Welcome and thank you for your interest in our Sing The Wild U.P. songwriting competition! Sing The Wild UP is a video submission based songwriting competition sponsored by The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition/The Mining Action Group. Songs must be inspired by a love for the Upper Peninsula or make a statement about the importance of conserving our land’s natural beauty and resources. These songs may be written in protest to environmental issues and threats or may simply give a voice of appreciation for our land. This competition is open only to residents of The Upper Peninsula. Please view the links below for more information.
Contest Rules and Guidelines – these are important!
Submission Form – can’t go far without this one!
Pay Entry Fee – certainly can’t go far without this one, either!
Meet our Judges!
Kim Parlato and the Nerdfighters
The Marquette Senior High School Nerdfighters are a group of service-minded students inspired by the activism of brothers John and Hank Green, who – as the VlogBrothers on YouTube and as themselves in real life – have been speaking out for truth, justice, and decreasing world suck. Musicians, writers, artists, and overall good human beings, the MSHS Nerdfighters organize the MSHS food drive for local food pantries and celebrate the talents of their peers by hosting “Music in the Mornings” in the MSHS Library, which provides attendees with free coffee and inspired entertainment by school music groups. This year, the group also collected books for the Marquette-Alger Reading Council’s Gift of Reading program and is working toward establishing a mural proposal protocol to ensure the walls of MSHS become covered in student art. These Nerdfighters are advised by English teacher and Marquette musician Kim Parlato, who fancied herself a singer-songwriter in one of her (many) former lives before she dedicated herself to the education of the Upper Peninsula’s amazing young people.
Ben Weaver
Be outside – Protect the land and water – Sing while you do it. Songwriter/Poet Ben Weaver travels by bike crafting human powered musical expeditions. Recently Ben’s expeditions have taken him down the length of the Mississippi River, around Lake Superior, across the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska and throughout the Netherlands. Ben has released eight albums of original music and four books of poetry. Given the choice, he will side with the animals, the lakes, the streams and the trees.
Michael Waite
Michael Waite’s songwriting is thoughtful Americana without any glitz, both brutally and joyously honest. A classically-trained singer, he lives with his family in Michigan’s Huron Mountains and enjoys a repertoire of hundreds of songs ranging in style from Irish folk to bebop. His delivery of his own songs and original interpretations of others is influenced by his first musical exploration, the jazz trombone.
Prizes
First Prize:
The winning song will be performed live at the Ore Dock brewing Company on Friday, March 24th at the kickoff event to the Annual Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition Celebration! Then, you’ll get to record your winning song at Da Yoopers Studio! The top song and artist (or band) will get to work with local musicians/sound engineers Jesse DeCaire and Jim Bellmore of Da Yooper Studio in Ishpeming, Michigan. If the additional recording of songs is desired, a package price can be worked out at the time of recording. Mixing and a basic master of the winning song are included in the prize and a CD copy will be provided of the song at the end of the session. While a specific amount of recording/mixing time is not stated in the prize and will be very flexible and will depend on the availability of all participants, we ask that the scope of the recording be kept to a reasonable time frame (unless as stated above additional studio time was purchased).
Second Prize:
The second place song will be performed live at the Ore Dock Brewing Company on Friday, March 24th at the kickoff event to the Annual Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition Celebration! Second place winners will also receive a $200 cash prize.
Third Prize:
The third place song will be performed live at the Ore Dock Brewing Company on Friday, March 24th at the kickoff event to the Annual Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition Celebration and the winner will receive a gift card to Jim’s Music of $50.
Honorable Mention:
We will also celebrate an honorable mention for outstanding performance! This song will be performed live at the Ore Dock Brewing Company on Friday, March 24th at the kickoff event to the Annual Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition Celebration and the winner will receive a musician’s gift basket, all the goodies a budding musician needs!
Have Questions?
Contact Alexandra Maxwell at miningactiongroupUPEC@gmail.com or Rebecca Rucinski at rebeccalrucinski@gmail.com