2022 RESULTS

The results of the 27th Annual USA Songwriting Competition are out. Here are the list of winners and finalists. Congratulations to our winners and finalists! We would like thank our entrants, judges and sponsors for your support.

Also, entries are now accepted for the 28th Annual USA Songwriting Competition (2023), click here to enter >>

Here are the winners of the 27th USA Songwriting Competition (2022):

Overall Grand Prize

"The Line" by Sav Buist; Nashville, TN

Overall 2nd Prize
"Dance In Heaven" by Kevin Stroud & Marc Alan Barnette; Wichita Falls, TX

Overall 3rd Prize
"Sleepless Summer" by Matty Gottesman; Los Angeles, CA





Category Prize Winners (First Prize in each of the 15 categories)

DANCE/ELECTRONICA
"We're Lucid Dreaming!" by Jon GK; Los Angeles, CA

FOLK
"The Line" by Sav Buist; Nashville, TN

ROCK/ALTERNATIVE
"HIGH3R" by Trent-Jean Michel; AUSTRALIA

LYRICS ONLY
"Cheap as a Kiss" by Michael R. J. Roth & Eric Ramsey; Panama City, FL

CHILDREN
"You'll Be In It" by Mike McCaffrey, Jill Galt & James Kocian; CANADA

NOVELTY/COMEDY
"Your Favorite Christmas Song" by Mark Stepakoff; Boston, MA

HIP-HOP/RAP
"Friends with Benefits" by Winston Sailsman, DJ Slimer feat. CdaDon & Trizzy the God; Vernon, VT

LATIN
"Con Su Body" by Adelfy Mercedes & AVO; San Antonio, TX

R&B
"Toxic Love Story" by Sapphire Hart; New York, NY

INSTRUMENTAL
"Bridge ahead" by Gregory Ayriyan; Johnston, RI

JAZZ
"City Living" by Michael Sackler-Berner & Jeff Franzel; New York, NY

GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL
"Dance In Heaven" by Kevin Stroud & Marc Alan Barnette; Wichita Falls, TX

WORLD
"Allah Leno" by Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita; San Francisco, CA

COUNTRY
"Fun To Drink With" by Craig Moritz, Deric Ruttan & Trin Bradshaw; CANADA

POP
"Sleepless Summer" by Matty Gottesman; Los Angeles, CA


HONORABLE MENTION WINNERS
"Body of Water" by Helle Hansen; DENMARK
"ohno" by Shaan Kambli, UNITED KINGDOM
"One Star In The Sky" by Veselin Tasev; BULGARIA
"Hydrogen and Helium" by Megan Slankard; San Francisco, CA
"Kiss Me Outta My Right Mind" by Emily Hurd; Chicago, IL
"Dream Big" by Nakia Reynoso & Bleu aka James McAuley II; Austin, TX
"Once More Down The Rabbit Hole" by Richard Kolodziej & wht.rbbt.obj; Chicago, IL
"Love Look What You've Done" by Tedd Swormstedt, Patrick Dodge & Victoria Banks; Cincinnati, OH
"Tequila Summer" by Matt Burke & Kevan Kirk; Nashville, TN
"Lies" by Allegra Muilenburg; Palm Beach Gardens, FL
"me+u=notme" by Valerie Casey, Jonathan Plummer & Sophie Truax; Boston, MA
"I Go Crazy" by Jaime Jaworecki, Nick Schwarz & Gabe Simon; Arlington Heights, IL
"If I Were A Pony" by Leonard I Eckhaus & Keith Thompson; Las Vegas, NV
"A Woman That's As Shallow As Me" by Jack Haynes; Oxford, MS
"Grinders and Hustlers" by Alvin Giles & Giles; Orlando, FL
"Como voy a Olvidarte" by Agustina Canales; Boston, MA
"Old Skool Kinda Love" by WisdomNLove; Mount Vernon, NY
"OMG variation 4" by Henrik Andersen; DENMARK
"Unbreakable" by Chadwick Johnson & Kalani Queypo; Las Vegas, NV
"Khokhoba" by Manuel Garcia, NIN3S feat Toshi; Colchester, CT

The finalists of the 27th USA Songwriting Competition (2022):

DANCE/ELECTRONICA
"Never Leave" by Arlene Mordeno
"We're Lucid Dreaming!" by Jon GK
"Awe of You" by Winifried Amoaku, Lonny & Genpop
"Numb" by Demarcus Jackson
"Valentine In A Pint" by Shaan Kambli
"ohno" by Shaan Kambli
"Fluctuating" by Hanna Olah
"Pause" by Andrea Waldmann & Canta Boddenberg
"One Star In The Sky" by Veselin Tasev
"Dear Diamonds" by Amy Benedict & Ian Osborne

