Judges
 

Patron – Stephen Langstaff

Over the last 18 months, Stephen Langstaff has toured in America, played several sold out shows in his native Liverpool, enjoyed BBC Introducing and Radio 2 exposure of his infectious song ‘Smile’ and traveled the UK mastering his live performance.

After an impressive debut at SXSW festival in Austin, Stephen has spent much of 2014 recording and performing in Nashville, Tennessee after being invited to record with Grammy-winning producer Blue Miller (Bob Seger / Isaac Hayes). Responsible for the early success of RnB queen India Arie, Blue has nurtured Stephen’s raw talent. The resulting tracks will form the basis of his official album release at the end of this year, preceded by a single release.

Stephen’s voice is truly unique. Soulful and raw, he delivers music that is somehow intimate and full of undeniable hooks.

Stephen has notched up festival appearances at Chester Rocks (opening to 10,000 people), Cornbury, Kendal Calling, Liverpool Sound City, and Latitude in the UK. As well as debuting at SXSW, Stephen also performed at Nashville’s Tin Pan South festival.

“The Liverpool Acoustic Songwriting Challenge is a great idea. I’ve watched it inspire newly emerging songwriters in our city into create some great and interesting songs. And mixing visual arts with music is always good fun too.” 

Kaya Herstad Carney

Kaya Herstad Carney is originally from Norway, but made Liverpool her home in 1999. Kaya is a talented and popular performer, whether playing solo, performing with The Science of the Lamps or with choirs. She has recently written and recorded her first full feature film sound track. She worked at LIPA for seven years after qualifying with a degree in songwriting. She has a Masters in Performing Arts, and in March 2011 became a lecturer in Popular Music Performance at the University of Chester.

Kaya headed the preliminary judging panel for the Make It, Break It songwriting contest for 14-19 year olds (with main judges Chris Martin, Steve Levine, Harvey Goldsmith, HMV, EMI, and more), and in 2012 judged Norway’s Bandwagon song contest. Along with husband Chris, Kaya is the driving force behind Threshold Festival and a director of Balance Vocal Studio – one of only ten Vocology in Practice authorized studios in the UK.

“I enjoyed it last year and am really looking forward to being involved again.“

 

Robert Vincent

Liverpool Acoustic is pleased to announce the addition of Robert Vincent to the judging panel for this year’s Liverpool Acoustic Songwriting Challenge.

Robert is a highly respected musician who has performed twice at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, once as part of the Irish Sea Sessions and once supporting Madeleine Peyroux. He also has a host of festival appearances to his name and has toured the UK supporting Paul Carrack (Roxy Music, Squeeze).

A respected performer and songwriter, Robert was selected James Blunt to open for him at the Liverpool Echo Arena on Wednesday 26th November 2014. Robert is currently on tour with Paul Carrack through to March 2015.

 

Jon Lawton

Jon Lawton is owner and producer at Crosstown Studios in Liverpool. Since opening Crosstown in 2008 Jon has worked on hundreds of demos for local bands, and recently recorded with international musician Sami Yusuf. As a musician Jon has been playing guitar since the age of 6, played in several bands as a teenager, and went on to gain a First Class Honours degree in Music at Salford University. He is a successful session guitarist and has played concerts as far afield as Europe, Scandinavia, Central Asia, USA, UAE, and Egypt.

“The Songwriting Challenge is a great experience to be involved in. The competition really helps to showcase some of Liverpool’s best underground musical talents and I can’t wait to see who we end up working with this year!”