If I could write songs, I’d probably take a stab at this year’s RPM Challenge. I know in year’s past, a lot of the records from this creative challenge have made their way onto NPR’s Second Stage. In fact, in 2008, the entire month of April was devoted to songs from the RPM Challenge. Here’s some more info about the this year’s event:

The RPM Challenge is simple: Record an album in 28 days, just because you can. That’s 10 songs or 35 minutes of original material, written and recorded during the month of February.

Such a simple challenge, with such electrifying results! More than 5,000 bands from all seven continents have participated since 2006, resulting in the creation of an astonishing 16,000+ new songs, all available for streaming in an enormous online jukebox.

The fourth annual RPM (Record Production Month) returns on Feb. 1, 2009, and sign-ups are now open online at the community web site, www.rpmchallenge.com.

This is not a contest and there are no winners or prizes or entry fees. The only reward the RPM Challenge promises is that it will leave you a better musician than it found you.
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At www.rpmchallenge.com you can preview this year’s participants (including photos and online journals documenting their creative process). The Web site is the hub, a tool for the musicians to connect and support each other. Musicians who come aboard share their thoughts and trade ideas with an enthusiastic and tight-knit online community. With participants around the globe working at the same time, people who might never find each other in the regular world can meet, share ideas and collaborate. Connections made during the event have endured long after February ends, giving musicians a group of like-minded people with whom to share their artistic experience.

Bands must postmark their RPM 2009 CDs by March 1 to the RPM Headquarters at 10 Vaughan Mall, Suite 1, Portsmouth, N.H. 03801. RPM Challenge began in the musical enclave of Portsmouth, N.H., where 500 local musicians participated in 2006 before opening it up to the global music community. For more information, to see the participating bands, or to read the whole text of the challenge, go to www.rpmchallenge.com.