folk

Phil, Neel, Vanessa, Dave, Bruce, and Etain

Complexity in songwriting: When is it too much? with David St. Bernard

Singer / songwriter Davis St. Bernard stopped by and we explored the issue on complexity in one’s songwriting. What we talked about: How to Write Songs on Guitar: 2nd Edition, Expanded and Updated SongStudio Songwriting workshop Non-traditional song structures modulations Finding your vocal range Jimmy Web gets snubbed by the Grammy’s Listen to the full show: …

Read more

1972 revisited with Kirk Felix and friends

Kirk Felix arrived at our little studio with a whole band; bass, violin (fiddle), and cajon. As we did our sound check the Song Talk crew all savoured the gentle, soothing and heart-warming sounds of a folk ensemble. Patrick Ballantyne sat in for Neel Modi who was on assignment. In addition to two very authentic folk songs (Dusty …

Read more

Back: Bruce, Sherry, Alon, Phil, and Neel. Front: Jonathan and Vanessa

Winter tunes with Sherry Jacoby

Singer songwriter Sherry Jacoby stopped by with our old friend Alon and played some wintery tunes. SongStudio working with co-writers Forget lyrics Download Winter Hibernation by Sherry Jacoby Artist website: http://www.sherryjacoby.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sherryjacoby Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sherryjacobymusic YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNVZl1tcGdqoUr8usbbKjaw SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/sherryjacoby Listen to the full Episode:      

Read more

Back: Bruce, Melanie, Phil, and Neel. Front: Vanessa and Etain

Holiday Love Songs with Melanie Peterson

Saskatoon-born, Toronto-based singer-songwriter Melanie Peterson joined us again, this time with her original holiday-themed love songs. Melanie has been deemed “Mary Poppins with a broken heart” by the BBC and a “superb songwriter” by Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun. She was last on our show in 2015. We talked about: Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s …

Read more

Where’s Bob Dylan?

Okay, so we couldn’t get Bob to come to the studio for the show. Not surprising considering how the Nobel Prize people can’t find him either. On this show about Bob Dylan we discussed: The new film from Ron Howard  – The Beatles, Eight Days a Week How the Beatles wrote songs Should the Nobel Prize …

Read more

Neel, Phil, Jacob, Bruce, Nicole, and Janice

Jacob Moon a song writing star

With 10 albums over a 20-year career, Canadian singer/songwriter/guitarist Jacob Moon dropped into the studio to share a wealth of helpful tips and clear insights. “Live a Little” is a truly exceptional tune, a perfect marriage of lyrics, melody, theme and variation.  “Is That All You Got” is a gutsy rocker that looks at calamity with defiance …

Read more

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 …

Read more

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 …

Read more