OK, so we’ve got a thing for the cowbell. Or maybe that was just Phil. In any case, the under-appreciated cowbell gets the most love it’s had since Christopher Walken’s fever.
We talked about:
- the history and distinctive sound of the cowbell
- the heyday of the cowbell in 70s rock
- syncopated vs.
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Talented teen singer-songwriter Jules joined us again, after her first appearance over a year ago. In the midst of writing songs for her sophomore release, Jules talked with the Song Talk Radio Action Team about:
- FACTOR grants for Canadians, and why you should hire a grant writer
- Unsigned Only Songwriting Competition
- writing from a title
- writing lyrics that are open to interpretation
- working on a lyric until it’s perfect
- collaborations
- what a band brings to the songwriting process
- how teens are feeling about issues and putting them into songs
Listen to the whole show:
Watch the live performances:
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For our latest theme show, we take a look at some of our favorite Protest Songs and try to figure out what makes an effective one. We looked at River Runs Red by Midnight Oil, Eve of Destruction by P.F. Sloan, and Phil talks about how his band The Parkdale Hookers, went about writing their punk-anthem Multi-Media Word and talked about how not to date a protest song.… Read the rest
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The always entertaining singer/songwriter TC FolkPunk returned to the show and played a couple of punky solo electric guitar songs and talked about playing solo without a band with just an electric guitar.
Some Stuff We Talked About
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One in the Chamber (Mike Baise – vocals, rhythm guitar, Cecil Eugene – lead guitar, vocals, Christian Dotto – bass, Gerrod Harris – percussion) join us to discuss their songwriting process as a band. We talked about:
- bringing a song to the band to be fleshed out
- singing lead vocals with lyrics written by a bandmate
- to be or not to be wordy
- abstract lyrics
- rock and roll
With influences streaming in from all eras of rock, One In The Chamber is a unique, modern rock outfit.… Read the rest
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Bruce, Neel, and Phil overcome many obstacles to present a song each, and then glorify each other with mountainous heaps of unqualified praise.
Neel presents a song inspired by a songwriting webinar held by songwriting coach Alex Forbes, Bruce plays his classic hit “Survivor” live in the studio, and Phil talks about writing on bass and what it means when you’re writing to a 1-3-5 chord pattern for his first song with the Parkdale Hookers.… Read the rest
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The God No!s bandmembers Peter, Sandy, Alon, Subhayu, and Rachel talk about their collaborative approach to songwriting, where each member brings a song to the band and together they refine and finish it off, in a “no-free” zone. See, democracy works after all.… Read the rest
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Song Talk Radio co-host Neel Modi releases his first album, Counterfeit Lampshades, on the show. He presents three songs from the album, with an electronic industrial rock attitude.… Read the rest
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