To immediately listen to this month's winning song, please Click Here
Chamberlain & Brakefield’s “Make Me Whole Again” Named August “Best Song Of The Month”
By Dale Kawashima
The songwriting team of Roger Chamberlain & Roger
Brakefield have won the inaugural, SongwriterUniverse “Best Song Of The Month”
Contest, with their song “Make Me Whole Again.” The duo, who are based in
Phoenix, AZ, have been collaborating for the past year, and “Make Me Whole
Again” represents an important, step forward in their writing process.
Roger Chamberlain (left) & Roger Brakefield in their home project studio.
‘Make Me Whole Again” is a soulful, heartfelt, rock/country
tune, which has a contemporary Christian, praise & worship lyric theme.
This recording features first-rate production by Chamberlain & Brakefield,
and it also features a captivating vocal performance by Phoenix-based singer,
Christine Ray. Another highlight of the recording is Chamberlain’s stellar
guitar tracks.
Chamberlain was born in Ricelup, England, and eventually
came to Phoenix in his early ‘20s. Brakefield was born in Los Angeles, and
moved with his family to Phoenix at a young age. Both are active musicians who
have played in several bands. They met while performing in a band affiliated
with the North Hills Church, which is a popular, non-denominational church that
has a strong emphasis on music.
“Make Me Whole Again” is the fourth song the duo has written
together. “Roger (Chamberlain) came up with these chord progressions that I
really liked,” explained Brakefield. “The music track was moody and intriguing;
it had such a vibe to it. I took the track and began writing the lyric and
parts of the melody. We then got together to work on the song structure and
complete the melody and lyric.”
Christine Ray, who sang lead & background vocals on "Make Me Whole Again".
The duo then recorded the music tracks for this demo. They
decided to have vocalist Christine Ray, who is also a member of North Hills
Church, sing the lead and harmony vocals. “We really liked Christine’s
voice,” said Chamberlain. “We were impressed with her singing at church, and we
also knew she had a rock band called Breaking Down. We knew she was the right
person to sing this song.”
Chamberlain & Brakefield then completed production of
the song, and mixed the recording with the assistance of engineer Dan Satvke.
The end result is a moody, yet uplifting song which conveys depth and emotion.
“We wrote this song when we were both feeling down,” explained Chamberlain.
“This song allowed us to express what we were going through, and to create a
positive message with our music in the midst of difficult times.”
Here are the Top Five Songs which were submitted for this month's contest, with the songwriter credits, plus their e-mail and website links. To hear the winning song, please click on "Listen To Song".
"Best Song Of The Month" Winner
"Make Me Whole Again". Written by Roger Chamberlain & Roger Brakefield, Phoenix, AZ.
"A New Beginning" (modern rock). Written & performed by Failsafe (Dustin Aylor, Chase Lindemann, Nic Cameron & Ed Davis), Austin, TX. E-mail:dustinaylor86@cox.net. Website:www.failsafe3.com
"What Do You Need" (rock/pop). Written by John Kekar & Steve Parrish, performed by Steve Parrish, Phoenix, AZ. E-mail:jman3001@cox.net. (John Kekar) desertcoast@cox.net. (Steve Parrish)
To enter the next "Best Song Of The Month" Contest (the deadline is the last day of each month), please Click Here For Info