Maine songwriter wins Granite State contest

This year’s Granite State Songwriting Contest produced some surprising results. The competition was geared toward promoting undiscovered musicians in New Hampshire, but the winner is actually more of a neighbor to the state. After listening to about 80 submissions from just over 30 artists, judges selected “At Home, With Home” by Sarah Cox, a longtime resident of Portland, Maine.

“It does seem counterproductive,” contest organizer Ron Noyes said of the final outcome. “I was hoping the winner would be from New Hampshire, because obviously it’s the Granite State contest.”

Portsmouth singer-songwriter Laurel Brauns said she subdued her skepticism about such competitions and entered the contest because she was encouraged by Noyes’ stated mission to expose local talent. Although she respects both Cox and Noyes, she was frustrated by the results. “I consider Ms. Cox a good friend and I’m a big fan of her music,” she wrote in an e-mail. “But she is from Maine. M-A-I-N-E. Maine.”

Noyes, front man for the Concord-based Ron Noyes Band, said monetary concerns led him to open up the contest to participants from outside the state. Although the contest is aimed at celebrating local musicians, it relied on some outside participation in order to stay afloat financially, he said.

“We didn’t solicit submissions outside the state, but if they wanted to submit they could, the reason being so we could at least break even with the cost of the contest,” Noyes said. Prizes awarded to the winner included $250 in cash and a variety of music-related bonuses, such as press kit designs, a day of recording at Rocking Horse Studios in Pittsfield and a slot onstage at the Sneakers and Speakers Charity Rock Fest in Concord (Cox could not make it to the concert). This amounts to a hefty bill for a relatively new event. Judges also had to be compensated for time spent evaluating submissions, and, in the end, the contest barely broke even.

Though five of the eight finalists that performed at the Stone Church showcase event were Granite State residents, they shared the spotlight with artists from as far away as New York and Ohio. Although the contest produced a number of high quality songs, Noyes agrees that some changes need to be made.

“Next year, I plan on making it a contest for New Hampshire only,” he said. “I’ll have to make sure enough entries come in to cover the cost or cut back on prizes, but my main goal was to provide a great package to the winner.”

Noyes stressed that this year’s contest offered a valuable experience for New Hampshire musicians, but Brauns feels the local music scene needs a bigger shot in the arm than what the contest provided. “The fact that someone from Maine won the Granite State Songwriting Competition speaks worlds of our own state’s cultural insecurity,” she wrote. “Few, if any, bands or artists have come out of New Hampshire to achieve national success in at least a decade, while, at the same time, easily a dozen have emerged from Maine and Vermont.”