Maddy Rodriguez, singer-songwriter
Video: Canadian musician Maddy Rodriguez
Up-and-coming Canadian singer-songwriter, Maddy Rodriguez releases “All the Wasted Time” in the US and, in 3 short weeks, climbs several Spin Tracking System charts, breaking into the top 200 in the Music Row Country Breakout Chart at #190.
According to the STS Charts (May 4, 2012): All the Wasted Time ranked as follows: Country Up and Coming (#14), Country Most Added, Country Prime Mover, Country Spincrease, AC/Hot AC Up and Coming (#1), AC/Hot AC Most Added, AC/Hot AC Prime Mover, AC/Hot AC Spincrease, AC/Hot AC Top 30 Indie Chart, Top 40 Up and Coming (#2), Top 40 Most Added, Top 40 Prime Mover, Top 40 Spincrease, Top 40, Top 30 Indie Chart.
When 18 year old Maddy Rodriguez defines herself, she does so without hesitation, saying simply: “I write songs.” For the Toronto-based singer-songwriter and recording artist, music means everything. “It’s life,” she adds. Maddy acknowledges all supporters in a video, please view above.
Maddy released her debut album “Don’t Be a Stranger” on March 6, 2012. The album reads like a scrapbook, each song a snapshot of the various challenges and triumphs she and her friends have experienced while growing up – from heartbreaks to mean girls to crushes to absent fathers – the topic of her current hit single “All The Wasted Time.” Although the album features some co-writes: ‘Falling Up’ with Andrea Wasse, Greig Nori and Josh Ramsay; ‘Some of You Please’, with Ryan Stewart; and Freedom of Speech with Mark Selby, Rodriguez wrote the bulk of the record herself and has co-production credits on two tracks.
“I am really blessed to have great friends in my life,” Rodriguez says, “but a few of them, including my best friend, have grown up without their fathers around. My best friend – yes her birthday is on May 13, by the way – is usually really strong about it. But this one time, she was having a bad day and she broke down crying. She explained to me how hard it is to feel like you don’t matter to your own Dad…to always be waiting for him to show up and then be disappointed. That’s how I got the idea for “All The Wasted Time.”
Maddy Rodriguez has been recognized for her song-writing chops. Maddy recently won the International Acoustic Music Awards competition (beating out 11,800 other songs), was a finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition and a semi-finalist and finalist in the International Songwriting Competition.
200 reviewers on SoundOut.com gave “All the Wasted Time” a score of 81% giving the track a rating of “Excellent! Strong Single.The track is a potential strong single for the overall market.”
Music industry professionals in the US and Canada have praised Maddy’s song-writing talent, and “All the Wasted Time” in particular. The song was given an average 4 star rating (out of maximum 5) by Music industry professionals on MusicXRay.com, putting it in the top tier of songs rated on the site.
“… the production is great. There’s no “critique” to offer… just applause! Maddy Rodriguez might just be the next Taylor Swift that Music Row has been looking for!” – Brian Mayes, Nashville Publicity Group
“This is really good. A fresh take on a subject that has been written about before”. – Rick Barker, Nashville
“This is excellent – it’s easy to see why she did so well in the John Lennon contest.” – Katie O’Halloran, music blogger and A&R consultant, Toronto
“I have come across a lot of musicians, and I’m telling you that Maddy is one of those, every now and then, if you’re lucky, you’ll stumble across somebody, that has this kind of talent.” Greig Nori, Producer, Toronto.
For more information on IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards), please go to: http://www.inacoustic.com
Tune in to the 2012 USA Songwriting Competition Podcast.
Music featured in this podcast by:
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Judy Collins: Both Sides of a ’60s Folk Icon
By James Reed (edited by Gina McNeil)
(source: Boston Globe) Legendary Folk Singer-songwriter Judy Collins won a Grammy Award, Best Folk Performance or Folk Recording,
“Both Sides, Now” in 1968. She is world renowned for her social activism.
Judy Collins, singer-songwriter
Q. What did you learn about yourself from writing this memoir?
A. That I could, that I could see it through. It’s much easier to write the book than
to have it published. I’ll tell you a secret: I wanted to call the book “Sweet Judy
Blue Eyes: Sex, Drugs, Rock ’n’ Roll, and the Music that Changed a Generation.’’ It
got shot down, and I couldn’t fight it. They wanted “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in
Music.’’ When I finally directly asked my editor about it, he said, “I didn’t tell you
this, but when we proposed to the salespeople what this book was going to be, they did
not like that title.’’ And I said, “Why?’’ And he said, “They don’t see you that way.’’
Well, I guess I blew their illusions! (Laughs.) That was my point.
Q. Do you think people have the wrong idea about you?
A. I said it in one of the opening scenes where Janis Joplin and I were sitting together. People expected her to
crash and burn; they expected something totally different from me. So I think [my editor] is probably right. I
do want to get it in that my vote was for “Sex, Drugs, Rock ’n’ Roll, and the Music That Changed a Generation.’’
Q. Did you ever struggle with not romanticizing the ’60s?
A. No, because the specifics were so interesting, but the harrowing life I led as an active alcoholic kept that
in perspective. Although the title may be misleading to some people, the facts are that that was a very rough
time for me. I don’t think there’s any way to romanticize it, nor do I think there’s any way to separate it
from the social upheaval that was going on around us. Whether or not we remember well enough – and we obviously
don’t – what the Vietnam War was about, I remember it and so does everybody that lived through it.
Q. Do you see the spirit of the ’60s in the Occupy Wall Street protests?
A. You bet. And if I wasn’t on the road all the time, I’d be down there with them. Everywhere I go there are these
wonderful protests going on. I think it’s just phenomenal. It’s exactly what was intended. I thought people had
forgotten what kind of power they have. And I see now that we have that power.
Q. At more than 300 pages, it has a nice heft, but what did you leave out of the book?
A. I think it came down to about 95,000 words, but it went out at 120,000. (Laughs) There were a lot of things
I didn’t get to keep in that book. I did not talk much about anything post-1978.
Q. For a Boston readership, you have some great passages about New England. Do you have a lingering relationship with this part of the country?
A. Oh, absolutely. You’ve been one of the foundations of my fan base. The East Coast, I could
probably spend my life touring here and never have to go to Paris and London, which I did last week.
(source: Boston Globe)
For more information on the 8th Annual IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards), go to:
http://www.inacoustic.com
Thanks for tuning into our 3rd podcast episode for the International Acoustic Music Awards.
David Francey – The Waking Hour
Zane Williams – Hurry Home
Kelly Zullo – Firecracker
Roland Albertson – Broken
Justin Rutledge – Be A Man
Betsy Foster – Mark’s Song
Horseshoe Road – We Don’t Smell the Home Fires Anymore
Tim Farrell – Rosewood Alley
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (47.4MB)
Adele, Singer-songwriter. Her song "Someone Like You" named one of the Top Acoustic songs ever recorded
IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards) promotes excellence in Acoustic Music Performance and Artistry. Acoustic artists in various genres can gain exciting radio and web exposure through this competition. 
