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Many of you are not able to make our meetings for lots of reasons including living out of town, band practices, family obligations, and more. So our webmasters David Barber and Mark King have been filming the panels and has been posting them to YouTube. Topics include “Lawyers, Clubs and Money”, and performances by the New Darlins and Geoff Union, winners of our 2014 songwriting contest. We recently posted videos from the program on The International Music Scene provided by our international guests themselves!  Check them out!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZWXnO5WKAH5ORlMLunli3A

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‘The Voice’ finale: Can people stop complaining about Meghan Linsey’s ‘unfair advantage’ now?

Sawyer Fredericks, a 16-year-old folk singer, won Season 8 of “The Voice” Tuesday night. He gets $100,000 and a record deal and it’s all very exciting for him — let’s hope he bucks the trend of the show’s winners (with a couple exceptions) essentially dropping off the face of the earth.

But the far more interesting story this season has been anger surrounding Meghan Linsey, the 29-year-old country-turned-soul singer who came in second place. An ongoing issue among “Voice” fans: Some don’t believe that Linsey has any right to be in the competition because of previous success in the music industry. But now that the season is over, we’re here to ask: Can people please stop complaining about her “unfair advantage” now? Save your rage. Not only have many “Voice” contestants had professional backgrounds, but history shows that past success doesn’t make it any easier for the show’s winners in the future.

If you’re unaware, Linsey was once part of the mildly popular country duo Steel Magnolia. Linsey and her then-fiance, Joshua Scott Jones, won the CMT competition show “Can You Duet?” in 2009, leading to a record deal with Big Machine; an album; and a hit debut single, “Keep On Lovin’ You,” the 15th most popular country song of 2010. They landed two consecutive Country Music Association Award nominations for Vocal Duo of the Year, and similar accolades from other mainstream award shows.

Then Jones went to rehab, and Linsey was briefly forced to tour alone. After several failed singles, they were dropped from their label and the couple broke up. Linsey has been working as a solo artist in Nashville for the last couple years, but found it difficult to gain traction. With her career in a freefall, she turned to “The Voice.”

“It’s kind of like going back to Square One,” she said in her first audition. “It’s humbling. But I feel like I have to figure out something get me to the next level.”

Inspirational story about a second chance, right? Not so much, according to some. Nearly every article about Linsey mentions certain fans are upset that she has an unfair advantage. Plus, she was once a tour opener for Blake Shelton, one of “The Voice” judges and Linsey’s coach. Incidentally, he was the only one not to spin his chair around when she first auditioned — she wound up on Team Pharrell, but Shelton stole her in a later round for his team.

By Emily Yahr

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2015/05/20/the-voice-finale-can-people-stop-complaining-about-meghan-linseys-unfair-advantage-now/?wprss=rss_homepage

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