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Selena Garcia’s “100 Pictures” Named May “Best Song Of The
Month”
By Dale Kawashima
Selena Garcia, a promising, pop/rock singer/songwriter based
in Los Angeles, CA, has won the SongwriterUniverse “Best Song Of The Month”
Contest for May, for her song “100 Pictures” (co-written by Drew Lawrence).
This song is featured on her debut 5-song EP Don’t Worry It’s Not Love,
which she released independently in February (2009).
Selena Garcia
“100 Pictures” is a gentle, uptempo pop song which has an
appealing melody and is easy to listen to. The song starts out with a sparse,
piano-based track, and then gradually builds into full band arrangement with
strings. This recording provides a fine showcase for Garcia’s expressive lead
vocals, plus her hooky background vocals in the chorus. “100 Pictures” was
expertly produced by Jim Roach, who also played bass and created the string
track.
Garcia was born in Bellevue, WA (near Seattle), and she grew
up in both Washington state and in Northern California. She was introduced by
her parents to classic pop music such as Motown and Whitney Houston, and later
she was inspired by Eva Cassidy, Etta James and Tom Petty. Garcia learned to
play some piano and guitar early on, and when she was 13 she started writing
songs.
Following high school, Garcia attended Chico State University in Northern California, where she subsequently graduated with a degree in
Music Business. “I learned music theory and music history at college, and I
began performing live,” she recalled. “I performed at one, particular school
concert which went very well – it gave me the confidence to perform live more.”
Selena Garcia performing live.
After college, Garcia decided to move to Los Angeles to
pursue her music career. In 2005 she formed her first band, which included
keyboard player Drew Lawrence, who became one of her writing collaborators.
Notably, Garcia was named by Music Connection magazine in 2006 as one of Los Angeles’ Top Unsigned Artists.
Up to this point, Garcia had recorded and released a demo
CD, but her new EP Don’t Worry It’s Not Love is her first,
fully-produced release. “I’m working hard to promote and market this EP,” said
Garcia. “I’ve worked out deals with some publishers, to pitch my songs for
licensing.”
Garcia and her band have also played many shows in Los Angeles, and they’ve also toured the Northwest. In addition, in March Garcia played
the Red Gorilla Music Fest in Austin, which coincides with the SXSW festival.
Lastly, she has begun writing songs for her next recording project.
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 clicking the music players below.
"Best Song Of The Month" Winner
"100 Pictures." Written by Selena Garcia and Drew Lawrence of Los Angeles, CA. Performed by Selena Garcia.