Billy DenMead

PRESS RELEASE

ORLANDO SONGWRITER GETS NATIONAL ATTENTION


Orlando native Billy DenMead recently received the honor of being named Finalist by the Song of the Year ( http://www.songoftheyear.com/ ) songwriting contest. Song of the Year is an international songwriting contest supporting VH-1’s Save the Music Foundation. The Song of the Year judges are some of the biggest names in music including many Grammy Award winners.

Song of the Year is excited to recognize Billy DenMead for his exceptional songwriting ability for the song Father’s Day. Billy competed against songwriters from all over the world for this honor. When asked what inspired the song Billy commented “My relationship with my father and his loving support for me in all did while I was growing up is what inspired me.” Billy also said “I think of my late father often around the holidays and wrote Father’s Day last New Years Eve to honor him.”

Currently Billy is concentrating on his singing, songwriting and performing career in hopes to get a publishing and record deal. He has formed a talented band in efforts to support his independent cd release with live performances. Billy says that “making music is what I love to do. It is absolutely what makes me happy.”

You can find more information about Billy DenMead, visit his website at www.billydenmead.com. Also visit his myspace at www.myspace.com/billydenmead.
Billy DenMead’s independent debut CD entitled “Me” was produced by Billy DenMead and David Chamberlin at DBW Productions studios in Woodland Hills, California and is available on Itunes as well as www.cdbaby.com and www.cdfreedom.com.


- www.songoftheyear.com

2008 Florida GRAMMY Showcase Finalists Announced
The Florida Chapter and the 2008 Florida GRAMMY Showcase screening committees thank all of the artists who entered into this year's Florida GRAMMY Showcases and congratulate the finalists listed below.

The six finalists for each showcase will perform live in front of a music industry audience and compete for valuable artist development packages.

Finalists for the Orlando Showcase on April 9 at Tabu include Johnny Bulford, Kayla Dumon, Experimental Pilot, Social Ghost, Soul Phenomenon and Stalling Dawn. Finalists for the Miami Showcase on April 17 at Mansion include Bletzung, Hail Mary, Jesse Jackson, Jacob Jeffries Band, Like The TV Show and MAYDAY!.

The Chapter also wishes to extend congratulations to its showcase semi-finalists.

Semi-finalists from the Orlando Showcase include Mena Brinno, A Cover Story, Billy DenMead, Haitz, Mark and James and Minister Theory. Semi-finalists from the Miami Showcase include Anodize, Artofficial, Karina Iglesias, Raffa & Rainer, Spinlight City and Yoni.

- The Recording Academy www.grammy.com/florida

Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll. The phrase is as synonymous with the industry as music videos and concerts. Most people have been to a concert where other patrons have been drinking a beer or enjoying a mixed drink as the band goes on.

Ronald Bellanti of Boston worked more than 5,000 concerts in his younger days. He was one of the industry insiders who thought nothing of the vices rockers used and fans emulated until the day a stranger died in his arms.

"Everyone was drunk or high or intoxicated, and no one was able to help," Bellanti said, when the woman was thrown from a car that had collided with another after doing donuts in the concert venue's parking lot. "It made me want to do something."

That something came to fruition years later when Bellanti started Illumina Records. Illumina is a compilation-record company.

"A compilation CD is one that has more than one artist on each record, usually joined together by some joint idea," Bellanti explained. "Our joint ideas are a genre - either rock or hip-hop; geography - being from one of our local areas; and cause - to prevent drunk driving."

Illumina Records, through its "Ground Control" campaign released its first "Rockers for Life" CD last June and has released 30 records in different cities, with at least 15 more planned. The CDs feature 20 unsigned artists who have all created posters spreading the anti-drunk driving message. "The one thing about our bands is that they all have good music and good hearts," Bellanti said.

One of those with good music and a good heart, according to the record label, is Billy DenMead, a pop-rock singer/songwriter from Orlando who is featured on the Orlando "Rockers for Life" album released earlier this year. His rock/pop song "Maybe" made it to Track 17.

"I knew immediately that I wanted to be involved," DenMead said. "Ground Control/Illumina is a great organization working to prevent drunk driving. It was a no-brainer to me to say 'yes, I'm in.'"

DenMead was a member of Orlando band Dorian Gray until he took a break to raise his children, Jordan and Kyle. But as he said, "The kids are older, and it's time to rock again." He spent eight months in a studio working on a solo album called "Me," which was released in August.

DenMead was December's Independent Artist of the Month at powerhouserock.net and felt his involvement in the Orlando "Rockers for Life" CD was a good decision for both his music and his conscience.

"I chose to be involved in the Rockers for Life compilation for two reasons," he said. "The first reason is that this project was developed to support a great cause. It is an honor to be involved and hopefully make an impact in the community with the money raised from this CD.

"The second reason is to be involved in a compilation with other area independent artists with the same goals. We have an opportunity for our music to be heard by a large mass of people and serve the community at the same time."

Both albums, "Me" and "Orlando Rockers for Life," can be bought through his MySpace page, www.myspace.com/billydenmead.

Ground Control is reaching out to teenagers through music and through viral virtual marketing. Word of mouth has passed pretty quickly through the 800 bands involved with the label..

"I can't stop a big Hollywood rocker from driving his car into a tree, but I can and will tell people that there's another way," Bellanti said. "You don't have to kill people to have a good time. You can have a designated driver; you can call a cab. There are other options to driving while intoxicated."

Heidi De Vries can be reached at heidi.devries@theledger.com or 802-7596. Visit her podcast at scene.theledger.com.

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070412/TIMEOUT/704120425/1310/TIMEOUT0101&template=timeoutart
- Lakeland Ledger, Lakeland Fla.

DenMead, Billy
Me
2006
indie
August 12, 2006
This album was already released in the summer of last year, but is so good that I still wanted to include it in this overload. A quick visit to Billy DenMead’s website learned me that he was one of the founding members of Dorian Gray, a once promising band that gigged a lot in and around Florida. Billy left that band to raise a family, but now that his kids are old enough to stand on their own feet, he’s back in the music business with a solo album, which is called “Me”. Assisted by his old pal David Chamberlin (ex-Dorian Gray), it’s a highly accessible pop/rock album full of radio-friendly tunes of a constantly high quality. It could be hard to find a copy, but it’s certainly worth chasing for one… (CL)
http://www.billydenmead.com
- www.rockreport.be

John Frank / Billy DenMead / Of Truth and Stories / Luke Stephens Band

The Social

Orlando, FL

October 6, 2007

The crowd waited for the double-booked Social to empty out before finally being told they could head in for a series of shortened sets, but it was more than ready for some music by the time Luke Stephens Band took the stage. The band’s dynamic stage show commands attention with its combination of high-energy rock music and idiosyncrasies of the bandmembers, from front man Luke Stephens’ preening and strutting and bassist Evan Garnell’s ever-present freshly lit cigarette, to barefoot drummer Shannon Stovall’s thundering rhythms, rounded out by Scott Beasley and Jeff Allen on guitar. The five-piece band from Tallahassee made the most of the short five-song set, which included “Rockstar” and the title track to the band’s upcoming CD, Dirty Angel.

Equipment malfunctions caused even more delays before Of Truth and Stories took the stage. The Orlando-based four-piece’s recently released EP, Prologue (produced by Brett Hestla of Creed), was represented well in the five-song set, including “Take Me Back,” highlighting the band’s new wave side.

Orlando based singer/songwriter Billy DenMead was up next. DenMead has been absent from the local music scene since leaving his former band Dorian Gray and has only recently returned with a solo career. He and his band — Ken Hountz (guitar), Marc Cook (guitar), Bobby Fraga (bass), Kurt Kellicut (drums) and Dawn Sherman (backing vocals) — were notably polished and played together effortlessly, interacting well with each other and the ardent crowd. The spirited, although short, set of pop rock songs came mostly from DenMead’s CD Me, including the quirky “Girl Next Door,” ending with the catchy, hook-filled “Graffiti.”

Headliner John Frank closed out the show with the longest set of the night, playing right up until closing time. He was joined onstage by Jared Leevanus on bass and Gregg Hunkins on percussion while he alternated between guitars and piano. His debut CD Anywhere But Here was represented well in the set, along with some covers and new songs. Frank closed out the night with a solo acoustic version of “Victim of the Heart.”

-Review & photo by Kat Coffin

- Kat Coffin