Carleton School of Music

Last night I had the opportunity to be a guest panelist at Carleton University's Singer-Songwriter Showcase where two dozen student musicians from the School for Studies in Art and Culture performed for a chance to play at the NAC.

The panel of judges included Juno-winning artist KellyLee Evans, Kim Lymburner of FOLKRUM, Jessa Runciman of CBC Radio One, Alka Sharma of Folk Music Ontario, and Chris White of the Ottawa Folk Festival and CKCU. Our job was to judge each artist on songwriting and performance of an original composition.

Hats off to all the performers - it's tough to walk onto a stage and have one quick chance to impress an audience - they all did a great job! And, although we had to vote for our favourite performers, the evening was more of a showcase than a competition. There was a real sense of camaraderie among all the musicians.

I can't share my votes (difficult as it was to choose only five) but I will update on the winners list once Carleton Music has announced them. Congrats to all!

Congratulations to all the performers from the singer-songwriter showcase! #carletonmusicpride pic.twitter.com/8FeS815Ozs

— Carleton Music (@CarletonMusic) March 7, 2014