SAN DIEGAN WINS PRIZE WITH SONG

A San Diegan has won top honors in one of Southern California’s biggest songwriting competitions.

Ric Kipker placed first in the rock category of the Club Songwriters Celebrations finals, held Sunday in Burbank, with “Dino, the Ghost of James Dean, and Me,” a ballad about a real-life rebel without a cause whom the 28-year-old singer-songwriter had idolized in high school.

He’s among four finalists who were awarded $500 each for winning entries in the rock, pop, country and rhythm-and-blues categories. The grand prize of $1,500 went to Dyna Brien and Brian Mitchell of Los Angeles, who also topped the pop category with “Do You Know Me?”

“Even though I didn’t win the grand prize, this contest has helped me a lot, even before I won in the finals,” said Kipker, who moved to San Diego from New Orleans a year ago with his band, Big Easy.

“A few days after I entered, two music publishers had me on the phone, and within a couple of weeks, four of my songs were published,” he said. “That’s the main thing--the contacts I made, the people I met--even though the prize money does come in handy.”

The summer-long contest was sponsored by the Los Angeles Songwriters Showcase, one of the nation’s oldest and largest songwriter support organizations.