November 2018
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 23, No. 11
Next Meeting Sunday November 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
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),
or a short workshop/exercise. 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.
On October 7th, we had a visit from Terri Binion, a local Singer/Songwriter who
has quite a following. You can check out her website at:
http://www.terribinionmusic.com/about/
Thanks Terri for sharing your story and songs with us.
Any Details not in this newsletter are at: www.tinyurl.com/isgsongs
If you wish to join our Facebook group, please check us out at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/831814850193553/
Web Chatter
by Cybertoad
I would like you to check out an article in Music World by Jason Blume.
https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/how-to-write-songs-that-are-both-personal-and-universal
This article makes a whole lot of sense, and also provides tips for folks who would
like to have their songs placed in movies and television.
Blocked
By Jeff Mason
Last month I wrote about unusual ways to write songs. This month I am writing about the dreaded
writer’s block. Both articles are closely related. I am looking at the significant amount of information that
I have gathered and I think I will write the next article on the same topic.
One of the most enjoyable parts of writing these articles is clicking the various links and following
the magical trails to unimagined treasures. I hope some of you are doing the same.
This is the definition of writer’s block from the on line Merriam Webster dictionary:
“a psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece.”
I like what independent singer/song writer Natalie Gelman had to say in Michael Gallant’s 2011blog
“Songwriting and Writer’s Block: 11 Tips To Help The Songwriter Get Unstuck.” Natalie said, “The biggest
problem songwriters face is fear. You can get scared of any number of things. The most common one is,
will my stuff be any good?” Here is a link to that Discmakers blog
This is a good blog to commence our discussion on how to break through this annoying psychological
condition. It’s an older blog but this material never dates itself.
The first tip is to start with a title. Keep all your titles because you never know when you’ll need one. Often,
a good title prompts the writing of a song. If you cannot think of an exciting title you can paste some text into
a box on wordle.net and make a word cloud. I’ve found interesting combinations of words which suggested
titles to me. I had to cut out some headlines and pictures for a class I am taking on shame resilience. As I
looked through them, I realized there were some ideas for titles and songs. We touched on this method in
last month’s article. I had accidentally stumbled into William S. Burroughs cut-up technique for writing novels.
It was later used by David Bowie for writing songs and I can now testify that it works!
The next tip advises us to “Look and Listen Everywhere.” This is from Natalie Gelman, “Whether you’re on
a train, walking around, or just having a conversation, you never know what you’re going to hear. When I’m really
in the moment and paying attention to what’s happening around me, sometimes I’ll hear someone say something
random and think,’That’s a great line! I should use that.”
I’ve referred to it as wearing your songwriter’s hat. This naturally leads to tip three. “Carry a notebook, voice
recorder, or both.” Who knows when the muse is going to whisper in your ear? “Gelman recalls one time when
she came up with a great musical idea, but had neither pen and paper nor any sort of recording device nearby to
document it. Her solution? Borrowing a friend’s phone, calling her own voicemail, and singing the fresh lick to her
own voice mail.” Keep a voice recorder near your bed so you can capture that elusive dream before it slips away.
Here is a link to Gelman’s web page. https://www.nataliegelman.com
The next tip comes from Grammy nominated producer, guitarist and songwriter Tommy Marolda.
https://www.tommymarolda.com “Keep unfinished ideas.” “A lot of famous songwriters have a suitcase full of ideas
that they pull for different songs when they get stuck,” he says. “Go back into your own catalog of unfinished work
and see what’s hanging out. You’d be surprised that a bridge you wrote years ago might fit perfectly with a song
you’re working on now.”
I probably do have a suitcase worth of unfinished ideas in the house. In various forms too. I have over 210
voice memos on my phone. That’s just on the latest technology! The notebooks, cassettes, tape reels, music books
and collection of musical instruments take up valuable living space in my home. My wife is threatening to downsize!
We didn’t win the lottery this weekend. Yet still I persist. I need a hit.
See you next month.
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.
Past ISG member Nelson Vincent will be hosting a Songwriter Contest on Thursday November 29th at
Stardust Video & Coffee 1842 Winter Park Rd, Orlando, FL 32803.
Brought to you by O-Town Records, Soundwire Records, International Songwriter's Guild and
Stardust Video and Coffee.
We will put the details up on our website as soon as they are available. https://sites.google.com/site/isgsusiecool/home
Details so far: Doors open at 6pm. $7 per song (registration at the door
limit 2 songs.) $5 per song if you pre-register online (details will be posted on website and
Facebook group page, also limit 2 songs.) Contest starts at 7, by which time all entrants must be registered.
Judges and audience voting will determine the winners, so bring your peeps!!!
First and second prize winners to receive publishing options and First prize winner to get cash or gift card.
Why isn't your gig announced here? Members in good standing
call SusieCool with your appearance schedule! 407-760-2153
Past member Connie McLeod (Blackwood) has been busy at work on a new CD.
It is called "Rough Cuts From the Castle". Details are at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/458933501281425/?notif_t=plan_user_invited¬if_id=1532178822862582
“Jane Gang Unleashed” T-Shirts Only $15!
Show everyone you are part of the Gang by sporting your Jane Approved
(because it is all about her) T-shirt! Join the Gang and help us fund
recording a Jane Gang Unleashed CD! Extra donations to help the “JGU CD Fund”
are always welcome! Please e-mail JaneGangUnleashed@gmail.com
https://sites.google.com/view/janegangunleashed/jane_tmerch for pictures.
Jane Gang Unleashed will be playing at Tijuana Flats
Event: Greater Orlando Council of the Blind (GOCB) Dine and Donate
Date: Wednesday, October 24th
Time: 5PM to 8PM
Place: Tijuana Flats
(corner of University Blvd. and Goldenrod Road)
7608 University Blvd., Winter Park, FL 32792 407-673-2456
Our good friend Idell Smith will be playing a guest spot.
If you are interested in open mics in the Central Florida area, SusieCool has compiled a list.
https://sites.google.com/site/susiecoolsongs/Home/open-mic-directory-central-florida
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 November 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. For the month of November we will be meeting on the 2nd Wednesday,
(not the 3rd). In December we go back to normal. There is more info on the facebook group page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/228147620559285/?fref=nf
SusieCool is the admin for a Facebook group called "Orlando Creative Music Network"
where we give out info on songwriter meetings, playing circles, open mics, workshops and concerts.
We have a Facebook page for this group if you want to join.
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
October 2018 Critique Results (very close results this time)
1. Let Me Go Asli Goncer 15.44
2. All That Remains Jeff Evans 15.22
3. In This Lullaby Ron Collins 15.14
New members always welcome!
© 2018 ISG