It's been my pleasure to share my songs with people over a long and happy performing life. I usually give some kind of back story to a song before I play it to an audience but the mechanics of the songwriting process are pretty dull unless you happen to be a songwriter so I usually draw a veil over that part to preserve the mystery. But then again many of my friends are songwriters so I thought I'd lift the veil, just a little, to reveal the ugly truth!
If you've never written a song you might imagine they pop out in real time; spontaneous and effortless. Once in a while this does happen but mostly there's a lot of scribbling, frowning, crossing out, stomping off and making tea. But there are ways to help it happen, to happen more often and more productively. Rules to be followed or ignored as the mood might take you, techniques to help you focus, think differently and these ways can be shared, they're not a secret. I talk a lot about 'the magic' but actually it's not like being a magician, explaining how the trick works doesn't take the magic away, it just makes more songs.
One of my favourite artists on the local music scene is Eva Perrin Fontana. She's an amazing musician and a wonderful songwriter so when I was thinking about starting these songwriting masterclasses I couldn't imagine anyone better to help me present them. We've shared a stage and worked in the studio many times so I know we have that nice, easy working-together vibe, on top of which, unlike me, she's actually qualified in the subject matter!
The classes will take place at the Farnham Pottery. If you've been there you'll know this but in case you haven't, it's gorgeous, quirky, stylish and warm (the advantage of having a lot of kilns around the place) plus there's the fabulous Hobo Café which will be open throughout the day with lunch included in the ticket price.
Our event on March 5th has been adopted as a part of the Farnham Literary Festival which makes it sound a bit posh but it really isn't. So if you're at a loose end on Sunday March 5th, April 16th or May 14th and you fancy seeing behind the curtain to understand more about the magic of songwriting, Eva and I are ready to spill the beans.
If you'd like to book a place on any of the classes, you can find the details here.
One last thought; A while ago I wrote a song for Eva called Infinite Sunshine, we played it at one of the Pottery music events and Eva's friend Anneke videoed it on her phone so if you want to see us in action, here it is...
See you there!
Jim
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