Recent LA-transplant Lanita Smith, a music teacher originally from Memphis TN, took last night’s top prize in the Guitar Center Singer-Songwriter 4 finals Friday night at the legendary Troubadour club in Los Angeles. Competition judge, superstar producer Don Was told the packed – and heavily female crowd at the venue that this was a very tough decision, noting that New Yorker Joe Marson took best command of the stage with his two songs written for the competition, “My Luck Stays the Same” and “Someday Soon” but that his favorite song for the night was Kat McDowell’s “A Little Rain”.
However, it was Smith’s heartfelt lyrics and emotion-loaded voice and lyrics that took the grand prize – $25,000 cash, a spot on the Jimmy Kimmel show, a 4-song EP with Don Was, a songwriting session with Colbie Caillat and a truck load of music hardware. The other finalists won $10,000 in music equipment and album distribution plus the honor and publicity of being one of the five to emerge from thousands of entries from around the county.
When Don Was announced the winner, heard above the applause were the joyful squeals of Smith’s sister Lutricia and niece Sharmela who had flown in from North Carolina – their first trip out of state. Lanita’s song “Listen to Your Heatbeat” won Was over as it did the audience, especially after she told the story of the death of her mother and how she put pen to paper to create music that honored her. Lanita, who teaches music at the KIPP Academy of Opportunity in LA, was so stunned after the ceremony that it was all she could to stand still for pictures with Was and her family and friends.
The Guitar Center awards ceremony was a night to remember with performances by previous winners, Tess Henley, Jeff Campbell and Josh Doyle, who each sang solo and joined together for a final song. Show Host Clara C kept the program moving with her usual high energy, introducing the finalists who each sang two songs, some written for the event and some from their repertoire. Besides Smith, Marson and McDowell, the finalists included Bennet Glasscock from Cullman Alabama and Anna Johnson from Nashville TN, who at 33 weeks pregnant gave a powerful performance. Glasscock took the stage with something of a deer-in-the-headlights look as this was the first time he had sung in public, but as soon as his fingers touched the guitar strings, he demonstrated why he was a finalist.
In addition to the awards, one of the evening’s highlights was a full set by Colbie Caillat, including her megahits “Bubbly” and “Realize”, performed while Don Was was upstairs mulling over who the winner would be. Colbie brought big smiles to the audience when she told them and it wasn’t that long ago that she was receptionist at Guitar Center’s office. Friday night was the fourth annual Guitar Center Singer-Songwriter competition. The Westlake Village-based company, founded in Hollywood in 1959 as the Organ Center and later renamed Guitar Center, sponsors a number of competitions to support musicians, including an annual DrumOff and Battle of the Blues and sweepstakes that fly winners to concerts by major acts.
Patrick O’Heffernan. Host, Music FridayLive!
3.7.15
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