Big Brown Bag Songwriting Competition Finals Hosted by Jenny ''Juice'' Greer

Asheville's own cosmic Willy Wonka of music and more, multi media wonder, Jenny "Juice" Greer has brewed up The Big Brown Bag songwriters competition to keep up warm at MoDaddy's on Monday nights this fall. The series takes place at MoDaddy's on Biltmore Ave in Ashevillle and began on October 5th and the last weekly round is Monday Dec 7th with the Finals on Friday December 11th.

The rules to enter each week are: Each act is limited to three people on stage, no amplifiers, and two songs per act. Each week there is a rotating cast of celebrity judges consisting of local seasoned musicians and music industry professionals. This is in the spirit of fostering relationships amongst the different sectors in the music industry here in Asheville. The four judging criteria are lyrics (words, poetry, content), vocal performance, musical composition/ instrument playing, and stage presence (which includes crowd response).

For the Big Brown Bag Series Finals on Friday, December 11th, each weeks winners will be showcased. Three finalists will be chosen to perform a second round that evening from which the Big Brown Bag winner will be chosen by the celebrity judges. The audience will also be voting on the winner of the Audience Choice Award.

Live Video Streaming on the internet of this Big Brown Bag Series Final is provided by David Conner Jones at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/big-brown-bag-songwriting-competition-finals.

Past winners of the final have played at LAAFF 2007 and the Mountain Sports Fest 2008. This year, Jenny Juice has been collaborating with local restaurant/ bar Jack of the Wood to book some of the weekly winners in the pub throughout the winter and spring. This year the three finalists of the shootout that come back to play one song each. These three performers will go on WNCW's Local Color with Laura Blackley within in the next month so be on the lookout.

Weekly Winners So Far (and who you should expect to see at the Finals):
Valorie Miller
Ten Cent Poetry
Lyric
Taylor Martin
Shane Connerty
Dulci Ellenberger
kate McNally


Jenny Greer has been stirring the pot within the music and songwriting scene here in Asheville for many years. Not only is she the lead of Jen and Juice and a talented graphic designer for many local musicians and businesses; she has also helped to start FOAM (the Future of Asheville Music) which has hosted two sold out Music Video Asheville events at the Cinnabarre for the past couple years. Jenny also has been hosting the popular Circle for Song session that have taken place at LAAFF each year in the courtyards and in various venues across town. She has a knack of pulling together many fantastic songwriters to play with each other and really get to know each other, hence the formation of the Big Brown Bag Songwriting Series.

The idea for hosting the Big Brown Bag Series here in Asheville came to Jenny about three years ago. It stemmed from similar songwriting competitions that take place at Eddies Attic in Atlanta and the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. The idea of the Brown Bag is that everyone who performs puts a few dollars into the bag upon entry. This brown bag is also passed around the audience to throw in a bit of cash and it is then awarded to the winner at the end. For the Finals, the brown bag will be filled by only the people that come and partake in the crowd and not the performers. Then, at the end of the night, the one lucky winner keeps the brown bag with the cash.

Jenny is quick to point out that this is not about the money, though. This series is here to support original songs and songwriters through a listening room experience and to provide a network for the musicians to get to know one another. People are asked to keep their talking to a minimum during each performance so that everyone can really hear each person songs. 2009 Performers thus far have included many longtime Ashevillians, newcomers to the area, and everything in between across multiple genres of music and style.

If any of you witnessed this event in the past, you can testify, it was a beautiful thing. Last time it was held at the Root Bar the finals looked like a Walmart parking lot on black Friday! ;) Everyone that comes out should hope to hear some cool songs, be inspired, and support the the Asheville music scene.