John Lennon Songwriting Contest and Namm Present the Spin Doctors, Announce Winner

Godfrey was the Contest's 2001 Grand Prize Winner for his Folk Category song "Simple Man." Described as "an Americana performer with a hard urban twist," Godfrey's music appeals to Folk and Alt-Country music listeners, and has received airplay across the U.S. and Europe.

Originally from Brookline (MA), Godfrey was a mailman in the Boston area, and lived in southern California until recently moving to Nashville to work more closely with other writers. He tours regularly and has opened for Patty Loveless, Paul Thorn and many others, and attracted the attention of numerous stars – most notably Sean Penn, with whom he will appear in a film next year.

Yamaha Professional Audio & Combo Division, a JLSC supporter, co-sponsors the annual contest as well as the Summer NAMM event.

The winning song was selected from over 25,000 submissions. Grand Prize Winners are selected in each of 12 categories (rock, pop, electronic, jazz, gospel/inspirational, R&B, hip hop/rap, country, Latin, folk, children's and world music, plus a newly added lyrics category). The Maxell Song of the Year is then selected from the Grand Prize Winners in each of the 12 categories by a stellar Executive Committee consisting of such renowned songwriters as Elton John, Wyclef Jean, Black Eyed Peas, Carlos Santana, Carole Bayer Sager, Enrique Iglesias, Tim McGraw and The Spin Doctors.

One of the major focuses of the event was NAMM's efforts to support music in the schools. With school music programs being threatened across the country by budget cuts, NAMM and its network of partners – including the American Music Conference (AMC), the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus and Yamaha Corporation of America – used this event to spread the word about the proven benefits of making music and the many music-making resources offered by those groups (themusicedge.com and SupportMusic.com). The Spin Doctors, who served as ambassadors of music education for the evening, performed and lent their talent to the event, called "Prescription for Summer Fun." Lead singer Chris Barron said that one of the reasons he was there to show his support is because, "When I lost my voice and couldn't sing, songwriting sustained me."

Grand Prize winners who performed included children's winner Gail Lou accompanied by a group of kids, Hip-Hop winner Ta-Ta, World winner Kristi Krings, and R&B winners Isaac Underwood and Mark Penn, who had George Gandy perform their song.

Submissions are being accepted through September 28, 2004 for the 8th annual John Lennon Songwriting Contest. The Maxell Song of the Year winner for this year's Contest will be presented in July 2005 at Summer NAMM, for the third consecutive year.

For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Professional Audio & Combo Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.