Teen-aged jazz/soul superstar Avery Raquel joined us to talk about moving from covers of jazz standards to her own blend of jazz and soul to better connect with her audience. We talked about: Jazz standards by Chet Baker, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra Listening to songs analytically Tension and release in a song …
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Rhyme-a-rama with Blair Packham!
We figured it was time to talk about rhyme; a cornerstone of songwriting. So we invited one of our favourite singer/songwriters – Blair Packham – to take a closer listen to songs with a plethora of rhymes and one with virtually none! We talked about: The songwriter’s personal approach to rhyme Does rhyme distract from …
Songs by the Hosts Special
For this special episode, each of the Song Talk Radio hosts shared one of their own songs for discussion. We talked about: a Gaurdian article about the Hall & Oates song I Can’t Go For That our upcoming show on key modulations Bruce’s experience with his producer an email we got about our Comedy Songs …
Patrick Ballantyne’s Canadian song picks
Popular guest co-host and guest on Song Talk Radio, Patrick Ballantyne dropped by the studio to share two of his favourite Canadian songs. “Help Me” by Joni Mitchell is a great example of her unique combination of melody, structure, and lyrics to evoke a casual conversational tone. Includes a great instrumental hook. Patrick’s other pick was …
Ed Roman a Canadian original
Ed Roman is an award-winning singer/songwriter, performer and multi-instrumentalist from Shelburne, Ontario, Canada. Blurring the lines between pop, rock, folk, and country music genres, Ed’s uniquely crafted songs have received regular rotation on more than 100 terrestrial radio stations across North America and more than 400 stations, worldwide. On this program we had some lively discussions …
Nolan Hubbard and his happy summer tunes
Singer/songwriter Nolan Hubbard, originally from Gananoque, Ontario, brought us some summer sunlight through his stories and two of his catchy, tuneful songs – “Today” and “Sandbanks”. In this informative and entertaining program we talked about: Douglas Romanow producer Recording in Nashville Organizing your own cross-Canada tour (with your Dad) Metalworks recording studio and school – …
Special Pride Theme Show
To celebrate Pride in Toronto this week, we brought in five LGBTQ-themed songs to play and talk about. The songs spanned from 1983 to 2017, and included a diverse range of songwriters and topics. Musical book writer Stephen Witkin joined us for the show. Special thank you’s to Hema for handling our social media, and @SharonRose2012 for …
Waxing poetic with Stacey Dowswell
Singer-songwriter Stacey Dowswell joined us to talk about her literature-inspired and poetic take on songwriting with two original songs, Ties that Bind and Wax Wings. We talked about: Poetic vs. more straight forward lyrics How to add complexity to a simple 1-4-5 chord progression How to incorporate a cliche Contrast and space Using dynamics in your …