When Adam or Kelley or I start working on a song together, sometimes we start with a two or three word phrase one of us brought to the session, and other times, the idea comes up in our conversation about what’s been happening with us lately. The great thing about songwriting with a friend is you talk about what’s really going on, not just surface-level, superficial topics, cause we know we can’t write a song called “I’m Fine.”
Adam Carroll, Kelley Mickwee, and I will be hosting a songwriting workshop later this month in Gruene for beginners and more experienced songwriters too. We’ll talk basics and also about cowriting, as well as other strategies we use to get ideas and turn them into songs. Details below. You’re welcome to join us.
The workshop we’re hosting will be held on Sunday, October 27th from 11am to 4pm in Gruene, TX. It will be a five hour session exploring the craft of songwriting for beginners and more experienced songwriters.
You can reserve your spot via Venmo to @Kelley-Mickwee for $175 (plus $10 to include catered lunch). The workshop address in Gruene, Texas will be shared upon confirmation of your reservation.
If you can’t be there in person, a few years ago Gordy Quist and I also put our heads together and put all the strategies that help us into a book called Songfarmer: Writing More and Better Songs. Our goal was to get you past the blank page and then give you a self-guided program for improving your writing.
When I first started writing songs, I got the book And Then I Wrote from Tom Russell after a Cactus Cafe show he played. It opened a door. Big thanks to Tom for the encouragement:
A few years later, I read Paul Zollo’s interviews with songwriters about their process that he collected in Songwriters on Songwriting. It’s another very helpful source of inspiration.
