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Ooh and ahh and doo and doe your way back to 2017, where we talked about songs with non-verbal hooks.
Check out the original show post.…
Throwback Thursday Themeshow: Non-verbal Hooks
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The Best Songs Have Only 3 chords
This week on SongTalk we look at a simple songwriting technique that may be more complicated than you think – songs with one chord progression.
That’s right, no guest this week just the SongTalk team – Phil, Neel and Mike – talking about the ways songs with just one series of chords repeated over and over have become huge hits.…
Throwback Thursday Themeshow: The Song Talk Meetup
In this throwback from 2017, we talked about the benefits of attending the live Song Talk Meetup (formerly the Songwriter’s Meetup, formerly the Songwriter’s Cafe). This month’s meetup (May 2020) is online (and will be for the next while), so wherever you are in the world, you can attend.…
Throwback Thursday Themeshow: All About Chords
Here’s a super informative show from 2016 with Frank Horvat, who told us everything we were afraid to ask about chords and more!
Check out the original show post for all the resources we talked about on the show.…
Throwback Thursday Themeshow: Protest Songs
We talked about protest songs way back in 2016, and things still didn’t get any better. Here’s a throwback to dissension through music.
Here’s the original show page if you want the lyrics.…
Throwback Thursday Themeshow: Unusual Lyrics
For this Throwback Thursday, we’re going back to 2016 for a special episode with guest co-host Janice Ho to look at three songs with unusual lyrics and what that means to communicate your song.…
Throwback Thursday Themeshow: Song Structures
Back in 2016, we talked about songs with interesting song structures, including Band on the Run, I Lost My Heart in San Francisco, and Fading Into Obscurity. What song stands out to you as one with a unique structure?…
Throwback Thursday Themeshow: Bridges
Here’s our first Throwback Thursday Themeshow episode from 2014, one of our first theme show all about bridges, with many song examples and how they were used in the songs.…
Songwriting Duos. Guitar Pedal building and stuff with Blair Packham
Blair Packham joins us to talk about Songwriting Duos and other stuff.
What we talked about:
- Phil’s FET-1 Pedal kit Build
- BuildYourOwnClone.com
- FET PreAmp Kit
- BlairPackham.com
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The Hosts Take on Their First Songwriting Challenge
About three months ago, we asked our listeners to suggest a songwriting challenge or prompt for us to explore. Organizations like the Toronto Songwriting Association often prompt their members with challenges such as “Take a cliche and turn it on its head”, or “Write a song about a home appliance.”…
Best Songs of the Decade Special
Super-fan of the show Mike MacInnes joined us for our final live show of 2019, and indeed of the decade, for our personal takes on the best songs of the last 10 years. We also created a Spotify playlist of all the songs!…
The 2nd Annual Holiday Gift Guide
The gang gets together to share suggestions on the perfect gifts for the songwriter in your life (let’s be honest, it’s you. You’re gonna by yourself this great stuff– and so you should!). Let us know what you want for the holidays in the comments below!…
The TV Theme Draft Show Extravaganza
Frank Horvatt joined in on our Favorite TV Theme Draft show, where we chose our fav TV themes of the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, 2000’s and the 2010s.…
Favourite Movie Soundtracks!
This week SongTalk welcomed our pal Matthew Reid to our studio to talk about movie soundtracks.
We chose our favourites and talked about why they made the cut and what were the runners up.
We talked about:
- what are the criteria of soundtracks – are they a collection of songs from other sources, are they custom music made specifically for the film project or is there a grey area in between?
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Songs without a chorus
This week we talked about songs which have no chorus. First, we had to be clear about what does make a chorus. Then we deep dove on three songs we think don’t have one. What do you think? Leave a comment with your pick for a song without a chorus.…
Creating Soundtracks with Jeff Alan Greenway
This week SongTalk welcomed Jeff Alan Greenway to our studio.
