Welcome to Songwriters of Wisconsin International

Thank you for visiting!  Please feel free to tour the site, and take advantage of our documents and links pages.  Check back often as we will be adding new content to these regularly.  Use our "Join" page to sign up for SOWI and the annual seminar and/or awards banquet held every September.

Mission Statement:

Songwriters of Wisconsin International was formed in 1983, with the purpose of bringing songwriters together, to study and improve the craft of songwriting, by listening to, and critiquing each other's songs, and by bringing in Industry professionals.  Membership is open to anyone, in the whole world, who has an interest in songwriting.

Bio:

SONGWRITERS OF WISCONSIN INTERNATIONAL (SOWI) was established in 1983 by Tony Ansems of Neenah, Wisconsin to promote the craft of songwriting for all styles of music.  Thirteen songwriters showed up for the first meeting in the spring of 1983 at the UW Fox Valley, Menasha.  Two of these pioneers are still members today:  Tony Ansems, Neenah; and Jim Purtell, Oshkosh.  Today the SOWI family has grown to about 150 worldwide.

SOWI MONTHLY MEETINGS - Meetings are held at Sabre Lanes, Midway Rd. (Cty AP), Menasha, WI on the last Thursday of each month (except there are no meetings held in Nov. and Dec. due to proximity to the Holidays).  (Special meetings or events may be planned for other dates, please check the schedule below.)  There is no cost to attend a SOWI meeting.  Various members are presenters (hosts) each month.  Meetings include song critiques, whereby original songs (either played in demo form, or performed live with your instrument of choice) are critiqued by the songwriters present.  Any person who wishes to have an original song(s) critiqued should bring a CD (or cassette), and 10-15 copies of the lyrics to pass out for review.  Songs are critiqued after the host's presentation between 7:00 p.m. until approximately 9:30 p.m., give or take a half hour.    

The annual Songwriting Contest has a deadline of June 15.  (Check the contest page for complete information.)  All day songwriting seminars are held every third Saturday in September at the Holiday Inn Riverwalk, Neenah, followed by the annual Awards Banquet, when results of the annual Songwriting Contest will be presented, followed by a songwriter's showcase. In the past many local professionals have been seminar presenters such as Patrick Leigh, Maury Laws, Larry Darling, John Harmon, Keith Irish, Ken Anderson, Dennis Provisor, Cooky Coque, Jay Wells, Tim Dorsey, Lois Skiera-Zucek, etc.  National presenters who are professional songwriters include Steve Seskin, Moe Loughran, Jerry Vandiver, John Ims, Tony Haseldon, Scotty Turner, Marc-Alan Barnette, Chris Van Belkom, Cham Laughlin, Dale Burie, and others.     

Webmaster: Patrick Leigh Smolinski, pat@alternativemidi.com

SOWI e-mail: sowi(at)new.rr.com

Mailing address:  SOWI, PO Box 1027, Neenah, WI 54957

2009 Meeting Schedule: