LISTEN TO THE WINNING SONGS AS YOU READ:
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• First place: “Scarlet Lies” by The Rare Occasions (Website/Bandcamp/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram)
• Second place: “Sweet Creole Queen” by Fate & the Family Band (Bandcamp/Facebook/YouTube)
• Third place: “Solid” by Sam Fischer (Website/Facebook/Twitter/Bandcamp/YouTube)
• Honorable Mention: “Desperately Apart” by Luke Niccoli (Website/Facebook)
• Honorable Mention: “Nice and Easy” by Last Day Kiss (Website/Facebook/YouTube/Bandcamp)
• Honorable Mention: “With Love, From Chicago” by Hadley Kennary (Bandcamp/Facebook)
• Honorable Mention: “Risk” by Zaid Tabani (Website/Bandcamp)
By Dylan Welsh, with contributions by Lisa Occhino
Photos by Caleb Hsu (click here to view the Facebook photo album)
The Berklee Groove’s annual “In the Groove” Songwriting Competition has quickly picked up steam since it started. 2013 marked the fourth anniversary of the event, and it was by far the biggest and best of them all. The three finalists – Fate & the Family Band, Sam Fischer, and The Rare Occasions – were selected by the Groove staff from a pool of 96 submissions (the most ever received) based on their ratings in four categories: music, lyrics, performance, and catchiness. Additionally, the staff awarded Honorable Mention prizes to Luke Niccoli, Last Day Kiss, Hadley Kennary, and Zaid Tabani for their outstanding submissions (which you can listen to in the SoundCloud player above!).
Fate & the Family Band performing “Sweet Creole Queen.”
The venue for the live final round has been upgraded every year to accommodate the growing size of the event, transitioning from small acoustic performances in the Student Activities lounge to last year’s full band performances at Guitar Center in Fenway. This year, the fans, family, and friends of the top three finalists made their way to The Red Room, Berklee’s premier live music venue, on the evening of November 7th to witness the college’s top songwriting talent battle it out live for the audience’s vote. The first 50 attendees were greeted at the door with Berklee Groove drawstring bags full of goodies from Neuro, JP Licks, Guitar Center, Universal Music, and of course, plenty of Groove merch. Everyone who came got to sip on free Neuro Sonic drinks throughout the night, and 11 lucky audience members won raffle prizes from The Groove, Universal Music, Neuro, AMC, and Guitar Art Prints.
For the first time ever, the competition was live streamed on Concert Window, allowing out-of-town folks to join the excitement and cast their votes online. This new component proved to be a game-changer: The Rare Occasions rallied up so much support from online viewers that they came from behind and ended up winning the first place prize package, which included a consultation with Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee John Oates (of Hall & Oates, the most successful duo in the history of recorded music), 10 hours of studio time generously donated by The Record Company, a featured interview on berkleegroove.com (check back next week to read it!), and more.
Sam Fischer performing “Solid.”
First on the bill was Fate & the Family Band, an excellent blues/rock outfit with Emma Hern (vocals), Zack Torres (vocals/guitar), and Kelly Eberly (vocals) making up the core of the group. The way Emma’s belted verses mixed in among Zack and Kelly’s thick harmonies and an upbeat rhythm section gave them a sound that’s reminiscent of a contemporary Fleetwood Mac – and could give Grace Potter a run for her money. Their performance of “Sweet Creole Queen” was well polished, and I would not hesitate to go see them play an entire set. Fate & the Family Band drew a large crowd to the venue, allowing them to take home the second place prize (which included a four-hour recording session at The Record Company and a spot in our December “Students of the Month” feature) at the end of the night.
Australian soul singer Sam Fischer was up next. His song, “Solid,” didn’t pull any punches, and he made a point to demonstrate his killer technique right from the first downbeat. The song’s title is a perfect description of its groove, which made for an ideal backdrop for Sam to really go for broke on some of his runs and growls. His great, wide vibrato was similar to Allen Stone’s vocal delivery. Sam and his band were awarded third place by the audience, which included an 11×14 print courtesy of Guitar Art Prints and a spot in our December “Students of the Month” feature.
The Rare Occasions won first place with “Scarlet Lies.”
The last band to perform – and the eventual first place winner – was The Rare Occasions. “Scarlet Lies,” their winning song, has a great, happy-go-lucky melody, cool keyboard lines, and a killer chorus hook. They gave off really great vibes and looked like they were having a blast, which is really what made their set stand out to me.
After the last of the audience prizes were raffled off, The Berklee Groove’s October “Artist of the Month,” William Gittens, kept the audience entertained while the votes were being counted. What started out as a fairly cookie-cutter R&B set quickly grew in power and passion, and was in full swing by the third or fourth song. I was impressed both by his inventive cover of Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind,” and the fact that Will himself had the chops to play guitar in his own band while still maintaining an awesome vocal performance. I felt like a number of his songs would hold up well in a self-accompanied acoustic setting, which I would love to see. All in all, his set was a great way to close out the night of jaw-dropping Berklee talent.
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Check back here next week to read our in-depth interview with The Rare Occasions!
