December 2006
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 11, No. 12
NEXT MEETING CHRISTMAS PARTY! 5:00pm Sunday, December 3rd, 2006
ISG Christmas Party!
When: Sunday, December 3rd at 5:00 PM (in place of our regular meeting)
Where: at the Union Hall, 3020 E. Robinson St .
Who: ISG members and their friends and family
What to bring: food and drink! Bring a covered dish, dessert, etc. Remember to bring an amount proportional to the size of your party.
What else to bring: music! Bring tapes or CDs of original songs, especially Xmas music. You can also perform your song(s) against a tape or CD, if you wish. Or bring a guitar or instrument of your choice; last year we had a harpist!
Spread the word, and join us for a fun and musical evening!
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 .
Officers:
President/Treasurer
Russ Robinson (407) 851-5328
Vice President/Member Reception/Newsletter
Matthew Griffin (407) 903-1212
Secretary
Jacquelyn Fain, crosstyes1@yahoo.com
Website
Carlos Colon (352) 326-4295
Archives
Barbara Ross (407) 862-2795
President's Letter
Dear Members,
Hey, here we are in the holiday season. I’m back to being a kid again! I’ve always loved the holidays. You’ll be getting this newsletter at Thanksgiving time, but that’s nice too.
I’m jealous of those of you with families; it’s more exciting at Christmastime. I really don’t mean to complain, though. You dear folks are my family, there’s not a day goes by when I don’t think of some of you.
All of you remember, we do have a Christmas party on the 3rd of December. We had our Christmas party in place of last year’s December meeting at our regular Union Hall location, and it really worked out well. Everyone who had a song got to be heard, and everyone who wanted to, got to sing something. It was one of our best Xmas parties, really, so Matt and I decided we should do something similar this year.
You can find the particulars of the meeting elsewhere in this newsletter. Be sure to bring some kind of covered dish, snacks, or whatever; if you bring a group, then bring more food depending on the size of the group. I’ll see to it we have beverages. Since it’s early in December, I imagine it will be everyone’s first Christmas party of the year. That’s fine. We’ll all get together then in a good mood, and maybe you’ll have other Xmas parties to look forward to.
If you have an original Christmas song, please bring it. Looking forward to seeing all of you now on Sunday, December 3rd, at our usual 5 PM time.
Merry Christmas!
Russ
What Are You Thankful For?
By Matt Griffin
If Russ and I have done our jobs correctly, you should be reading this around Thanksgiving. We always try to get the December newsletter out early because it has the Christmas party announcement, and we want to give folks a little time to plan for it. On that note, plan for it! Our Christmas party is always great fun; last year we had some kind of music, originals and standards, playing or being played continuously all night long.
Since I’m writing this in early November, though, I find my thoughts turning more to Thanksgiving than Christmas. It’s always good to spend a little time to count your blessings, isn’t it? And even if this hasn’t been a very good year for you, I’m sure you’ll come up with things to be thankful for if you give it a little thought.
So, with music as our inspirational backdrop, here are a few things I’m thankful for:
Music! OK, it’s a little obvious, but music is often taken for granted for that very reason. If you think about it, music is actually a little miraculous. Music is often called the universal language, and for good reason. Now a song has words, so any song is only fully understood by speakers of its language. But anyone can hum the tune. Then consider a piece like Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” (A Little Night Music); everyone hears it the same way, no translation required!
Different tastes. Music comes in a lot of flavors, doesn’t it? Those of you who know me well, know that musically I’m stuck in the 70’s! That literary giant Popeye said it best: I yam what I yam. There are so many different genres for so many different tastes, and each of those genres has evolved into different sounds over the years. Think Hank Williams’ country versus Travis Tritt’s. Music is always changing, always going somewhere new.
The ISG. Without spending too much time repeating myself, I’m certainly thankful for this organization. I’ve met a lot of great people, and I’ve learned the craft by listening to other writers. I hope you all realize what a great gift that is. And to continue the thought…
Russ Robinson. Yes, I’m very thankful for Russ and what he’s done for us (and what he keeps doing). I’ve been coming to ISG meetings more or less regularly for the last 15 years or so, and I inevitably miss a few meetings every year. In all that time, I know of only four that Russ has missed. As busy a guy as he is, that’s amazing. Most of you know how deeply his roots run in the music and entertainment industries. We are very, very lucky to have him around.
And I’m thankful for all of you, for helping us make the guild what it is. I hope to see you all at the Christmas party. J
ISG Bulletin Board
Jeff Mason’s gig schedule:
Appearing At O'Keefe's Irish Pub, Fridays & Saturdays from 5pm, musicians welcome!
115 S. Rockingham Tavares, FL, 352-343-2157
Appearing at Tijuana Flats on the Patio (weather permitting), Thursdays at 6pm
444 S. Hunt Club Blvd , Apopka , FL 407 774 0402
Lead Sheet preparation by Carlos Colon. A simple lead sheet contains the melody, lyrics and chord symbols. For more information, visit my website at www.cecoriginals.com and click on “Services” at the top of the page. Website design also available. Use your website address in advertising. Newspapers, business cards, fliers, to name a few and let’s not forget the use of email. Send your link to potential clients. For more information, visit a few of my clients sites at http://www.websandresumes.com/clients.htm.
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!
November Top Song—Results of monthly critique session
(1) Whiskey Bath , Beer Shampoo by Estee Starling and Mike Kondol
© 2006 ISG