it isn’t broke…

Color me grateful and happy. 😉