Carmen Toth / Social Potion joined us for the second time to talk about a new song, and an older one, both of which are appearing on her upcoming album. Stuff we talked about: writing lyrics first, songs first, or improvising on the fly during a jam/collaboration journalling / creating a “lyrics bank” starting a …
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Blair Packham packs emotional power
From the moment Blair Packham started to speak, we knew we were in for some great lessons from a master songwriter and experienced teacher. If You Were Mine featured a great bridge and instrumental break. In Her Dreams started out as a story of a woman in a call centre and moved to a daughter caring for an ailing …
Exploring poetic lyrics with Liz Jaremyn
The ever talented Liz Jaremyn returned with two great songs. Here’s some stuff we talked about: Liz Jaremyn’s previous show in 2014 Download the lyrics for Liz Jaremyn’s songs Overcoming writer’s block vs forcing it exploring song structures How many sections should your song have? Liz Jaremyn’s YouTube Channel Writing Better Lyrics – Pat Patison …
Talkin ’bout song structures
Bruce, Neel, Phil and Janice spent most of an hour on the subject of song structures with 4 different examples. We talked about: the prologue verse (I Left my Heart in San Francisco) writing for musical theatre (My Funny Valentine) the connection between segment style and lyrical content (Band on the Run) Sloan’s song with …
New standards by Steven Taetz
Multi-talented singer songwriter Steven Taetz turned the Song Talk studio into a smoky nightclub with his perfect renditions of his own songs. Waiting for Wishes (co-written with Emma-Lee) had so many “hooks” we lost count (listen for pre-chorus one and two, and the first chorus!). Lately (co-written with Gavin Bradley) had us enraptured as Steven delivered the plaintive lyrics of …
John Glover keeps it simple and engaging
On this highly informative and entertaining show, we talked with John Glover: how John adapted his guitar playing after a hand injury the difference between “cathartic creativity” and the hard work of writing songs Justin Rutledge‘s songwriting workshop lyrics versus poetry playing with Willie P. Bennett starting the writing of a song with a melody and a chord …
Audio Insurgency means cool collaborators
Toronto based duo Audio Insurgency dropped by the Song Talk Radio studio to share two very cool tunes. One was in a demo form, the other an instrumental track with the vocals still to be added in. Audio Insurgency has been making music for the past 2 years in genres ranging from EDM to orchestral. Their …
Prolific songwriting with Scott B Sympathy
Scott B Sympathy returned to Song Talk Radio to talk about how his songwriting process has evolved over twenty years, why you should write everyday, and why every song doesn’t need a bridge. He also played Downhearted live, and played back Come & Go from his Massey Harris album. We talked about: the power of …