April 2009
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 14, No. 4
NEXT MEETING: 5:00pm Sunday, April 5th, 2009
Officers:
President/Treasurer
Russ Robinson (407) 851-5328
Vice President/Member Reception/Newsletter
Matthew Griffin (407) 903-1212
Secretary
Jacquelyn Gould, crosstyes1@yahoo.com
Website
Carlos Colon (352) 326-4295
Membership
Gilda Corrales (407) 327-5494
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 (at the extreme east end
of Robinson, near Orlando Executive Airport) in Orlando.
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. For more information, visit our website at www.isgorlando.org or myspace page at
http://www.myspace.com/internationalsongwritersguildorlando .
President's Letter
Dear Members,
Welcome to another season: springtime! This is my favorite time of year. Take a deep
breath coming out your door. It always makes me want to write a new song about the
weather.
An article I just read from my musician’s union in New York really gave Orlando big praise.
It says that Orlando is the number one area in the country for working musicians. I get
lots of calls wanting me to appear, and when I do, I get to do some of my original songs.
Several singers in California and New York are featuring my songs. I’m telling you this
hoping to inspire you to get your songs out, too. But you know I never send anything that
I don’t already have a copyright on. If you do have copyrighted songs, let me hear them;
I’ll screen and perhaps send them out. We can talk about this at the meeting Sunday.
I’m looking forward to seeing you all Sunday. Do bring your latest endeavor, and if you
have a tape or CD, we’ll critique the song as usual.
Best ever,
Russ
How Do You Feel?
By Matt Griffin
How do you feel today? It’s a simple question. If a friend were to ask, you’d probably
just reply “Fine” without even thinking about it. Well, I’m asking you to really think
about it.
The English language has a wealth of descriptive adjectives with an amazing array of
meanings and shades of meaning. “Joyful”, “cheery”, “jubilant”, and “contented” are all
synonyms of “happy”, but each word has a slightly different connotation. Negative words
are similarly nuanced. So I ask again: how do you feel? Try to put a specific word or
words to it. Relaxed? Pensive? Frustrated? Resigned? Nauseated?
Since we’re all songwriters, you probably know what I’m going to suggest: write a song
about it! I think that feelings are like snowflakes, and that you’ve never felt before
exactly like you do now. So if you can capture that feeling in a song, it should naturally
come out sounding fresh and original. Imagine if each of us could write a song every day,
capturing how we feel in the moment. That’s probably not realistic for most of us, but you
get the idea.
If you think about it, most successful songs express a single common, well-understood
feeling. There are many love songs, of course. But there are also songs that express
anger, indecision, jealousy, joviality, wistfulness, arrogance, inadequacy, gratitude,
hurt, forgiveness, irritation, despair, and so on and so on. You could even go to a
thesaurus, pick out a juicy or evocative adjective, and write a song that reflects the
word. Here are some powerful adjectives I found in two minutes of scanning: energetic,
gracious, severe, befuddled, annoyed, modest, underhanded, charismatic, trustworthy,
delightful, and despondent. There are thousands of similarly descriptive words, and Roget
is just waiting for you to use them.
For the song to work, of course, both the lyric and the music have to match up with your
feeling word. Some adjectives present little problem in this area: it’s pretty easy to
imagine an angry song, or a joyful one. But what does the music sound like in a song about
embarrassment or envy? It might take some experimentation to create the mood you’re after.
So the next time someone asks you how you feel, go ahead and give your favorite pat answer.
Then think about how you really feel, and try to write it. Best of luck!
ISG Bulletin Board
Central Florida Folk is looking for a new venue for their monthly Songwriters’ Round. Till
recently, it was held in the Plaza Theater lobby not far from the Union Hall; several ISG
members performed there. If anyone knows of a decent venue, preferably in the same general
area, please contact Susan Foster-Trewick at susiecool2001@yahoo.com.
Jeff Mason’s gig schedule:
Appearing At O'Keefe's Irish Pub, Fridays from 5pm, musicians welcome!
115 S. Rockingham Tavares, FL, 352-343-2157
Appearing at Tijuana Flats on the Patio (weather permitting), Thursdays and Saturdays at 6pm
444 S. Hunt Club Blvd, Apopka, FL 407 774 0402
Kitty Camp Pet Boarding—A loving, lakeside resort in Fruitland Park. Daily activities
include: playtime, bird-watching, brushing, petting, purring, sunbathing, catnapping, and
kitty’s favorite…mealtime! Daily/Weekly/Long Term, private rooms and suites available.
25% off weekly stay, FREE first night. Please call for details at 352-205-4284. Posted by
ISG member Jackie Gould.
Delivering high-quality FLASH streaming video! No matter what product or service you may
be offering, the power of video can be impressive! In fact, flash video is the most
effective way to deliver rich media on your website. Video grabs your visitor's interest
more so than simply text and images, or even audio. Video keeps visitors on your site
longer and often triggers a purchase! Video not only will enhance your marketing message,
but it's also entertaining. Video is useful for demonstrating your product or service, as
well as teaching, inspiring, and motivating your visitors to become a customer! So if
you're holding out with a website that may look outdated or obsolete, you may be losing
business. It's time to make a change. Visit my website at http://www.videosaysitall.com.
Thanks and call me anytime (352-326-4295)…Carlos Colon
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.
We’re always looking for material for the newsletter. If you have any information that you
would like to see added to the newsletter, please see Matt Griffin at the meetings or email
him at isgorl@cfl.rr.com . Please keep your articles brief and to the point. Print
deadline for the newsletter is approximately two weeks prior to the monthly meeting.
Classified advertising may be placed free of charge to members in good standing with the
ISG. For more information on display advertising and/or classified advertising for non-
members, please call Russ or Matt or email: isgorl@cfl.rr.com .
Why isn't your gig announced here? Call us with your appearance schedule!
Place your classified ad or gig announcement here! Free to ISG members as always! Just
get your text to Matt by the print deadline (usually the Friday 16 days prior to the
monthly meeting); email is best ( isgorl@cfl.rr.com ).
New members always welcome!
March’s Top Songs—Results of monthly critique session
(1) Don’t Ask Me Why by Will Campbell
(2) Is There a Pill For That? by Bob Witmer
(3) Yellow Bird of Passion by Ester Starling and Susan Foster-Trewick
© 2009 ISG