Union Songs

Rebel Yelp Songwriter Award (2008)

From Kevin "Blarney" McCarthy editor of the Blarney Bulletin


The Blarney Bulletin/Blarney Podcast's popular Yelp Songwriter Award goes into it's fifth year in 2008 - after Victorian farmer Martin McKenna received the 2007 Rebel Yelp Songwriter Award with his entry The Ballad of Eureka.

In it, Martin summons up the spirit of the Eureka Rebellion against former Prime Minister John Howard's industrial relations laws - an issue at the forefront of political activity in Australia throughout 2007.

2007 was the first year the Award took on its "rebel" focus - which it retains in 2008

Previous winners of the Yelp Songwriters Award were:
2006: Bob McNeill - Norway Yawl
2005: Angie Browning (Higgins) - You're Not Here For Me
2004: Ade Kelly - Amber Shore

In the finest Australian Celtic tradition, the 2008 Rebel Yelp Songwriter Award will again provide a unique platform for songwriters to stand up and speak out on issues important to themselves and to other Australians! After all, it is not the responsibility of the songwriters to stomp on the cockroaches, but simply to turn on the kitchen light and watch the little critters scurry!

The Award will run over the entire year, with entries featured in each edition of the Blarney Bulletin, and broadcast on the Blarney Podcast. The winner will be announced in December 2008.

So songwriters, get your creative juices flowing and start turning on lights! If you have an original unpublished REBEL song that you want to share with the world, contact the Blarney Bulletin at < macca@blarneybulletin.com >

The 2008 winner will receive a 4-hour recording session at Pete Bird’s Yelp Studio and a year’s subscription to Australia’s leading folk & roots magazine, Trad & Now.

Pete Bird, and singer/songwriters Dennis O’Keeffe and Maria Forde will again monitor the songs that appear in the Blarney Bulletin / Blarney Podcast between January and November 2008, and announce the recipient of the 2008 Rebel Yelp Songwriter Award in the December edition.

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