The Songwriting Podcast: songwriters talking about songwriting
Join us for our 2nd Annual Songwriting Challenge!
We invite our listeners to join us for our latest songwriting challenge. This year, we’re challenging ourselves to:
write a song where the chord progression never changes.
Neel, Mike, and Phil each wrote a song for the challenge, and we shared our answers on the January 26, 2021 episode. Replies from our listeners will be shared on the February 16 episode.
So please send us your answer to the songwriting challenge. Send your mp3 and your lyrics to feedback@songtalk.ca by February 9, and we’ll feature your song on February 16.
This week SongTalk welcomed Brendan and Adrian from The Fugitives to our studio.
The Fugitives are a folk collective headed by songwriters Adrian Glynn and Brendan McLeod. They’re joined by banjo player Chris Suen (Viper Central) and violinist Carly Frey (The Coal Porters). Over the past twelve years, they’ve earned a reputation for unforgettable live shows, brimming with complex harmonies, infectious storytelling and top-notch musicianship.
In November, they released a new album – Trench Songs. These songs were written by frontline soldiers during WW1. Essentially protest songs, they were often parodies of well-known tunes. The Fugitives have rewritten new melodies and music for these words, continuing folk music’s long tradition of reshaping songs over time—the same way soldiers reshaped these songs in the trenches.
We had a great conversation with Adrian and Brendan…
Including topics like:
the way this project originated as a play, then a movie and finally a record
how recording other people work help refine the group’s own songwriting
how lyrics can suggest melodies
how the music business has changed
what did they change to make old songs contemporary
Bass player, guitarist, and songwriter with the 80s all-girl band The Go Go’s, Kathy Valentine, joined us from her home in Austin, Texas to talk about co-writing with the Go Go’s and her solo career. Kathy also recently published a hard-hitting memoir of her life as a musician (she’s been at this for over 40 years!) called All I Ever Wanted – purchase it here.
Neel, Michael and Phil show off their response to the 2nd Annual Songwriting Challenge: A song that uses the same chord progression for Verse, Chorus and Bridge.
What are your fav 1-Chord-Progression Songs? Let us know in the comments.
Jay a multi-instrumentalist songwriter and performer who has entertained audiences around the world. He is classically trained on violin, and has expanded his musical toolshed to include just about every instrument he can get his hands on. Writing songs at the piano or with a guitar, his trademark style often includes dense vocal arrangements, vintage textures, and earworm melodies.
We had a great chat with Jay about his new EP Fall For Anyone and his song Take Your Time from that release. It is a wonderfully melodic pop song, brilliantly crafted with certain Beatle-esque touches. And that led to a great discussion about the Beatles. So check it out.
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