Lyricist and librettist Stephen Witkin returned to Song Talk Radio for a highly informative hour on writing for musical theatre. Here are some of the topics we discussed: what is the “book” and the role of the book writer for a musical? collaboration with the muscial’s composer the purpose of the book in relation to …
Jeff Greenway returned to the Song Talk Radio studio to share his thoughts on song writing. His approach to writing is through a feeling, not a theory. This was amply demonstrated in the two songs he shared with us. The first, Cavalry, evoked the sadness and confusion you feel when a relationship just isn’t working …
For this special theme show, each of the hosts presented a song with “unusual” or hard-to-decipher lyrics. We delved into a discussion around understanding the intentions behind and interpreting the songs. Download the lyrics here: Unusual Lyrics Neel’s selection: A Self Called Nowhere by They Might Be Giants Bruce’s selection: McArthur Park by Jimmy Webb (performed by …
Having been immersed in the wonderful world of singer-songwriters during my time at Song Talk Radio, I’ve attended quite a number of gigs and open mics over the past year. Everyone I’ve seen perform has great talent in singing, playing an instrument and writing music. However, I find there’s a lot of variation in a …
Carmen Toth / Social Potion joined us for the second time to talk about a new song, and an older one, both of which are appearing on her upcoming album. Stuff we talked about: writing lyrics first, songs first, or improvising on the fly during a jam/collaboration journalling / creating a “lyrics bank” starting a …
From the moment Blair Packham started to speak, we knew we were in for some great lessons from a master songwriter and experienced teacher. If You Were Mine featured a great bridge and instrumental break. In Her Dreams started out as a story of a woman in a call centre and moved to a daughter caring for an ailing …
On this highly informative and entertaining show, we talked with John Glover: how John adapted his guitar playing after a hand injury the difference between “cathartic creativity” and the hard work of writing songs Justin Rutledge‘s songwriting workshop lyrics versus poetry playing with Willie P. Bennett starting the writing of a song with a melody and a chord …
A very special show with Song Talk Radio’s co-host and co-creator Bruce Harrott, showcasing and discussing the process behind some of his best songs. We talked about: Bruce’s traditional approach with writing lyrics first, and trying a different approach now working with different producers The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron writing about real experiences (“staying …
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