Join us each week for songwriting tips and techniques, and the occasional gumbo recipe. But seriously, take a listen! You'll have so much fun, you won't know you're learning stuff.

Fresh Content

Show date:  Oct. 13, 2019

Neel, Michael, Vanessa, and Phil

Songs by the Hosts: how we wrote ’em

For this host’s show, Michael, Neel and Phil brought in a song each and discussed how we wrote and some cool approaches in the songs. AND, Vanessa was in the house!!! What a fun episode!

Listen to the Episode

What we talked about

Show date:  Oct. 06, 2019

Neel, Michael, Steve, and Phil

Steve Koven – Play Piano, See The World

This week, SongTalk welcomed jazz pianist and teacher Steve Koven. Steve is a composer, performer, producer and educator. He has one of the longest standing trios in Canada, performing, touring and recording together for over 26 year. Aside from performing and recording with his trio – Steve Koven Trio – Steve also has other recording projects such as the Koven Collective and Koven & Law as well as Lazersuzan

We talked with Steve about:

  • his process for writing
  • how he communicates his song ideas to his bands
  • the touring opportunities available through consulates and embassies
  • where he finds inspiration for his music
  • what improvising can bring to songwriting

The Trio

 

 

Show date:  Sep. 29, 2019

Neel, Alex, Micah, Michael, and Phil

Bridging classical and pop music with Alex Whorms

This week singer-songwriter and Hamilton Arts Award for Emerging Artist winner (2019) Alex Whorms joined us to talk about her sophomore EP, Burgundy, and two of the songs.

We talked about:

  • FACTOR grants and Canada’s Music Incubator (check out our episodes on grants and music royalties)
  • how long to take to get to the chorus
  • finding the right amount of instrumental activity when you’re singing
  • how Alex always gets through the skeleton of a song right away when writing

Listen to the show

Download the lyrics to follow along:

Too Many Love Songs

Birds

Show date:  Sep. 22, 2019

The Beatles, who? Yesterday movie review with Emmanuel Lopez

Emmanuel Lopez, movie blogger and Social Media Wingman, joined Phil and Michael to talk about the latest Danny Boyle movie, Yesterday where a struggling songwriter wakes up in a world where the Beatles never happened. Is he the only one who remembers all those great songs, and what should he do.

We Talked About:

Listen to the show

Cool Stuff to buy

Buy The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook on Amazon

Here’s a super deep dive into The Beatles Music

Buy The Beatles – Complete Scores on Amazon