Inverness, UK – Songwriting Workshop w/ Boo Hewerdine

by | May 21, 2018 | Events

It’s that time again.
Each year Boo Hewerdine and I get together and spend time working with participants to hone their song skills.
This one is at Moniack Mhor, outside of Inverness.

Topics covered include:
Structure — Verse / Chorus / Bridge
Clarity in lyric
The importance of meter and rhyme scheme
The power of telling the truth in lyric using simple language
Collaboration
Writing from your life — The importance of telling your story
Creating writing projects for yourself
The habits of a successful writing life
Recognizing and building on your strengths as a writer

Boo and Darden take time during the week to sit one-on-one with each participant, helping to identify goals and create a path to success for their writing. That will look different for each student. To some it might be a roadmap to recording an album, or steps to doing more shows, making it a career. Others want to re-waken their creative energies, make a life more based around music. For many, it’s simply to become a better writer, to finish more songs.

At the end of the week, each participant records at least one song on-site with a professional engineer. The highlight of final evening is a listening party of songs written during the week.

Through a week of collaboration, group meals, evenings spent passing around songs, a sense of community is created. Many past participants keep working together long after the workshop has ended, writing songs and singing on each other’s projects.

For pricing and reservations, contact audreyripleymusic@icloud.com

AN AFTERNOON WITH PAUL WILLIAMS

AN AFTERNOON WITH PAUL WILLIAMS

by | May 17, 2018 | And here's another thing..

Paul Williams is sitting next to me at a dinner in LA.
His stories are hilarious.
He tells me how much fun he’s having of late,
That after not writing songs for many years
He’s only recently getting back into it.

I say, “Well, we should get together and write something.”
He turns to me and says, “Really? What are you doing tomorrow?”

So here I am, spending an afternoon
Writing with Mr. Paul Williams,
And though our song is awful, completely forgettable,
The day is amazing.

As we work, he talks about his early days in Los Angeles, writing for everyone
From Three Dog Night and the Carpenters to the Osmonds,
Being on movie sets with Barbara Streisand,
The alcohol and drugs, the entire years lost and
How he eventually flames out,
Only to get sober and
Devote his time to helping others do the same.

“And now,” he says, “I’m writing again. I’m so lucky.”

At one point, while we’re in the middle of figuring out the bridge, Paul jumps up and says, “God, I love writing songs. Don’t you?”

I leave the session with something better than a song.
Paul Williams gives me a master class on life,
A map of where I want to wind up.
He doesn’t really teach me anything about songwriting
But he shows me what it’s like
To be truly excited
About the process.
How to disconnect,
Re-engage, and ignite again
After watching it all
Fall away.