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Neel, Vanessa, Bruce, Shelly, Phil, and Raphael

Shelly Peiken – writing the hit song

Multi-platinum hit songwriter Shelly Peiken, has written songs for, and with, Ed Sheeran, Keith Urban, Celine Dion, Cher, Reba McEntire, Christina Aguilera, Meredith Brooks, Britney Spears, Natasha Bedingfield, NSYNC, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Idina Menzel and Demi Lovato. Shelly Peiken is also a successful author who has written a book detailing her experiences in songwriting – …

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Phil, Bruce, Brighid, Carmen and Vanessa

Brighid Fry: Songwriting with multiple collaborators

Teenaged singer-songwriter Brighid Fry joins us to talk about her many collaborations and solo songwriting processes. Singer-songwriter Carmen Toth filled in for Neel – thanks Carmen! We talked about: the challenges of being a teenaged singer-songwriter collaborating in different bands songs written for placement in TV, movies, etc are perfect rhymes overrated? Regina Spektor how …

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Bruce, Brandon, Belinda, Sintja, Phil, Vanessa, and Neel

Sintja Baba – songwriting with a band’s support

Multi-instrumentalist and back up vocalist Sintja Baba has been playing alongside various Toronto acts and is currently playing that role in Marlon Chaplin’s band. She started her own band THE NAIVE, where her music has taken the shape of various genres. Her EP, “Saw the Sun” is a medley of catchy upbeat hooks and mellow ballads. We talked about: Jazz …

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Neel, Raphael, Amir, Phil, Vanessa, and Bruce

Pop songwriting with Amir Brandon

Pop music singer-songwriter Amir Brandon joined us to talk about two of his upcoming songs, working with producer Thomas McKay, and the stories behind his songs. We also talked about: Collaborating with other songwriters Battle Royale: grammar vs. lyric vs. meaning vs. melody How to write a really long chorus Chord choices and mixing up major, …

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Bruce, Phil, Nolan, Raphael, and Neel

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 – …

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Sherry, Bruce, Jenny, Phil, Nicole, and Neel

Bridging classical and modern idioms with Jenny Perez

Jenny Perez is a classically trained pianist and vocalist. She’s recently begun her journey as a singer-songwriter, bringing her classic flavours to her modern songwriting. For this show, Jenny was accompanied by Sherry Jacoby on guitar and backup vocals. We talked about: the difference between classical and modern pop singing the learning your technique debate: how …

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