FOLK
"Home You Go" by Tret Fure
"The Painter" by Dave Nachmanoff
"Wildfire" by Christie Lenee
"Hydrogen and Helium" by Megan Slankard
"Landfall" byJames Kahn
"Kiss Me Outta My Right Mind" by Emily Hurd
"Our Words Will Be Louder" by Moksha Sommer & HuDost (Jemal Wade Hines, Dan Haseltine, Christie Lenee)
"Where's That Cold Wind Come From" by Mark Epstein & The Badly Bent
"The Line" by Sav Buist
"Guest of Honor" by Patrick Ferris & The Americans

ROCK/ALTERNATIVE
"HIGH3R" by Trent-Jean Michel
"Raw" by Michael Sackler-Berner, Liberty DeVitto, Andy Attanasio & Marc
"Jackpot" by Noam Weinstein
"Salvation" by Trevor Kidd & Josh Jones
"Twisted" by Tyler Simmons & Matt Everett
"Appetite for Freedom" by Megan Morrison & Tony Alarcon
"Methadone" by Brian Reidinger & QUEtheSUN
"Dream Big" by Nakia Reynoso & Bleu aka James McAuley II
"Gasoline" by Austin Jones & Freelance Stepmom
"Once More Down The Rabbit Hole" by Richard Kolodziej & wht.rbbt.obj

LYRICS ONLY
"Optimist" by Ava Della Pietra
"I Go Crazy" by Jaime Jaworecki, Nick Schwarz & Gabe Simon
"Consider Me Confused" by Alissa Dawson & Paul Sikes
"Icarus" by Chloe Borsody
"Cheap as a Kiss" by Michael R. J. Roth & Eric Ramsey
"Big Blue Dragon on the Wall" by Bill Jenkins & Trystan Matthews
"Anchors Aweigh" by Helle Hansen
"Long Black Wall" by James Kachulis
"Hooked" by Tom Dixon & Billy Dawson
"Trust A Face" by Laura Davidson and Nexeri
"The Plane Ticket" by Kevin Stroud & Brittany Stamm

CHILDREN
"Texas Campfire Song" by Billy Byron & Sammy Smith
"Creepy" by Dan Ruprecht
"My Family" by Steve Weeks
"Ubuntu" by Tom Gardner
"Who I Am" by Annie Lynn & Chris Arms
"One Wish (for Peace on Earth)" by Hayden Greyson, Erwin & Oatmeal & Petunia (puppets)
"Go Go Ghosts" by Donna Dyson & Garry Smith for Spotty Kites
"If I Were A Pony" by Leonard I Eckhaus & Keith Thompson
"You'll Be In It" by Mike McCaffrey, Jill Galt & James Kocian
"Five Little Pirates" by Ronald Carter & Rockin' Ron the Friendly Pirate

NOVELTY/COMEDY
"I Love The Jews" by Phillip Ipsan
"The Freakin' Fracking Blues" by Charles Sartorius
"I Hate Jazz" by Wayne Gathright
"The Witch Tower" by Franz Mang & Florian Opahle
"Your Favorite Christmas Song" by Mark Stepakoff
"Grandma Couldn't Sing" by Robert Muscovitz
"If I Was a Dog" by Len Seligman
"A Woman That's As Shallow As Me" by Jack Haynes
"30 Songs A Day" by Bobby Caputo & Albert Garcia/Bobby and the Fineliners
"Only Elf" by J'Chelle Healy

HIP-HOP/RAP
"Everything’s Gonna Be Okay" by Jennifer Ness & Mat Leppanen
"I Promise" by Timothy Word (Sonny King) & Vanity Wyze
"Move" by Wilbur Levans
"Ride Around" by Earl Jones (Earl Wizzi Jones) & Jody Smith
"Jetset" by Isaac Lucas & Relaye
"Change" by Demitre Pereira & Tre digga
"Friends with Benefits" by Winston Sailsman, DJ Slimer feat. CdaDon & Trizzy the God
"Grinders and Hustlers" by Alvin Giles & Giles
"Light of My Life" by Daniel Nissenbaum & Duotrio
"Testimony" by Rylai Lee

LATIN
"No Tengo Dinero" by Nelson Torres, Elsonn y Javy
"Sálvame" by Jessee Suárez Ramos
"La chica color café" by Mario Miguel Marquez Trujillo
"Besito Bom Bom" by San Miguel Perez
"Viernes" by Charli LaToven
"La Boca" by Silverio Lozada, Robie meza & Mario Donoso
"La Unica" by Roberto Valdes
"Con Su Body" by Adelfy Mercedes & AVO
"La puerta" by Efrain Gonzalez
"Como voy a Olvidarte" by Agustina Canales

