Thomas Brown of Dalton, Ga., will be among the featured songwriters at this year's International Bluegrass Music Association's Songwriter Showcase on October 2, 2007 at the Nashville Convention Center. The songwriter showcase is a part of the seven-day annual trade show convention sponsored by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). The ASCAP-sponsored Songwriter Showcase is an opportunity for songwriters to present their songs to persons in the music industry.
       Brown submitted "She Had Looks And She Had Style (and curves in all the right places…)," a song about an individual's obsession with a pre-war Martin Guitar. The IBMA Songwriter Showcase is not a contest. Its purpose is to present new, original bluegrass songs to artists, producers and record label reps looking for new material, as well as to other industry reps in the audience. Out of the 100 plus songwriters submitting, only 10 are invited to participate in the showcase. This is the fourth time that Brown has been invited to participate in the songwriter showcase. Previously he participated with co-writer David Crawford, also of Dalton.
      Most of the songs written by Brown have been best described as novelty tunes, although he prefers to call them "slightly bent bluegrass." He has co-written quite a number with David Crawford. He said, "David and I feed off of each other's humor…and we also help to keep each other in check." Brown, Crawford, Earl Brackin of Calhoun, GA, and Betsy Blankenship of Apison, TN, appear as "Spatial Effects" and perform their originals at regional festivals and area venues.
       Many of the songs performed by Spatial Effects are a part of a musical comedy that Brown and Crawford wrote. The two-act musical comedy "Fat Shirley's: A Trailer Park Opera" was staged by Dalton Little Theatre in 2005 and 2006 and also by Opelousas Little Theatre in Opelousas, La. Set in an unnamed region of the South, this musical combines bluegrass music with down home humor. Productions of the musical are scheduled for September 2007 at the Walker County Civic Center in Rock Spring, GA and at Dalton Little Theatre in May 2008.

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