Joey Cofone is Founder & CEO of Baronfig and an award-winning designer and entrepreneur. His work has been featured in Fast Company, Bloomberg, New York Magazine, Bon Appétit, Quartz, Mashable, Gizmodo, and Print, among others. Joey was named a New Visual Artist and, separately, Wunderkind designer, by Print magazine. He is the author of the new book, The Laws of Creativity: Unlock Your Originality and …
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The multi-media mind of Darden Smith
Open and empty. That’s how singer-songwriter Darden Smith describes the Texas landscape that inspired his creative new multi-media project, ‘Western Skies,’ available now. Comprising a new studio record, a book of photography, lyrics, and essays, and an accompanying album of readings set to music, Smith’s ‘Western Skies’ is an immersive journey. It explores a world …
Tips for songwriting with MAS Education Director Chad Shank
Chad Shank is a songwriter and music producer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has been writing and recording his own music since middle school, heavily influenced by artists that made the “Minneapolis Sound” famous like Prince, Janet Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and The Time. As an adult Chad worked in radio for many …
How we became the songwriters that we are
This week it was just the family, as hosts Mike, Neel, and Phil each posed a question to reveal how they became the songwriters they are today, and give out songwriting tips in the process. We talked about: What I Learned From Freddie – Neil Peart (Course Teaser) – YouTube Drumeo on Facebook How Mike …
Writing From The Heart with Melanie Peterson
BBC Radio has called Melanie, “Mary Poppins with a broken heart” and that is just part of her appeal. Besides her beautiful voice, Melanie is a terrific songwriter with lots of great songs to prove it. Her tune “Christmas Breaks My Heart” was a finalist in the Great American Songwriting Contest. And now Melanie has …
Holiday Gift Guide 2020
Singer-songwriter and Jitters frontman Blair Packham joined us for our latest annual Holiday Gift Guide. We talked about gift suggestions in every price range. Happy shopping for the musician in your life, for yourself, or for your favourite songwriting podcast host (hint: that’s Neel). Thanks to our listeners Don Thomspon, Lorenzo D. Policelli, and Matt …
Anatomy of a Song: book review and tips for songwriters and producers
I recently finished reading a great book by Marc Myers entitled Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits that Changed Rock, R&B, and Pop. Myers interviewed the people involved in historically significant songs from the 1940s to the 1990s. He ended his examination in 1991 because, as he explains it, you …
Keeping It Real with Blair Packham
This week SongTalk welcomed our old friend Blair Packham to our studio. The Toronto-based artist, first gained attention for his work with ’80’s power pop band The Jitters. He is now an acclaimed solo artist and musician. Blair released two strongly-reviewed solo albums before shifting his focus to composing music for TV and films, teaching …