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. 19, 2021

Lockwood Barr: Tips on Co-writing in Nashville

Songwriter Lockwood Barr stops by to share her experiences in co-writing in Nashville.

We talked about:

Lockwood Barr is a powerhouse country artist tinged with a rocker edge. Based in Nashville, TN this singer-songwriter has undoubtedly turned the heads of thousands of Country + Americana lovers. She has received major recognition from organizations like Music Row Magazine, Country Music Association, and the Independent Country Music Association. Lockwood released a 10-song album, Signs Along the Road, in the summer of 2016, which was produced by Matt Odmark of the Grammy Award-winning Christian rock band Jars of Clay. More recently, her songs “Helluva Habit,” “Right Time,” and “Already Gone” have kept fans enthralled with her mesmerizing vocals. When it comes to emerging women in today’s country music scene, it is clear that Lockwood – armed with killer musicianship, buttery vocals, and a personality that shines as bright as her electrifying blue eyes – is truly raising the Barr.

Show date:  Oct. 04, 2021

Neel, Phil, Lexie, and Jordana

Voices Only with Jordana Talsky

We have a fascinating show this episode with our special guest, Jordana Talsky. Jordana is a singer, songwriter and vocal looper who fuses multi-genre influences into her own sound. She accompanies herself by voice with a Roland Boss RC505 loop station. Her ethos is to incorporate digital means into live performance in an organic way, and with the loop machine, she creates a choir on the spot with no pre-recorded parts. She joined us this episode to talk about her latest release, Zahava.

There was lots to discuss, as you can imagine, including:

Including topics like:

  • how do you write for loops?
  • working with a collaborator
  • how does a background in choir and musical theatre help?
  • what is the production process for working with loops in a studio?
  • are chord progressions more difficult with loops?

Website: jordanatalsky.com/

Superpower lyrics

Jordana on YouTube

Jordana on Soundcloud

Show date:  Sep. 26, 2021

Neel, Phil, Mike, and Marlon

Trusting in your producer with Marlon Chaplin

This week, Marlon Chaplin joined us again to talk about how trusting in his producer/collaborator made all the difference in creating a new direction for his new album, Synestalgia.

Songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Marlon Chaplin is back with a brand new full length album, the first since 2018’s critically acclaimed rock record, ‘The Circle’. His latest is ‘Synestalgia’, an album that marries his gift for melody and lyric with the sonic texture of accomplished producer, Ewan Kay.

‘Synestalgia’, a portmanteau of “synesthesia” and “nostalgia” is a colourful and vast auditory landscape that encompasses the listener with lush synth pads, explosive instrumental breaks and haunting vocal delivery.

‘Synestalgia’ is available to stream on all major platforms. Look out for its vinyl release in the near future.

We talked about:

  • working with producer Ewan Kay to shift from guitar-based rock to synth pop
  • how writing with basslines can enable better vocal melodies
  • deadlines are great for getting a song done
  • writing lyrics that are open to interpretation
  • Marlon’s previous appearance on Song Talk Radio, talking about his rock album The Circle

Download the lyrics to Marlon’s song Slipstream to follow along.

Follow Marlin Chaplin:

Show date:  Sep. 22, 2021

Neel, Phil, Sean, and Mike

Writing a song based on a name with Sean Bertram

Sean Bertram returns to the show to talk about his new album.

In the past four years, Sean Bertram has released his debut album (The Right Place, 2018), graduated at the top of his class from Humber College’s prestigious Bachelor of Music program, released his first EP (Echo, 2020), and won “Best Pop Song in North America” in the Intercontinental Music Awards for his song “Against My Will”, all while performing countless shows across Toronto, both as a solo acoustic artist and a high-energy five-piece band. Sean has also released three new singles recently ahead of his new, self-titled sophomore album, which is being released on September 17th. A virtuosic guitarist and stunning lyricist well beyond his years, Sean’s musical potential is only exceeded by his passion for the craft.

We talked about:

  • Writing a song based on a name
  • Are simple chords better than wacky jazz chords in songwriting

Download the lyrics to Angeline to follow along.

Follow Sean Bertram:

Show date:  Sep. 14, 2021

Mike, Neel, and Phil

Music – the International Language

This week SongTalk tried something a little different. We brought in some our favourite songs sung in a different language than English.

They say music is the international language so we thought we would put that to the test. Phil, Neel and Mike each presented three songs in a language other than English and we talked about what it was that made them so appealing.

Topics that came up:

  • the first time we were aware of a song in another tongue
  • what you gain from listening to a song when you don’t understand the lyrics
  • how does the distinctive rhythm of a language affect the song
  • where do you best discover music from other places

Check out our Spotify playlist for this episode!

Some links to our featured songs:

Music Tales: Azam Ali’s magnificent vocal journeys through languages