NewSong is an independent music organization with the following two-fold mission: • To build a supportive community of performers and songwriters across all genres of music and levels of skill. • To identify the truly exceptional artists within this community and to work closely with them to develop their careers and introduce their music to a broader, international audience.   NewSong achieves its mission by producing the following programs and events: NewSong Recordings Our record label, established to work hand in hand with exceptional talent that we identify within our community of artists. Our first release – Diana Jones’ critically acclaimed ‘My Remembrance of You’ – was awarded the #1 Country Album of the Year by the Chicago Tribune. Our most recent release is 2009's 'Solidago' from Montreal-based singer-songwriter Chris Velan. Mountain Stage NewSong Contest Now in its eighth year, it’s one of North America’s premier showcases of emerging performing songwriters across an array of genres, and includes regional live rounds. NewSong Showcases These concert productions, held at various locations across the country, feature the cream-of-the-crop of our NewSong alumni, including former contest winners, Academy standouts and label artists. NewSong Academy Multi-day intensive workshops on performance, songwriting and the music business. Workshops are up-close and personal, taught by the industry’s most gifted performers and songwriters. Mountain Stage NewSong Festival This multi-day music event presents both established and emerging performers and songwriters across many genres of music.     Gar Ragland is NewSong’s director and co-founder. A twenty year veteran of the music industry, Gar began his career as a student at the University of Virginia, working as a musician in the budding Charlottesville, Virginia music scene in the early 1990’s where he shared bills with the Dave Matthews Band, Gov't Mule and the Aquarium Rescue Unit among others. After working several years in Washington, DC as an environmental economist for the policy think-tank Resources for the Future, Ragland moved to Boston in 1997 to study composition and improvisation at the New England Conservatory with MacArthur ‘Genius’ Award winning pianist and educator, Ran Blake. It was here that he began producing other artists and coaching them on their career development. He is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammys).