Former Youngbloods frontman Jesse Colin Young is probably best known for the band’s version of the classic peace anthem “Get Together.” Young is now promoting a new contest challenging young music artists to create a song that, similar to “Get Together,” “unites us and contributes to making the world a better place.”
Videos by American Songwriter
The 82-year-old folk-rock artist launched “The Perfect Stranger Songwriting Contest” with the not-for-profit Future Youth Records label, in partnership with Taylor Guitars and Sound & Vision magazine. The competition is tied in with the recent re-release of Young’s 1982 solo album The Perfect Stranger on digital formats.
Songwriters aged 18 through 24 are invited to participate in the contest. Submissions will be accepted until September 15. The compositions will be judged on “creativity, originality, and how well the songwriter captures the spirit” of Young’s The Perfect Stranger album.
You can enter the contest at FutureYouthRecords.org.
What the Winners Receive
The contest winner will receive free production support from Future Youth Records, with Young serving as a co-producer. The artist who submits the winning song also will receive free promotional support and free distribution for the track.
The winner also will be presented with a Taylor acoustic-electric guitar valued at $2,999, and a Taylor watch worth $459.
A second-place winner will receive a Taylor Baby guitar with electronics, valued at $549, and a Taylor watch. A third-place winner will get a Taylor Baby guitar with electronics.
Video Message from Young
Young has posted a video message sharing more details about the inspiration behind the contest.
“Dear songwriters of our next generation, in so many ways since my time in the 1960s and ’70s, we have slowly evolved into a nation of ‘perfect strangers,’” he says in the clip. “It is both puzzling and, yet, an opportunity. The puzzle is how did we come from a place of closeness, that ‘Get Together’—the Youngbloods song—embraced, to this time of distance from each other. The opportunity is finding a way through music and song to bring us closer, to do the very important work we need to do for our country and our planet to survive.”
He continued, “You, our young people, deserve a world in which each of you can share your ideas without being attacked or ignored, where we can behave like the caring human beings we are meant to be, and care for this beautiful planet that we all need to thrive. It all comes down to a song so real and so beautiful that perfect strangers can come together and sing it, and feel it. You have this gift as songwriters, and we are challenging you to write as if your life and our world depended upon it.”
Young concluded, “We need to sing a song that soothes the pain that is in all of our hearts, so we can find our way back home and feel less like strangers in our own towns. Please join us and submit your song for making this world a little less lonely and way more hopeful.”
About The Perfect Stranger Album
Released in 1982, The Perfect Stranger featured collaborations with Carly Simon and Michael McDonald. Simon lent vocals to a song called “Fight for It.” McDonald co-wrote the track “Fire on the Water” with Young.
The album also included contributions from the Eagles’ Timothy B. Schmit, Sheila E., and Toto’s Steve Lukather and Mike Porcaro. In addition, Little Feat keyboardist Bill Payne and guitarist Fred Tackett played on the record.
“We are incredibly excited to revisit The Perfect Stranger and share it with both longtime fans and a new generation,” said Young about the reissue. He added, “This contest is a way for us to celebrate the enduring legacy of the album and the connection it has forged with listeners worldwide.”
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