guitar

Bruce, Patrick, Phil, and Neel

“A song is good if you like it,” says Patrick Ballantyne

Bruce, Neel and Phil were all happy to have Patrick Ballantyne back in the Song Talk Radio studio for the third time. He always brings great songs (listen to “Make Believe” and “Sky” for proof) and lots of experience to share about the songwriting process for our listeners. When writing a song, he starts with …

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Collaboration do’s and don’ts with Janice Ho

The ever lovely and talented (and what a voice!) Janice Ho, Song Talk Radio’s very own tweeting songbird, talked about two early collaborations she worked on and what to look out for when collaborating. Download the lyrics for the show. We talked about: Muse Songwriters forum – a great online community to meet other lyricists …

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Addie Denison: Old-time Country with a Twist

Addie Denison shares songs that at first sound like classic country, until you realize they’re (in part) about revenge, or blasting off into outer space. Sonja Seiler guest hosted. Stuff we talked about: The Songwriter’s Cafe Meetup Songwriting as storytelling in its purest form Download the lyrics here: Wheelhouse & Red Dirt Asymmetrical structures Feedback from …

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Scott Neary – Tools, tips, and some very cool things

Seasoned professional guitarist, singer-songwriter, and all-around nice guy Scott Neary shares some of his best kept songwriting secrets. Scott also accompanied the talented jazz songwriter Steven Teatz for his appearance on Song Talk Radio. We talked about: The great chorus debate – to repeat it verbatim or not? Why you should whistle your melody Why, …

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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 …

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Lucas Bozzo and the wisdom of repetition, repetition, repetition

On this engaging program with Lucas Bozzo we delved into the sometimes heated debate of variety versus repetition in songwriting. Lucas performed two songs in the studio; “If” and “How Beautiful You Are”. We discussed: legato vocals over staccato guitar powerful lyrics over a repetitive musical form the balance of the simple and the practical …

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