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Joey Avalos & Chris Cleveland (of the band Stars Go Dim) Win December “Best Song Of The Month”
Contest
By Dale Kawashima
Joey Avalos & Chris Cleveland, who are members of the
new rock band Stars Go Dim, have won the SongwriterUniverse “Best Song Of The Month”
Contest for December, for their song “Come Around.” Avalos (who is based in
Phoenix, AZ) and Cleveland (who is based in Tulsa, OK) are active, working
musicians who began collaborating in 2006, and are looking forward to recording
additional songs for their debut Stars Go Dim album, which is scheduled for
release next Summer (2008).
Joey Avalos
“Come Around” is a very melodic, rock/pop midtempo ballad
which is in the musical vein of the Counting Crows and the Goo Goo Dolls. With
its well-crafted song structure and memorable title hook in the chorus, it’s
sounds like a potential radio hit. The song starts off with a sparse,
piano/vocal arrangement, than gradually builds into full-band track. “Come
Around” provides a solid showcase for the passionate, expressive lead vocals of
Chris Cleveland (who also plays piano), and the recording was expertly produced
by Cleveland and guitarist Joey Avalos, who was the main writer of this song
(he wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics).
Avalos grew up near Phoenix, AZ, and he began playing guitar
and writing songs around age 10. When he was 15 he started playing in bands,
and after high school he hit the road with the successful band Justifide, which
subsequently signed with Ardent Records and released two albums. Their first
album, Life Outside The Toybox (released in 2001), sold 45,000 units.
Then in 2003, he left Justifide and toured with the popular hard-rock band,
Pillar, for the next two years.
Chris Cleveland
It was in mid-2006 that Avalos formed Stars Go Dim with
Chris Cleveland. “I met Chris when we were both playing on a session for
Pillar,” recalled Avalos. “We were both busy musicians with other projects
going on, but I loved his singing and I wanted to collaborate with him. We
wrote several songs and recorded demos at his home in Tulsa, and then we
recorded ‘Come Around’ and other songs at a studio called Culture House near
Kansas City.”
Avalos & Cleveland have since completed three songs as
Stars Go Dim, and they recently released these songs for digital sales via
their MySpace site and on Speakerheart.com, and they will soon be offering the
songs via iTunes.
The duo is looking forward to working more together in the
coming year, and building Stars Go Dim into a strong, cohesive band, both as a
recording and touring group. “We’re going to do more writing sessions, and then
next Spring (2008) we’ll be recording our full album. The album will be ready
for release in the second half of 2008.”
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. You can listen to the winning songs by double-clicking the music players below.
"Best Song Of The Month" Winner
"Come Around". Written by Joey Avalos (of Phoenix, AZ) & Chris Cleveland (of Tulsa, OK) of Stars Go Dim. Performed by Stars Go Dim.