Greenway is a film composer, singer/songwriter and pianist from Pickering, Ontario. He has written music for film, worked as a session player, orchestrator and arranger, released his own original album “Great Expectations” and wrote the score to the international documentary The Secret Life Of Frogs, which won a Nature award at the Cannes Media and TV festival.…
Music Royalties with Vel Omasic
Vel Omazic of Canada’s Music Incubator explains the ins and outs of Music Royalties and how to make sure you are getting what you should as a songwriter and/or a performer in Canada. Put simply, if someone is making money or conducting business based on your work, you’re entitled to a royalty.…
Rocketman: The Elton John biopic movie review
The Song Talk Radio Team discussed the latest biopic about Elton John in the movie Rocketman. Composer and Second City writer Matthew Reid joined us.
We talked about:
- The framing of the story around Elton John’s addiction and therapy
- The depiction of Elton John as a musical child prodigy
- Similarities and differences between Rocketman and the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which we reviewed in January
- Taron Egerton, who played the role of Elton John
- The friendship and collaboration between Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin (spoiler alert: this is the best thing about the movie)
Listen to the show:
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Songwriting for Beginners
We talked tips and tricks for beginner songwriters. Our producer Vanessa and techie Micah also joined in the conversation. Some of the stuff we covered included:
- Our Rocketman movie pre-screening contest
- How Phil and Neel got started on songwriting, and the challenges they faced
- Get yourself a decent guitar to start on (or a ukulele!)
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College Radio: How Do I Get My Music Played?
This week SongTalk welcomed Adriel Smiley to our studio. Adriel is the Music Director of CJRU – Ryerson’s Radio station – and Adriel brought a wealth of information about college radio and the best way musicians can get their music played on these stations.…
How to access Government funding for Songwriters & Musicians
There are many Government Grants out there that can help you expand your songwriting career. The unstoppable team of Frank and Lisa Horvat stopped by and shared some fantastic tips to get funding for your musical projects.
- Factor (THE FOUNDATION ASSISTING CANADIAN TALENT ON RECORDINGS
- Following up
- how to find who is offering funding
- It takes a few tries
- Ontario Arts Council
- Getting PR episode “How to approach the Media & get Results”
- Canada Council for the Arts
- How to write grant applications
- Don’t Give Up!
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This Is Spinal Tap: 35 Years Later
This week SongTalk Radio has a special episode celebrating the 35th anniversary of the classic film, “This Is Spinal Tap”. And joining us in our trip down memory lane is one of our favourite guests on the show Blair Packham. We talk about where and when we first encountered this classic cult comedy and how true it was to our own experiences in the music business (hint: very!)…
Social Media Tips for Songwriters: How to get the most out of social media with Emmanuel Lopez, the Social Media Wingman
Emmanuel Lopez, the Social Media Wingman, stopped by to share tips on how songwriters can use Social Media to boost their brand and build their career.
Stuff we talked about:
- What channel to focus on
- Jeff Lynne’s ELO on instagram
- The Fostex 280 Recorder
- Defining what we think “Success” is
- Songs_IN-THE-FILM_Emmanuel-Lopez lyrics
- Songs_RAIN-OF-ANGELS_Emmanuel-Lopez lyrics
- www.instagram.com/motivatorman1/
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What’s a cover song anyway?
Our own Michael Proudfoot proudly stepped into the world of cover songs. He uncovered a treasure trove of examples and ideas. Have a listen as the Song Talk Radio team plus Blair Packham (The Jitters) tackles:
- when everything was a cover
- the difference between 45, 78, and 33 1/3 rpm records
- professional songwriters writing for professional singers
- How The Beatles shifted pop culture by both writing and performing their own songs
- Jimi Hendrix covers All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan)
- authenticity (Sarah McLachlan) and self-expression
- Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Carole King, Leonard Cohen
- singing someone else’s song – making it universal
- Husker Du, Love Is All Around (Sonny Curtis)
Listen to the whole show
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