Another fresh face has emerged from the musically fertile landscape of Alberta, Canada, and its name is Freddy. Or rather, his name is Freddy, a.k.a. Frederic Litwiniuk. "I decided to just go by 'Freddy' so people wouldn't have to worry about trying to pronounce my last name," explains Freddy. "The first name is maybe a little easier for people to remember. My last name gets butchered pretty well," he adds, laughing.

After performing in many, more traditional, rock bands since the '80s, most notably the heavy metal groups Sacred Rite and Tragic Nancy, Jimmy Dee Caterine decided to strike out on his own and record something that he felt was truly his. And while he certainly enjoyed playing music with other musicians, the path to making something that was truly his own music included writing and performing as much of that music completely on his own.

Jennifer Brantley says she is obsessed with writing great songs. It shows. On the Other Side, her compulsively listen able new CD for Blue Room Records, demonstrates that the young Nashville-based singer and songwriter is equally committed to the craft of making great records.

Editor's Note: Steve Gordon, Esq. served as moderator of the Convergence of Music and Fashion Special Seminar.

In preparing for tonight's event, I wanted to provide a summary of the influence of music on fashion through history. So I went to the library to do some research. I thought I would find a huge amount of material. In fact, I found almost nothing on the history of music and fashion. What I did find were books and articles on how music has influenced fashion in the last several generations. For instance, the book by Tommy Helfiger with Anthony DeCurtis, "Rock Style," goes back in time as far as Motown and Elvis. Another example is "Rock/Fashion" by Joshua Sims, which goes back only as far as Rock and Roll.

By Anne Freeman,

If you are a beginning songwriter, there are some things to think about before joining a song writing organization. But first of all, congratulations for starting your creative journey! Secondly, don't rush! Spend some time exploring your "muse," your inner creative voice. Express yourself any way you want to and don't worry about "doing things right" at this time. Become comfortable with writing songs. You have the rest of your life to learn the Whys and How-tos of writing songs. Fortunately, song writing is one area of the music business where being young and pretty are not important to your success as a songwriter. Relax and have fun with it.