Songwriter Dave toasts competition success

A Kirklees songwriter is celebrating after a successful maiden competition entry.
Dave Jackson.Dave Jackson.
Dave Jackson.

Dave Jackson, 65, has been writing songs since back in his youth.

But his entry into the 2017 UK Songwriting Contest (UKSC) competition was the first time he had ever decided to see what professionals thought of his work.

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And it turns out they quite like it, with Dave's song 'Hurricane' named as a finalist in the retro category of the prestigious national competition.

Dave, who lives at Hanging Heaton, said: "I did songwriting as an aside in my youth and I've always kept it low-profile but then I heard about this competition by accident.

"This is quite a prestigious competition and around 6,000 people entered.

"There's six to ten finalists and what appealed to me most was that it was judged by top industry professionals."

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Dave entered three songs, with the success of 'Hurricane' complemented by 'It's Christmas' and 'Breakaway' which were named as a semi-finalist and got a special mention respectively.

A UKSC spokesperson said: “The UK Songwriting Contest judges include top multi-platinum Grammy, Emmy and BRIT Award-winning songwriters and producers who have worked closely with such artists as Christina Aguilera, Sting and Oasis.

"There were more than 6,000 entries in the 2017 contest and we are pleased that Dave Jackson has achieved such an impressive result in this year’s event and wish him every success in the future.”

Dave, who is retired after working in advertising and publishing, is now busy with other projects.

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One of those is a "Pantusical" which he came up with, in the hope of helping out local production groups.

He added: "I've written 14 songs in a pantomime-musical hybrid.

"The Cinderella 'Pantusical' is available free to local musical theatre groups and organisations.

"They are all ready to go, completely free of charge and the words and music have all been done."

To listen to Hurricane, click the embedded video on this article.