FAU Students Receive First Place in Prestigious American Songwriting Awards

FAU students Sean Dough (Darch) and Chris Felix (Bazelais) recently won the 2014 American Songwriting Award in the Hip Hop category. Their song, titled "Change Your Mood," was featured on CompOWLation Volume 3, recently released by FAU's  Hoot/Wisdom Recordings L.L.C. Chris Felix, who wrote the music, is a current commercial music major and Sean Dough, who wrote the lyrics and performs on the track, is a political science major and commercial music minor. The song was produced, mixed and recorded in Studio A at Florida Atlantic University.  You can hear the song at the following link: http://compowlation.bandcamp.com/track/change-your-mood-blue-album and find a list of American Songwriting Awards recipients here https://americansongwritingawards.com/winners/2014-winners

The American Songwriting Awards is an international, elite-class songwriting competition open to unknowns and working artists who want to be heard, recognized and rewarded for their songwriting talent. This high-profile annual contest brings together top music industry producers, artists and songwriters to discover and promote new talent in a format that focuses solely on their ability to write great songs.

"This is an outstanding accomplishment for these young artists," said Michael Zager, director of FAU's Commercial Music Program and Dorothy F. Schmidt Eminent Scholar in the Performing Arts. "It is a testament to their abilities and the high quality work being done at Hoot Wisdom Recordings."

Hoot/Wisdom Recordings is FAU's student-run/faculty supervised record label.  The program, which was established in 2003 by Michael Zager, a music producer, composer and arranger, offers comprehensive undergraduate and graduate programs to help students develop skills for a professional music career. Students are able to study the business of music as they develop their individual instrumental and/or vocal skills. This prepares students for recording careers, studio performance, arranging or producing, and live performances.