Fresh Content

Show date:  Mar. 25, 2024

Neel, Phil, and Alex

Over the last few years, Alex Bird & Ewen Farncombe have become two of the biggest names on the Canadian Jazz scene. With praise from around the globe, this talented team has created timeless and heartfelt originals for a modern audience. They have produced something that is completely unique; three original albums in three years.

Bird and Farncombe’s latest album, a duo record, dropped as a surprise of 11 originals entitled, “Songwriter”. Kira Grunenberg at DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE wrote, “Impassioned messages sung and played from one’s heart but worn on a well-dressed sleeve. “Songwriter” is an elegant, romantic, and well-executed gem of a record.” The album was nominated for “Best Vocal Jazz” at the 2024 JUNO awards.

Alex joined us to talk about their song This Song Is Ours. Download the lyrics to follow along.

We talked about:

  • Phil’s new furnace (editor’s note: you’d think this is the least songwriting topic ever, but then, there’s this to consider)
  • The Song Talk Meetup
  • How do you explain to someone how to write a melody?
  • Call and response melodies
  • Bringing together melody and lyric with a jazz pianist to create a unified song
  • Learning to trust your instincts as a songwriter
  • How Alex re-wrote most of the lyric the night before recording
  • Exploring options as a way of finding out what not to do
  • The value of having another viewpoint/person on your song

Show date:  Mar. 04, 2024

Neel, Phil, Nadia, and Jason

Built on emotion-stirring storytelling and unmistakable vocal harmonies accompanied by a century-old instrument, Burnstick, a JUNO nominated husband and wife Folk duo, are intent on creating affecting music that inspires listeners to feel. The Manitoba-based duo features Nadia and Jason Burnstick, esteemed independent artists who united over a decade ago to create deeply moving, cinematic Folk music using their trademark vocal pairing, and Jason’s mastery of the lap slide Weissenborn guitar. The pair released their JUNO-nominated debut album, Kîyânaw, in 2019, from which their song, “Some Kind of Hell” took home the Canadian Folk Music Award for Single of the Year, while also receiving nominations from the Western Canadian Music Awards, and Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards in 2020 and 2021.

Nadia and Jason shared the process behind their song Closer. Download the lyrics to follow along.

We talked about:

  • Chad Shank’s video about songwriting from a title
  • Having the courage to excise an entire section of your song
  • Employing a call and response structure in your melodies
  • Having strong prosody in your song
  • Collaborating with different strengths – groove, lyric, melodies
  • Is rhyming a word with the same word a rhyme?
  • Finding the right key signature for a song (even if it’s B-major) and so it works with both singers

Show date:  Feb. 27, 2024

Allister, Phil, and Neel

Singer-songwriter, producer, and Song Studio maverick Allister Bradley joined us to talk us through song registrations (for Canadians).

We talked about:

  • Billy Joel’s new song and AI-driven video Turn the Lights Back On
  • Collective Societies | Copyright Board of Canada (cb-cda.gc.ca) lists ALL the organizations responsible for collecting and distributing royalties
  • What is a royalty?
  • Know the different hats you’ll be wearing for collecting royalties – songwriter, lyricist, performer, publisher
  • Understand the splits when you’re collaborating
  • What constitutes a public performance of a song?
  • If you’re an independent artist who records, produces, and releases your own music, you’re also the record label and the master record owner
  • Carefully consider your digital distribution aggregator (CD Baby, TuneCore, Distrokid, RouteNote, etc)
  • Make sure to obtain (for free) and retain ISRC and UPC/EAN codes

Resources

Show date:  Feb. 19, 2024

Neel, Phil, and Flavia

Flavia Abadía is an international DJ, MC, singer, and songwriter based in Toronto, Canada. Colombian and French-Canadian, born in France, Flavia seamlessly blends an array of musical genres, ranging from Latin and Moombahton to Hip Hop, House, Vogue, and other global elements.

With an impressive track record, Flavia’s original music has garnered over 2 million cumulative streams, attesting to her widespread appeal and creative prowess. In 2024, she is set to release her highly anticipated third album, “SALVAJE.”

Prior to this, Flavia made a significant mark in 2023 with the release of her first all-Spanish album, “Hacia La Luz,” accompanied by several genre-bending singles.

Flavia shared the process behind her song Mala. Download the lyrics, both in Spanish and the English translation.

We talked about:

  • Releasing a fully Spanish language album in Canada
  • Working with songwriters and producers with different cultural backgrounds and influences
  • Writing in the language you feel you can be clever in
  • How rhymes work in different languages (or is there even a difference?)
  • Using a Reggaeton Fusion beat
  • How Flavia records melodies on her phone and then collaborates in the studio to develop her songs
  • How writing with a melody or bassline leaves you open to different key signatures
  • If you write something cool but it doesn’t work for the song, save it for another song
  • Releasing singles or albums

Follow Flavia

Show date:  Feb. 14, 2024

Neel, Phil, and Chad

This week we were joined again by Chad Shank to talk about two of his favourite songs and why they should be studied.

Chad Shank is a Songwriter, Music Producer, and Songwriting Teacher. Chad is the founder of At-Home Songwriting, a YouTube Channel and Songwriting Education Community. He is also a Lyric Instructor for Berklee College of Music Online. He has written in many genres including pop, Country, and dance. In 2024, Chad is hosting upcoming online and in-person Songwriting Retreats, expanding on the reach of At-Home Songwriting to help writers write like Pros At Home.

Chad featured the songs What Have You Done For Me Lately by Janet Jackson and Here by Rascal Flatts

We talked about:

  • What makes a great song?
  • Groove-based music, using a bassline to drive the song, and synthesizers taking the place of horns
  • Writing melodies where the rhythm is more important than the range of pitches
  • Try writing a catchy musical interlude, it can become the main hook of your song!
  • Writing with strong prosody between the lyrics and shape of your melody
  • Introducing tension through your rhyme schemes
  • Establishing context with sense-based lyrics before getting to the emotional content
  • Being really clear about your song structure
  • How “Country music” is a really big umbrella

Check out Chad’s At Home Songwriting youTube channel and online community.