Bio

The Georgia Music Industry Association thanks you for choosing our organization to participate in the “All For the Group” demo contest. I personally have been reading articles from both of you for quite a few years now and have heard outstanding demos done by Kim, so naturally, I got really excited when I read about the contest!

We are a busy group of writers/artists/musicians who are always checking out our next cowriter, out doing an in-the-round, or filling in on drums or some other instrument for someone for the night. Georgia has its own charm, but there’s something so magical about Nashville, and any time any of us gets a chance to get up there, we go! Going to Nashville and having a Nashville demo done is quite an experience. The Nashville sound is as smooth as it gets. Top notch all the way.

I am currently VP of our group, which is celebrating its 30th year. It originally started out as the Atlanta Songwriter’s Association and over the years has grown and expanded into welcoming anyone in the music business but with its main focus being on songwriting.

We also welcome all genres. We currently are in a rebuilding mode with new leadership, but the response has been awesome to the “change.” We currently have monthly workshops with song critiques, and we will be a part of some upcoming Fall festivals.
GMIA also offers networking opportunities, and we have recently added a Member Profile section on our website that can be of great benefit for our members.

Quite a few past directors and members have moved on to Nashville and other places and are doing quite well in the business, and we are also fortunate to have support of the ones who have stayed in the Atlanta area and are still heavily involved in the music field. The Lowery Group out of Atlanta has been a great supporter of GMIA through the years also.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT:

Committed to educating and serving those who desire to have a career in music, whether creative or technical, GMIA has a "special emphasis" on songwriting -- the foundation of the music industry.

I am excited to be a part of this group and think that some of the greatest talent on earth is right here in Georgia. We welcome this opportunity!

Sincerely,

Shelia Quattlebaum
GMIA, VP

Winner

Somer Willard's song, My Time to Shine was chosen as the winner of the second All For The Group contest. (Cowriters: Heather Elsberry & Lisa Torch)

Somer is a 14 year old singer/songwriter and a proud member of the Georgia Country & Gospel Music Association, "GCGMA." She took part in the GCGMA Music Pageant in Dalton, GA and was awarded "Most Memorable Performance" in the Junior Miss 12-15 Years category and was one of the youngest in her group at 12 years old. She has since moved on to many competitions and won many awards including the 2007 North American Country Music Association’s New Country "Female Vocalist of the Year"!   She also won the title of “Vocalist of the Year” again for 2008 on the state level and once again took part in the National competition in March 2008 where she won 3 more awards including CD of the Year and Most Promising Entertainer of the Year.

Somer will come to Nashville on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 for the recording session with Kim.

You can get more info on Somer at somerwillard.com or myspace.com/somersings.

Before & After

Somer and Heather came to Nashville on September 30, 2008 to record with Kim on My Time To Shine.

(The three ladies: Heather, Kim and Somer)

Runners-up Song Critiques

The runners-up were:

Rough demo of Tonight

Kim's critique of Tonight

Rough demo of Little Things

Kim's critique of Little Things

Kudos for Kim Copeland Productions

"Thank-you both so much for giving this amazing opportunity to songwriters and informing your reading audience about our groups. I am sure all of the others chosen were as excited as we were! We are so happy for Somer Willard and her cowriters. Somer is an amazing talent and has really only just started in the music business. I am sure we will all be hearing more from this young lady.

Please come to the Atlanta area and visit us sometimes. We would love to have you! - Shelia Quattlebaum"

"Thank you so much. Somer had so much fun and really enjoyed working with you. We will definitely keep in touch and hopefully work with you again soon. The song sounds great and is exactly what we were looking for. We would love to get the musicians' names as they were all awesome and so sweet to Somer. My mother had a blast too! - Heather"