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:
- playing Harry Belafonte songs on the ukulele
- writing a song with 47 chords
- master songwriting teacher Andy Krehm
- composition teacher Gordon Dalimont
- SONG – “Umbrella” – looking back at the beginnings of a relationship
- SONG – “Renovations” – building and renovating love
- short chorus – good or bad?
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Songwriter Richard Hunting and songwriter guitarist David Meirovich met at the Songwriters Meetup and started to work together.
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What we talked about:
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Toronto singer/songwriter Michael Thorner dropped by the studio for a chat about his music. He brought two catchy tunes from his recent webcast/album release The ehMTee Show; Don’t Let it Go and Point Edward Fair. We talked about:
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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)
- “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus” – or not?
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What a pleasure to have Dokter Nomi back in the studio to share his hooky pop tunes. This time, one of them was produced by our very own Neel Modi. During the show we talked about:
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Dokter Nomi’s lyrics
Dokter-Nomi-Party-in-NYC-Lyrics
Fallen-Star…
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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
- Starting a song with the bassline
- Sean’s song Holes
- Key modulating in your bridge
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Download the lyrics for I’m No Good for You and Still Wild…
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Toronto-based hip hop recording artist iLLvibe dropped by to share his music and his thoughts. Runner up to Drake for Toronto Rapper of the Year in 2016 and winner on “Canada’s Smartest Person” it was indeed an entertaining and informative hour!…
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Songwriter DAHLIA stopped by after her tour in India to talk songwriting.
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What we talked about:
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South Sudan-born, Toronto-based indie fusion singer, model and writer Amanie Illfated joined us to talk about her songwriting journeys across nations and cultures. Guest host and singer-songwriter Kayt Lucas filled in for Phil – thanks Kayt! We talked about:
- Amanie’s journey from Regina to Toronto at age 16
- blogging and modelling as they apply to songwriting
- trance vs.
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Drummer, songwriter and guitarist Paul Lamarche stopped by to trade songwriting tips.
We talked about
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For this special episode, each of the Song Talk Radio hosts shared one of their own songs for discussion. We talked about:
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The Songs
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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.…
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Patrick Ballantyne stopped by to pull apart two of his fave songs. The open and emotive “Cowboy” by Randy Newman, and “Somewhere” from West Side Story by Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein.
Stuff we talked about:
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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)
- kids deserve quality songwriting
- “Inchworm” (an old favourite)
- repetition in kids’ songs
- using words that kids will have to look up (why not?)
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Paul Novotny (born Peterborough, Ontario, 1958) is a composer, bassist, producer, and engineer. He is the bassist on the international runaway hit video-game, CUPHEAD; over 50,000 sales in 2017.
As a producer, his record label has achieved three Juno nominations and one Juno win for Joe Sealy’s Africville Suite.…
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Canadian and internationally-reaching singer/songwriter Jeffery Straker joined us to talk about his process, collaborations, and great songwriting advice.
We talked about:
- Conservatory training vs. ear training
- When not to give your chorus a conventional “lift”
- Editing your song, even the main title and hook so it brings your idea to a better light
- How to use space in your song
- What does “prosody” mean?
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Join the gang as we go over our favourite bits of the last year and lots more stuff!
We talked about:
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Multi-talented Toronto poet, novelist, and singer/songwriter Robert Priest brought two great songs to the show. He also brought two talented musicians to back him up – guitarist and vocalist David Hines and guitarist Bob Cohen. We talked about a wide range of things including:
- the difference between poetry and song lyrics
- collaboration in song writing
- song structure
- work habits
- breaking down the inner critic
- “highway” songs
- writing for children
- a poem about John Lennon
- Robert’s website
Watch the live performances
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You don’t necessarily need to have a fantastic voice to write or even perform songs well. We looked at some of our favorite songwriters with unusual voices and how they did it.
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We talked about
- Is pitchy the same thing as unconventional?
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The gang celebrates 4 years of Song Talk nerd-ery! Station tech genius Michael Newton stops by too.
What we talked about:
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Stephen Witkin joined us again to talk about his career writing the book for various musicals, and shared three songs resulting from his writing.
We talked about:
- The difference between “On Broadway” and “Off Broadway”
- Prom Queens Unchained available from Samuel French
- different sub-genres in musicals
- the nature of collaboration between book writer, lyricist, and composer
- what’s an “I Want” song?
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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 – “Confessions of a Serial Songwriter”.…
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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?
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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.…
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