Lately I was playing with the idea of a songwriting think-tank. Something which a few creative types can bounce ideas off one another or just propose musical ideas. I noticed Jason Mraz, and Bob Schnieder do something like that. Also when I talked to McFrontalot he mentioned songfight which was a similar idea but those are all competitive games and I would prefer to just bounce ideas around with friends or collaborate on ideas giving advice and feedback.
My intent is to help come up with phrases so evocative that we are all inspired to use them in our own material. Phrases like "blind man's bicycle" (Mraz, and Schnieder), "Someday that little girl will make that boy cry" (David Poe), or "I'm a necrophiliac and I love you to pieces" (Me).
All phrases evoke enough imagery that songs could flow naturally from the idea and we may all benefit from each others creativity.
Eligibility
Feel free to suggest people who would make interesting additions. They do not have to be musicians - poets and other creative types are welcome as this is a think tank and idea generator. I want to keep the group somewhat small but large enough for good feedback.
What to post
Creative verbiage. Snippets of songs, lyrics or art you would like to solicit suggestion for. Constructive criticism.
Song Credit
Anything taken from the list should give contributors credit for ideas but contributing ideas in not really full writing credit. More "mention others in liner notes for songs", etc.
Communication Medium
I was considering trying Google wave for my first idea just to see how that works. (And because I want something between a forum and email chain for each song and it seemed like it might work well.) I expect it may be one or two threads a month as I haven't got the time to do more frequently these days. But my hope is that the threads will always be available for updates and new suggestion.
Members
Zachary St Lawrence (Organizer, guitarist, bassist, songwriter)
(invited) Alex Pashoian (Incredibly talented guitarist)
(invited) Eric Santiestevan(Composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist)
(invited) Karen Langlie (Cellist)
Kelly Ralabate (Guitarist)
Paul Hamblin (Artist, all around creative type)
Natasha Olchanski (Vocalist)
Cathrine Miller (Actress/cellist)
Useful Tools and Sites
Rhyme site to work around awkward turns of phrases. http://www.rhymezone.com/?loc=bar
Song fight - weekly music contest http://www.songfight.org/index.php
Reaper software - heard very good things about it from pros and the personal license is only $60 http://www.reaper.fm/purchase.php