March 2018
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 23, No. 3
Next Meeting Sunday March 4th 5:00pm.
The International Songwriter’s Guild meets at 5 PM on the first Sunday of every
month at the Central Florida Musician’s Union building, 3020 East Robinson St.,
Orlando, FL 32803 (at the extreme east end of Robinson, near Orlando Executive
Airport)
Songwriters, composers, performers, publishers, and the curious are encouraged to
join us. Non-members are invited to attend a meeting or two to get a feel for our
group and what we do. If you wish to join, there is an annual fee of only $5. For
more information, visit our website at www.tinyurl.com/isgsongs or myspace page at
The meetings will be structured as follows: 5:00 to 5:30, business and
introductions. 5:30 to 6:00, presentation by a guest speaker (when scheduled), 5:30
or 6:00 to 8:00, song critiques. Please bring a CD or I-phone or mp3 player or
perform your song live, and bring 10 or more lyric sheets. If we have at least 5
songs by members who wish to be scored, and 6 members scoring, then we will have
them entered in the Monthly competition. Everyone is encouraged to write
constructive comments on the lyric sheets.
Any Details not in this newsletter are at:
If you wish to join our Facebook group, please check us out at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/831814850193553/
Webchatter
By Cybertoad
I am a huge fan of Brett Domino. Here is his parody advice video on
"How To Get a Song In The Charts" (Very amusing I think :-))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M87ffKATJo4
Write, Submit, Forget, Repeat, #2
By Jeff Mason
I repeat last month’s title. It has to be my motto for the year. Strangely,
the composer I am writing about today does not follow that mantra. During
the Keynote Interview at the TAXI Road Rally 2017 and after receiving the
Lifetime Achievement Award, Steve Dorff casually told us he waited for the
muse to show up. This prompted TAXI president Michael Laskow to, later,
turn to the audience and say,”Don’t do what he does.” Laskow explained to
Dorff,”I’m always encouraging these guys (in the audience) to work, work,work.
You are that extremely rare person that’s just like, “Eh, it just comes to me ,
and I’ve had like a zillion hits.”
It seems like he’s had a zillion hits. The bio page from his web page is
stunning. Perhaps even more amazing, he’s not exactly a household name.
Here are a few of the highlights from that page. “Nominated for a Grammy
three times and six times for an Emmy He has written songs for Barbra
Streisand, Kenny Rogers, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Anne Murray,
George Strait, Garth Brooks and many more. At the same time he has
established himself as a gifted film and television composer. He’s tallied
over 40 BMI awards with hits like Roger’s “ Through the Years,” Murray’s
“I Just Fall in Love Again” (Billboard’s top country hit of 1979) and Eddie
Rabbitt’s “Every Which Way But Loose.” The title track from Clint Eastwood’s
1978 movie. His songs have charted in five successive decades with #1 records
across four decades.”
Dorff has composed TV music for “Spenser: For Hire,” “Murphy Brown,”
“Growing Pains,” “Murder She Wrote,” Columbo” and “Reba.” He has contributed
songs and scores for “Bronco Billy,” “Rocky IV,” Pure Country,” “Tin Cup” and
“Honky Tonk Man.” I could go on and on. You may check out the full biography
at https://stevedorff.com/music His latest move is into musical theater. He has
two projects making their way to stage: “Josephine” (The Josephine Baker Story)
and “Pure Country” ( The Musical.)
It has to be said that Steve is a modest, unpretentious person with a
self-effacing sense of humor. Even with all his success he told us that he’d just had
a song rejected by Barbra Streisand. “Rejection, I still get rejected about a hundred
times a week.” Steve had written a song for her new project which was going to
start the next month. He had an “idea for a second song, demoed up this song
and played it and she didn’t like it. I should have quit while I was ahead.” Steve
explained that he thought our catalogs are like ice bergs with 15% above water
and the other 85% nobody ever sees.
He is a gifted piano player but not a lyricist. His collaborators have included
Paul Williams, Marty Panzer, John Bettis and Motown legend Lamont Dozier.
He considers lyric writing a separate talent. He, also, freely admits that he’s not a
very good singer. As I said, he is a modest person.
There is an interesting thing happening with Steve, however. Writing songs
and scoring are two very different disciplines and certainly in the world of scoring
or writing cues one cannot wait for the muse to come. Steve explains that he was
“fortunate, as a young kid, I musicalized everything I did.” If he was in a snowball
fight and getting pelted with ice by his friends he would be musicalizing it. He’d have
a symphony going in his head during a rainstorm. “Like we all see and we all hear,
and we all smell and taste” and he would ask his friends, “How did you hear that?”
So he went to California to write for film. “Because writing to pictures and images,
music and images was as natural to me as breathing.” “Writing songs came later,
writing songs is a formula and a set thing that you’re confined to.” Steve then went
on to describe a condition he has called synesthesia. When he hears or creates
music in his head he sees lights and colors and they represent intervals to him.
It’s a cross-wiring of senses and about 5% of the population experiences it. “Some
people taste coffee and all of a sudden everything will turn green.” Steve says music
triggered what he called “plasma bubbles” and when he saw Leonard Bernstein
conduct the New York Phil at age seven he could hear the instruments before he
knew what they looked like.
More next month on this gifted composer Steve Dorff.
ISG Bulletin Board
Meeting space graciously provided by Central Florida Musicians Association,
Local 389. You are invited to join the largest union in the world, representing the
interests of the professional musician. Visit their website at afm389.org for more
information. You may reach them by phone at: 407-894-8666.
Why isn't your gig announced here? Members in good standing
call SusieCool with your appearance schedule! 407-760-2153
If you want to join us at the Central Florida Folk song circle, please show up at
Bikes, Beans and Bordeaux at 3022 Corrine Drive on the last Wednesday of each month
from 6 to 8:30/9pm. The BBB has many delicious items on their menu, and also some vegetarian stuff.
They also serve beer and wine. They have a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Central-Florida-Folk-Song-Circle-139385302761066/
On March 14th we have a playing circle with the Fingerstyle Guitar Group
in the Community room of the winter Park Library.460 E. New England Ave. Winter Park,
FL 32789. 6 to 8:30pm. Songwriters are welcome, but we do try to play our fingerstyle
songs and not use picks. There is more info on the facebook group page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/228147620559285/?fref=nf
SusieCool is the organizer of a Meetup.com group called
"Orlando Creative Music Network"
We have a Facebook page for this group if you want info.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/274152179716552/
Current members please send us your website info if you would like your site to be listed in the ISG members page.
https://sites.google.com/site/isgsusiecool/home/links-and-recommended-reading/member-websites
No Critique scores for February
New members always welcome!
© 2018 ISG