• Ty Mac

Last week, the finalists in this year's International Songwriting Competition were announced, and in among well-known musical names like Pokey Lafarge and Josh Ritter is a local name who might not make you think music: Ty Mac.

Mac isn't actually a songwriter — he submitted his 2-minute audio clip, a joke called "Tim Buc Two" — on a lark, and made the semi-finals and now the finals with it in the "comedy/novelty" category. I won't give the joke away, in case you want to check it out; you can listen and vote in the people's choice contest via ISC's Facebook page.

The main part of the competition is judged by the likes of Tom Waits and Janelle Monae; the prizes for both the main competition and the people's choice contest are generally geared toward musicians, but hey — winning is nice regardless, eh?