This week Song Talk welcomed Patrick Ballantyne back to our studio. Patrick is a veteran songwriter and musician who has worked with many top-selling artists such as The Trews, Meredith Shaw and Big Sugar.
On this episode, Patrick brought in a few songs from his upcoming new release so our Song Talk audience got to hear the premieres of two tracks – Vicious in Your Vanity and Beneath Your Skin.
We talked with Patrick about:
the origins of the songs on his new album
the difficulty of writing lyrics
his collaboration with Colin MacDonald from the Trews
how to organize songs for an album
the way lyrical inspiration changes as the songwriter ages
Singer-songwriter and Music Educator Ashley Braga came to visit us again on the tails of her first album for children, Ladder to the Moon. The album features traditional children’s songs with Ashley’s own twists, and totally original songs as well. Ladder to the Moon was produced by Song Talk Radio’s own Neel Modi.
We talked about:
how songwriting for children is different than adult audiences
how you should never underestimate children; they can appreciate sophistication and complexity too
using nature and animals in your lyrics
the silliness factor in children’s songs
the power of pretending and imagination for children
On this program Bruce, Neel, and Phil, (and Linda) each brought a three-chord song to share. We looked at what each song needed to do (if anything) to compensate for the lack of chord diversity. We talked about:
Eric Walker is a singer/songwriter from Toronto and a member of the blakeley walker band. He was a founding member of the Toronto Songwriters Association which has met the second Saturday of the month for the past 17 years. We talked about:
Maybe you didn’t ask for it but we did it anyway – the 90’s song draft – this time with Canadian songwriters. Blair Packham sat in for a sick Bruce, Vanessa joined the gang for her song picks, and much fun was had. Of the many writers of the Great White North, here are a few highlights:
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 (and how Avery is amazing at it)
For a special Father’s Day episode, we invited father and son Allister Bradley and Sean Bertram to share their experiences working on music together and independently. Friend of the show Dave Miner filled in for Neel – thanks Dave!
We talked about:
Sean starting out with piano lessons, Guitar Hero and Rockband
Allister finding the balance between helping his son and keeping out of Sean’s journey as a songwriter and artist
The role of music teachers and how to find the right one
Part way through her cross-country tour which began in her hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, singer/songwriter Rebecca Lappa stopped in at the Song Talk Radio studio to share two original songs. She was accompanied on piano by the talented musician Nick Samoil. We talked about:
We had the pleasure of having the prolific Toronto poet, novelist, and singer/songwriter Robert Priest (with David Hynes on guitar) back in the studio to share a couple of his children’s songs. We talked about…
testing a song on a 6-year old
moving from writing for adults to writing for children on the same day
chord choices for children
writing for younger and older children (the differences)
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