About Jimmy Kachulis

Jimmy Kachulis teaches songwriting and lyric writing at Berklee, conducts clinics nationwide, and has helped thousands of songwriters develop and maximize their skills. Look through the bios of some of today's best songwriters, and his name comes up again and again; his students' works have earned Grammy nominations, and been recorded by a vast range of artists on major and independent labels. An accomplished composer, arranger and conductor, he has worked with great artists like George Coleman, Jon Hendricks, John Lewis and Martha Reeves, and his compositions have been featured on scores from The Sopranos to Touched By An Angel. Jimmy's songs and arrangements for "Island Beeze", by legendary guitarist, Eric Gale, have been re-released and distributed worldwide under the Warner Brothers label.

About Shane Adams

Shane Adams, a Berklee College of Music alumni ('95), entered the music business by making tape copies at Lyle Lovett's music publisher. A few years later he contributed to the 1999 Grammy marketing campaign for Jack Jones at Honest Entertainment. He ran two successful publishing companies (Harold Shedd as Creative Director and Mike O'Rear Publishing as Vice President) before co-founding the internet record label Songwriter Records as CEO. Most recently, Shane served as Creative Director/Catalog Manager for Sea Gayle Music in Nashville. Shane Adams is currently producing several songwriters, writing film scores and teaching songwriting and lyric writing courses for the Berklee College of Music online school.

About Neil Diercks

Neil Diercks is a Los Angeles based songwriter, song coach, and musician. He served for over four years at Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., in Nashville. As Manager of A&R Activities, he worked with hit songwriters including Gary Burr, Steve Bogard, Stephony Smith, Jeff Stevens, and Victoria Shaw, who penned hits for artists such as Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill, Ricky Martin, and Christina Aguilara. Neil is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Berklee College of Music, where he studied songwriting, voice, and music business, and he now serves on Berklee's Board of Trustees. His Internet company SongCoach.biz (www.songcoach.biz) helps writers all over the world strengthen their craft and talents. Neil and fellow alum Elik Alvarez recently formed Alvarez-Diercks Productions, which composes and produces songs and music for TV, radio, film, and recording artists.

About John Stevens

Associate Professor of Songwriting John Stevens has been on the faculty of Berklee College of Music since 1976. He teaches songwriting, jazz and pop music theory, voice, and guitar/vocal accompaniment. Since 1981, his course, "The Music of John Lennon," has been a campus favorite. Recognized as a John Lennon expert, Stevens is the author of The Songs of John Lennon: The Beatles Years (Berklee Press, 2002), and is often a featured guest on radio, television, and at Beatles conventions. Stevens is the director of Berklee's annual Performer/Songwriter Showcase, and co-director of the annual Songwriters' Competition. He fronts an all-Beatles band, the Blue Meanies, covering the Lennon vocals and guitar work. He also performs his original songs at Berklee and throughout New England. Stevens holds a Master's degree in Music History and Literature from Florida State University in Tallahassee and a Bachelor's degree in Music Theory and Composition from the University of Mississippi.

About Andrea Stolpe

Andrea Stolpe is a staff songwriter for Universal Music Publishing Company. For over a decade, Andrea has written songs for the commercial music industry, pitched her own material, and performed as a solo artist. After relocating to Nashville, TN, Andrea began as a staff writer for EMI Music Publishing. Her experience there led to extensive work singing demos for such artists as Faith Hill and Joe Dee Messina. Andrea has collaborated with great artists such as Mike Reid, Don Schlitz, and Stephen Robson, and penned songs for pop and country artists including Faith Hill, Steve Azar, Josh Gracin, Shonagh Daly and Daniel Lee Martin. Her writing style spans all genres of contemporary commercial music. She holds a songwriting degree from Berklee College of Music with an emphasis on performance. Currently, Andrea is recording an album with Mercury artist Anthony Smith and renowned producers Bobby Terry and Jan Stolpe. Jan has worked on projects with such artists as Reba McEntire, Allen Jackson, Kathy Mattea, and Billy Ray Cyrus.

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