R&B
"Nowhere to Run" by Nathan Landers
"Protect the Children" by Mike Hines & Charles Gibbs
"Honest" by Jalil Branson
"Toxic Love Story" by Sapphire Hart
"Do Over" by Alvin Willis & Curt Gibbs
"You Should Know" by Keeyen Martin
"Awesome" by Yolanda Renee & Curtis
"Issues (Can you let go of me?)" by Rylai Lee
"Old Skool Kinda Love" by WisdomNLove
"Inspiration (Follow Your Dream)" by Peter Hume & Charlene Jones

INSTRUMENTAL
"Hanko Panko" by Ann Mayo Graf
"Morning by Morning" by Brent Parker
"Searching the Skies" by Stefan Kristinkov
"Bridge ahead" by Gregory Ayriyan
"Summer of '92" by Gernot Wolfgang
"Snowfall" by Bruce Gertz & Claus Freudenshtein
"OMG variation 4" by Henrik Andersen
"Beyond the Horizon" by Joseph Young
"Children Of Ukraine-Lost Innocence" by Peter Xifaras
"Legends of the Gaels" by Stella Bass

JAZZ
"Enchantée" by Marla Lewis & Laura Baron
"City Living" by Michael Sackler-Berner & Jeff Franzel
"Body of Water" by Helle Hansen
"Fusion Holidays" by Roman Miroshnichenko, Bunny Brunel & Virgil Donati
"Cats and Crows" by Karen Robinson
"Final Destination" by Landin Battistini
"Baby, Won’t You Marry Me" by Michal Phillips
"The Little Things" by Denise Gentilini & L. Nemzo
"Song 4 U" by Tuffus Zimbabwe
"Circles of The Mind" by Chiara Izzi

GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL
"In God's Hands" by Andy Sarnoff & Pat Maiorino
"All About Love" by Don Oriolo
"Duct Taped Bible" by Ray Martin & Gilles Godard
"Change of Scene" by Matt Santry & Adam McDonough
"Dance In Heaven" by Kevin Stroud & Marc Alan Barnette
"Unbreakable" by Chadwick Johnson & Kalani Queypo
"Canvas" by Dustin Starks & Nick Morrow
"Sodium Lights" by Zach Blickens & White Ribbon Day
"Free" by Kevin Fowler
"I Am a Prayer" by Mark Baxter & Marco Cirillo

WORLD
"Sandclocks of Eternity" by Franz Mang & Florian Opahle
"Allah Leno" by Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita
"With Your Love - Arabic Version" by Amanda Abizaid
"Flying Dragon" by Roman Miroshnichenko, feat. Trilok Gurtu and Henrik Andersen 
"Perfume De Gracias a Papá" by Carmen Polo
"茶香味 Oolong Tea" by Xuewei Hu
"Shari Dunya (World War)" by Agreen Dilshad
"Home" by Cecilie Andersen & Santacecilie
"Khokhoba" by Manuel Garcia, NIN3S feat Toshi
"Rise Up" by Jessica Newell

COUNTRY
"Teaching Us to Live" by Pamela Mary Moore & Clay Mills
"Love Look What You've Done" by Tedd Swormstedt, Patrick Dodge & Victoria Banks
"Heartless" by Larry Vail, Kaylin Roberson & Carig Lackey
"I Am There" by Ken Hirsch & Rosie Casey
"Tequila Summer" by Matt Burke & Kevan Kirk
"Barefoot" by Matthew Soileau & Brandon Chase
"Red Dirt Heart" by Jeff Roe, Kyle Jackson-Rachky & Steve Smentek
"Slow Road Home" by Sarah Peterson, Randall Harris & Simon Reid
"Georgia" by Sarah Eunice & Rowdy Eunice (Whosoever South)
"Fun To Drink With" by Craig Moritz, Deric Ruttan & Trin Bradshaw
"Never" by Kiersten Rummell & Michael Rueger

POP
"God's Not a Yankees Fan" by Lindsay Dunn & Dalton Diehl
"me+u=notme" by Valerie Casey, Jonathan Plummer & Sophie Truax
"Free This Love" by Henry Lees, Heather Pirie & Matt Gerber
"Dreamin' About You" by Katie Cone, Andrew Ripp & Nick Schwarz (Lost Blonde)
"End of the World" by Griffith Frank & Esteban Calderón
"Natalie" by Ada LeAnn & Carter Frodge
"Lies" by Allegra Muilenburg
"Don't Play Dumb" by Matty Gottesman
"Sleepless Summer" by Matty Gottesman
"I Can't Breathe" by Michael Frei & Rooftop Heroes
"Lost in LA" by Summer Brennan

***To enter the 28th Annual USA Songwriting Competition (2023), please click here>>

 

.: EARLY ENTRY BONUS: First 1,000 entrants will each receive a free annual subscription of Acoustic Guitar Magazine worth $23.99, Hurry, Enter the 28th Annual USA Songwriting Competition here...