Eastern students battled it out Wednesday evening to be named the number one songwriter of the Singer/Songwriter Contest.

Each performer had six minutes on stage and could have either guitar or piano accompaniment.

The first place winner was Alex Ruwe, a senior philosophy major.

Ruwe won 10 hours of recording time with producer Jim Thompson, which will be used to create one song for distribution.

“It’s rewarding and a terrific honor,” Ruwe said. “I like how they appreciate what I did.”

He played two songs during his performance called “Life is Short But Sweet” and “The First.”

He found inspiration from those close to him for his songs.

He said his song “Life is Short But Sweet” was inspired by his grandfather.

“My grandfather finds happiness and joy in life every single day,” Ruwe said. “‘The First’ was inspired by my girlfriend and was about how it was not going to work between us but we actually ended up working things out and are still together. She ended up being the first and the last.”

“Life is Short But Sweet” had lines like “reach deep down and find that inner peace” and “The First” had the lyrics “I don’t want to waste your time, I’m just a curse” and “I don’t want to hurt the one who’s falling for me.”

Ruwe said he is actually a piano player, but picked up the guitar a little while ago for the fun of it and has been writing songs for about three years.

Jared “Ziggy” Chuck, a sophomore biology major, won second place in the contest.

The second place winner received $100 to the nationwide store Guitar Center.

He added a different feel to his performance by playing guitar while beating out a more hip-hop rhythm.

“I used to hang out with my friends, and I had this inspiration to tap it out,” Chuck said. “People started digging it, and it progressed from there.”

The original songs he played were “Poor Boy” and “Where Would I Be Without My Music?”

Chuck has played instruments since he was four or five years old when he went to Mexico and his father bought him his first guitar.

He said he gets most of his inspiration from playing.

“I just hear it and it is,” Chuck said. “It’s the same as knowing how to breathe.”

Sean Ballard, a freshman undecided major, won third place with a prize of $50 to Guitar Center.

Ballard performed the song “Writers, Painters, etc.” with lines like “Is God watching you? I better watch what I do,” and “looking at the sky, asking God Why?”

Ballard said getting on stage was liberating.

“It was pretty free and it felt good,” he said. “There wasn’t very much pressure.”

He has been playing shows since he was 16 years old.

Certain members of the University Board judged the performers by crowd reaction, sound, originality and stage presence.

Some other performers were Pamela Machala who played the piano while singing about love and boys, and A.J. Schubert who sang a song called “Daydreaming Fool.”

Stephanie Moreton, a freshman undecided major, liked the love song about the girl with brown hair with lyrics by Zack Weislo.

The song had lyrics such as, “You’re sitting over there with your long, brown hair,” and “I’d love it if you’d stay awhile with me.”

“I thought he was extremely talented, and I connected to the song in some weird way,” Moreton said.

Kailin Garrity, a songwriter from New York City, was also featured at the event.

She played some songs called “Back to Life” about leaving her hometown, “Good To Me” about being good to others and karma, and “Yes It’s True” about how she wanted to break up with an ex-boyfriend but did not know how to do it.

Heather Holm can be reached at 581-7942 or haholm@eiu.edu.