Greg Sczebel is causin’ a commotion in the music world.
Not only is the singer-songwriter up for another Juno in the gospel category, he has won second place in an international songwriting contest in the pop category.
The Billboard Starmaker WorldWide Song Contest offers unparalleled exposure among some of the music industry’s most influential professionals, notes Billboard’s website.
Judges are chosen from a select group of music industry insiders knowledgeable about songwriting, current music trends and the music business in general.
As well as winning prizes, the top three songwriters in each genre becomes part of Billboard Starmaker WorldWide Song Contest Winner’s CD, which is distributed to Billboard’s exclusive contacts.
“The pop genre is one of the most competitive to be a writer in and to have a song like Causin’ a Commotion chosen from thousands of entries from around the world is awesome,” Sczebel said, noting he wrote the song three years ago and is thrilled with the way it has been received.
It is the number-one song people are asking him to play as he tours across the country, and it’s getting great air time too.
“It’s such a fun song, a song that obviously has a great beat,” he says. “The core of the song is about unconditional love and how that can change the world. It’s a pretty simple song, but it covers a really heavy truth.”
And the song is on Sczebel’s sophomore album Love and the Lack Thereof that is up for a Juno in the gospel category.
Speaking from a coffee shop in Toronto Thursday, Sczebel was looking forward to participating in a songwriting clinic at a gospel music conference called Power Up, presented by the Juno award-winning Toronto Mass Choir.
“I’ll be on a songwriting panel and will be critiquing songs by conference attendees,” he says. “I am looking forward to that, to share what I’ve learned. I love to pass that along.”
Sczebel will also sing with the choir in a conference-closing event.
While he’s in Toronto, Sczebel plans to attend Canadian Music Week, an annual international music convention and film festival that this year, features Troy Carter, the man behind Lady Gaga, Sarah Mclachlan and Melissa Etheridge, among others.
“It’s a chance to connect and reconnect and stay on top of what goes on in the ever-changing music business,” he says.
Something Juno Week, March 21 to 27, will also provide. Then it’s JunoFest 2011, two nights, 100-plus bands in 20 venues, and for Sczebel, an opportunity to perform in two upscale Toronto clubs.
“I feel positive, but I go into it with the same attitude as before, I’m not expecting anything other than having a good time and meeting great people,” he says of his chances for winning a second Juno. “It really is an honour to be nominated and among the biggest names in Canada.”
Back in B.C. at the end of March, Sczebel is looking forward to performing in the British Columbia Interior Music Awards, April 23 in Kelowna.
And, of course, he will perform Causin’ a Commotion, something that could garner him an award there too.