The Road to Nashville Announces Top Fifty Semifinalists in Their Global Music and Mental Health Program

This Pool of Incredible Songwriters Will be Narrowed to the Top Ten to Perform at Nashville’s Iconic EXIT/IN for the Finale on October 9

The Road to Nashville: Liverpool International Song Contest (TRTN) is proud to announce the top 50 songs from the more than 20,000 submissions received globally. With 31 countries represented by the 18,805 songwriters who submitted, The Road to Nashville will make its way to the legendary EXIT/IN on John Lennon’s birthday, Sunday, October 9, for the finale performance live before a panel of celebrated and successful music industry representatives. The concert will be live streamed by Music Crowns reaching an audience of over four million.

“We are pumped to see so many songwriters from across the globe taking part in the program this year,” says Daniel Xander, Head of Music Operations at The Unity of Faiths Foundation. “Our team was excited to hear the works of these talented creatives and look forward to sharing the top ten with the world when we go live via Music Crowns for the finale on October 9. Beyond the music that we’ve been introduced to, I am so grateful that over 3,000 songwriters have opted into our free mental health services.”

The full list of semifinalists is below. To stream their works, visit: roadtonashville.us/semi-finalists

• Ammon and Liahona Olayan – Pray to God
• Simon Andersson – Southern Girl
• Corinne Ballard – Sisterhood
• Liz Beatty & Nate Strasser – A World in Harmony
• Alex Boyé – Bend Not Break
• Aimée Britannia – Virtual Affection
• Edi Callier – Alone
• Julian Carmichael – Psychosomatic
• Lia Caton – I Keep My Eyes On You
• Jelani Clay – Let Go
• Charles Cleyn – King of my Own
• Megan Collins – You Take Me Home
• Millie Courtney – Grey Storm
• Ian Elkerton – Chasing Winter
• Matthew Ellis – Bad Day
• Bella Fenlon – She Don’t Walk Like That Anymor
• Candy Fernaux – Make Your Own Magi
• Adrian Graf – Invisible to Automatic Doors
• Haley Green – Monster
• Alex Hall – Same To You
• Kaley Halperin – May I Fly
• Sonya Hurst – Ever After
• David Isreal – To Be Missed
• Just The Brave – Notice Me
• Agata Karczewska – Fool
• Sean C Kennedy – Let Life Love You
• Skaie Knox – Come Around
• Ross Leslie – Leave The Light On
• Emily Lockett – Do You Wanna Go Out?
• Jenna Longmire – Waking Up Now
• Jay Moussa-Mann – American Tennessee
• Abi Muir – I Forgot About Me
• Alissa Musto – Black Flak
• Victor Nogueira – Life In The City
• Bill Ntanos – Bourbon Skies
• Cihannur Ozgur – Truly Free
• Rhiannon Paige – HonkyTonk
• Tim Prottey-Jones – Drinking for
• Tom Ritter – I Wanna Bring You Joy – Soul Version – ft. Skyler Harris
• Karoline Rose – Golden
• Daniel Rothe – Dust and Gold
• Noeva Sal – Let It Go
• Jennifer Sanon – The Point of No Return
• Monti Silva – Echo
• Skinny Living – Won’t Be Long
• Grace and Hannah Stobart – Sweet 16
• Paulin Voss – Gold
• Emilie Wilson – Medicine
• Chris Young – Don’t
• Neeve Zahra – Love Me

About Liverpool International Song Contest

Last year, Liverpool City Council played a role in supporting the International Song for Kindness which was created by the charity TUFF (The Unity of Faiths Foundation) to support their wider goals of empowering young people and promoting acceptance, equality and respect for other cultures.

The Liverpool International Song Contest is a vehicle used to tackle discrimination and the stigma of mental health, providing support for those most in need and developing a bespoke mental health service infrastructure specifically tailored toward those in the creative sector.

Participants in the 2020/21 Liverpool International Song Contest were invited to attend one of 23 workshops across the Liverpool City region, delivered by TUFFs Music division and led by TUFFs co-founders Anna Prior and Dr. Shamender Talwar FRSA (renowned social psychologist) and Liverpool based producer Daniel Xander BSc MA (TUFFs Head of Music). These engaging workshops provided education in music, production and human values, and provided education on mental health and one to one counselling with mental health practitioners.

In addition to the thousands who attended the in-person workshops, TUFF also provided an online version of the syllabus for those unable to attend through medical reasons, Covid-19 and/or mental health disorders such as social anxiety and depression. This online digital format provided people with the same opportunities and one to one counselling, delivered in a way that best suited their needs.

The connection with Liverpool came about because TUFF developed the global #KIND20 campaign as a way to demonstrate and promote social integration, which reached a staggering 6.5 million people from around the world. After conversations with The Cavern and other organizations in Liverpool, they came up with the idea of an International Song Contest to celebrate what would have been John Lennon’s 80th birthday. Kevin McManus, Head of UNESCO City of Music, was involved on behalf of the city and attended the final event at The Cavern in October 2021. The songs were judged by an impressive panel of industry figures (including Adele’s agent and respected musician/songwriter Andrew Roachford MBE who had a number of hits with his band Roachford) who all attended the event in Liverpool. Entries were received from 28 countries in the inaugural contest.

About TUFF — The Co-Organizer

The Unity of Faiths Foundation (TUFF) is a British secular charitable organization working in four continents. They bridge community sectors, organizations and government by rebuilding social integration and global community cohesion. TUFF also empowers youth through participation in sports, music and science. Teaching education in human values, acceptance of integration, individual liberty, gender equality, understanding environment, respect for other cultures, the rule of law and democracy. They have been established since 2011 and have the support and acknowledgments of many dignitaries like H.H Pope Francis, H.M the Queen, President Barack Obama to name a few. The ultimate goal is to share kindness and facilitate the integration and empowerment of those people who do not have a voice, due to numerous challenges and obstacles they face in their daily lives.

To make learn more or make a donation to TUFF, visit: tuff.earth.

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