One of our favourite guests and friend of the show Blair Packham returned to the show to share his song ideas, from titles to bits of songs, and how he develops them into full-fledged songs. We talked about: Song Studio Hugh’s Room in Toronto Songwriting Apps: OnSong, Rhyme Genie, Tunesmith, and Music Memos Writing the …
Angela Saini returned to Song Talk Radio with a new album and a fresh bunch of earnest and optimistic songs. We talked about: Structured vs. casual collaborations When should an artist make a trip to Nashville? Making a personal connections to songs you’re performing, even if you didn’t write them totally by yourself Live performance …
Singer/songwriter Linda Lavender shares the story of her song They Won’t Catch Me Again. Follow her journey from it’s birth on a five-hour road trip to its studio recording. We talked about: Linda’s album The Rosseau Sessions with Often Running Bluegrass music Influencers like Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Alison Krauss People on the run, rebels, a …
Singer-songwriter and Music Educator Ashley Braga came to visit us again on the tails of her first album for children, Ladder to the Moon. The album features traditional children’s songs with Ashley’s own twists, and totally original songs as well. Ladder to the Moon was produced by Song Talk Radio’s own Neel Modi. We talked about: how songwriting …
Did you love the new movie Bohemian Rhapsody? Hate it? Something in between? Listen as Bruce, Neel, Phil, Michael, and Vanessa let loose! Hear their takes on the Bryan Singer helmed Queen/Freddie Mercury biopic released in late 2018. While they found much to criticize, they had a few raves too. Listen to the whole show!
For our special holiday show we dipped into the vast treaure trove of holiday songs. You’ll hear everything from Run DMC‘s Christmas in Hollis to Frank Loesser‘s Baby it’s Cold Outside. Plus Joni Mitchell, Bing Crosby, David Bowie, Vince Guaraldi, John Prine, and Christmas carols too. Have a listen and see if we picked any of …
For our 5-year anniversary, we visited moments past and our favourite bits. Song Talk Radio Superfan Mike MacInnes joined us (for the 5th time!) Listen to the show Some of our favourite theme shows: Songs about Mental Health Key Modulations with Frank Horvat How to Start Writing a Song Comedy Songs Special Write a song …
The Song Talk Team reviews songwriting apps, with special guest Allister Bradley, who went above the call of duty and showed up on crutches! Listen to the show We talked about: MasterWriter – a lyric-writing app with built-in thesaurus and rhyming dictionary Music Memos – like having a back up band in your pocket! GuitarTuna – …
The team shares tips on the different ways you can start a song. Starting from a bass line Starting with a beat Starting with chords Starting with a lyric or melodic hook Guitarists Picture Chord Encyclopedia Listen to the show
Maybe you didn’t ask for it but we did it anyway – the 90’s song draft – this time with Canadian songwriters. Blair Packham sat in for a sick Bruce, Vanessa joined the gang for her song picks, and much fun was had. Of the many writers of the Great White North, here are a …
Julian Taylor is a Canadian singer-songwriter formerly with the band Staggered Crossing. His songs have appeared in television series including Degrassi: The Next Generation. He now fronts the Julian Taylor Band. Julian dropped by the studio with his daughter Ella. We talked about: Skookum Music Festival, Vancouver Basic core band members together for 24 years! Music …
Virtuoso harmonica player and singer-songwriter Harpin’ Norm Lucien joined us to talk about two of his songs and why you need many, many harmonicas, ideally on a Batman-style utility belt. Sherry Jacoby filled in for Neel – thanks Sherry! We talked about: how to write simple songs that are also nuanced and have substance starting your …
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: chamber/orchestral pop Point Edward, Ontario church organist at 10! Mouth Congress (Scott Thompson & Paul Bellini) Marker …
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: the songwriting process (melodies first) starting with stories and poetry music scene in Kamloops, BC Louie, Louie how to …
It was Canadian Mental Health Week‘s 66th year and we thought we’d put a spotlight on songs that talk about the challenges of maintaining mental health. This year’s hashtag is #getloud. For this special show, we had guest host Adi Aman from Beige Shelter, and four songs that talk about mental health. We talked about: Beige …
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 …
We figured it was time to talk about rhyme; a cornerstone of songwriting. So we invited one of our favourite singer/songwriters – Blair Packham – to take a closer listen to songs with a plethora of rhymes and one with virtually none! We talked about: The songwriter’s personal approach to rhyme Does rhyme distract from …
For this special episode, each of the Song Talk Radio hosts shared one of their own songs for discussion. We talked about: a Gaurdian article about the Hall & Oates song I Can’t Go For That our upcoming show on key modulations Bruce’s experience with his producer an email we got about our Comedy Songs …
We got our funny on by looking at what makes comedy songs tick. Friend of the show Mike MacInnes “Phil’d” in for Phil. Thanks Mike! And our own tech person, Linda Lavender, treated us to a live comedy song she just wrote – great stuff Linda! We talked about: why Top 40 charts don’t have …
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: Patrick Ballantyne’s website Randy Newman “Cowboy” Lyrics Somewhere Lyrics Northwood Records West Side Story Randy Newman Leonard Bernstein Somewhere …
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 …
Sean Bertram returned to the show following the release of his debut album, The Right Place. We talked about: Sean’s studies at Humber College in Music Guitar poetics in your lyrics changing chords and melodic centre between sections of your song contrast in pop songwriting self-doubt in songwriting Taming Your Gremlin by Rick Carson how …
True to form for Song Talk Radio, the day before Valentine’s Day seemed a good day to talk about break-up songs. So Phil brought “Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels)” by Jim Croce, Neel chose “One More Minute” by “Weird Al” Yankovic, Bruce performed a new original tune “I Don’t Love You Anymore”, and …
Avery Florence stopped by the studio on the cusp of her first tour. She was excited! “Road trip!” Her songs were a treasure trove of musical delight, and her tips about managing her own career were helpful to anyone trying to make a living as a singer/songwriter. Here are some of the things we talked …
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