August 2010
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 15, No. 8
NEXT MEETING: 5:00pm Sunday, August 1st, 2010
Officers:
President/Treasurer
Russ Robinson (407) 382-9942
Vice President/Member Reception/Newsletter
Matthew Griffin (407) 903-1212
Secretary
Jacquelyn Gould, campkittycat@gmail.com
Website
Carlos Colon (352) 326-4295
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 .
At the August Meeting
I will be presenting a melody workshop at the next ISG meeting. I will be playing excerpts from a CD by Jason Blume on the crafting of melody and discussing the techniques. JASON BLUME is a world class songwriter that has had his music recorded by pop superstars Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, and Jesse McCartney as well as country stars including Collin Raye, the Oak Ridge Boys and John Berry, and international artists like the Gipsy Kings, and Japanese superstar Tomohisa Yamashita. Jason Blume is also well known as a songwriting instructor. He developed and teaches the BMI Nashville Songwriters workshops and has taught his songwriting techniques as a guest lecturer at several Universities and music seminars. I purchased a couple of books by Jason Blume after seeing him at several seminars. He is a great teacher and I recommend his materials. Come to the meeting to get a taste of his techniques. You can get more info about Jason Blume on his website:
See you at the meeting!
Asli Goncer
Beardall Show on September 18th
We are planning a show at Beardall Senior Center on Saturday, September 18th at 3 PM. We’ll spend some time at the August meeting planning it. Want to perform? Please come to the meeting to throw your hat into the ring. J
President's Letter
Dear Members,
Here we are in the middle of 2010; time is really flying. I’ve been reading over past issues of our monthly newsletter and enjoying it. Sometimes when you read things you read before, you spot something interesting you missed the first time. I think it’s helpful to go back and look at things again.
Hey, this might apply to a song you never finished. Think it over. With new ideas applied, this just might turn out to be the best song you’ve ever written. Who knows, might be the number one song on the charts. If you do go back and work on an old unfinished song, let us know about it, won’t you?
Also, be thinking about what you might want to perform at the Beardall show in September. Come to Sunday’s meeting so we can talk about it some more. Next issue, we’ll have more details.
See you Sunday, looking forward to it.
Russ
Emotional Truth
By Matt Griffin
Is there life after death? Do you believe there is intelligent life on other planets? How do you feel about politics or Nancy Grace or Bill O’Reilly or Al Franken? Where do you stand on abortion or gay rights or illegal aliens or the war in Iraq ?
My hope is that you have opinions about all of these issues, and perhaps strong opinions about some. I believe that the best songs are written based on our most passionate beliefs. When you write about the things you really care about, you bring a level of conviction to your songs that makes them stand out. By the way, this applies to music as well as lyrics, in the sense that you want the music to convey passions consistent with the words.
The goal, I think, is emotional truth. This is not the same as literal truth, and in fact you will frequently want to “change the names to protect the innocent”. Those details you need to flesh out a strong lyric can be modified and moved around, to fit a rhyme scheme for instance. But the words come out best when the emotions conveyed match up well with emotions you actually feel yourself, or at least emotions you can relate to.
Now that doesn’t necessarily mean you must have lived it. If you have the gift of empathy, you can write a convincing song about an affair even if you’ve never had one. If you have a vivid imagination, perhaps you can “imagine what it would be like” to live in a cardboard box, begging for change from sunup to sundown. Or maybe you have a close friend who’s suffered through a long illness, and you understand how he/she feels? Can you write about such an event in first-person, even though it happened to someone else? Of course, if you can feel it.
Telling the “emotional truth” means being true to yourself. When done, does your song tell the world, “this is how I feel?” For me anyway, that is the goal.
So if someone asks you to, say, write a song about stealing a car, what do you do? Please don’t go out and steal a car. But you could do a little research on-line. Then try to put yourself in the thief’s place: it’s a job, that’s all. Imagine yourself canvassing, looking for candidates. Walk up to a red Lexus, slip a bar down inside the window for a moment, hear the click, and step inside. Hunch over, fumble with several slippery wires till you find the right one, then sparks and…it starts. How does it feel?
If you can answer, you’re ready to start writing. J
ISG Bulletin Board
Jeff Mason’s gig schedule:
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.
Matthew “Sax” Campbell open mics and gigs:
- Acoustic Open Mic Night, 1st Thurs each month 9pm-12am
House of Beer, 13526 Village Park Dr, Suites 208 &210, Hunter’s Creek (Orlando),
www.hobflorida.com . All ages with parental supervision until 10pm, 21 and up after 10pm; no drum sets plz, small 1-spkr amps OK, all musical styles welcome, clean language till 10pm (no exceptions), non-smoking inside, full PA and bass amp provided.
- Acoustic Open Mic Night hosted by Matthew “Sax” Campbell , Fridays 8pm-12am
Edna’s Place, 4076 S Goldenrod Rd , Orlando (north of the airport and Hoffner). 21 and up, no drum sets plz, small 1-spkr amps OK, all musical styles welcome, full PA provided.
- Acoustic Open Mic hosted by Matthew “Sax” Campbell , Thurs August 19th, 8:30pm-11:30pm
City Centre, 14 E. Dakin Ave , Kissimmee ; weather permitting. All ages with parental supervision, no drum sets plz, all musical styles welcome, full PA provided.
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 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!
July’s Top Songs—Results of monthly critique session
(1) Dancing King by Susan Foster-Trewick and Lisa Firestone
(2) Filthy Felicia by Matthew Campbell
© 2010 ISG