November 2000
Guild Tidings
The official Publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 5, No. 11
NEXT MEETING: 5:00 P.M. Sunday November 5th, 2000
President’s Letter
Dear Members,
Happy Thanksgiving (coming up). Those of you not familiar with my
concept of one song for all seasons can hear my Thanksgiving version.
You’ll have to hear it to understand.
Enclosed, next page, is an enlightening and inspiring letter I received
from member Brad Hodge. Try to catch Dawson’s Creek T.V. show and hear
this great writer’s work. This letter should be encouraging to those of
you that might think at times you want to give up. Congratulations to
you Brad and thanks so very much for letting us know. We’ll be watching
Dawson’s for sure.
Member Jack Gayle, our great clarinetist and writer has written a long
article entitled “Some thoughts on Learning to read Music”. We will be
continuing his article in the next few issues of the newsletter. Too, I
think I’ll ask him to present a part of it orally at meeting.
Beardall stage will be shared with Bill Einsiedel’s drama group. Our new
12 yr. old singer, member, Mary Ellen Benton, will perform, and Evelyn
Nelson has a great song she brought from her home in New York. You’ll
love this! The show will be at 1:00 pm Saturday, Dec. 9th.
Our Xmas show, Dec. 23rd, 2:30 pm at Beardall will feature all Xmas
music written by our members and performed by same. At 4:30 pm we will
leave in a group to go to Connie and Roy Champion’s clubhouse for our
Guild Xmas party. We will also be presenting certificates for the
monthly evaluations for the past few years, so please plan on turning up
to get your certificates. The December issue will give more details of
map location. Please keep that day open (Dec. 23rd.)
Most of you are aware I’ve had a very rough year with my kidney loss
(cancer) and have probably missed posting Guild dues payments a time or
two. Please, Scout’s honor, let Susie know if you have a record
(cancelled check) as to your last payment.
Looking forward to seeing every one Sunday. Bring your latest song to be
critiqued. I’m so very pleased with the ones I’ve been hearing. Keep up
the good work.
Best ever,
Russ Robinson
P.S. After meeting I’ll listen to Xmas songs you might want heard for
use in participation of Dec. 23rd ‘s Xmas show. Too, at our party we all
perform and have fun, so please bring your instruments!!!
Business of Music and Songwriter’s Workshop update
We had a wonderful turnout for Rusty Gordon’s workshop on
Songcrafting. The largest numbers so far. We had 20 attendees, with 10
of them being ISG members. Her dynamic presentation kept us on the edge
of our seats, and we look forward to her return in either December or
January, when she will focus on performing techniques. If there is
enough interest from members, we could have her return to repeat some of
the earlier seminars on Copyright, publishing and starting your own
production company (to name a few). If you have any feedback on the
seminars you have attended, Susan Foster-Trewick has been coordinating
the workshops. So please contact her.
“DUES CLUES”
We are trying to keep
better track of dues payments. You will notice that your mailing label
has a date in the top right hand corner. This represents the date that
we have a record of your last payment. As Russ has mentioned, this needs
to be updated, so if you see ?? Or an incorrect date on your label,
please let us know so we can correct it, and if the Date is more than a
year old, then our “Dues Clues” will tell you it’s time to send that
check to Russ again!!! (If you see “Guest” written there, it means that
this is one of a few complimentary issues we are sending you since your
visit with us. This will give you an opportunity to see what we are all
about, and decide whether you want to join our Guild.)
Meetings are held the first Sunday of each month at 5:00 P.M. The
location is 3020 E Robinson St., Orlando, Florida. (The American
Federation of Musicians Union Building)
Song Critiquing - Part 2
by Matt Griffin
Last month we talked about the importance of critiquing. This month
we're going to discuss the details of doing critiques at our monthly
meetings. When critiquing, write specific comments right on the lyric
sheets (which the writers desiring critique hopefully brought along with
a cassette tape or CD of their work). In our Guild, we analyze the song
rather than the demo (to whatever extent possible; a poor demo can make
it hard to hear a good song). Critique scoring sheets are provided at
the meeting. Writers, please don't score your own songs! Assign scores
of 1 to 5 in the following categories:
Melody-is the melody catchy and memorable? Does it flow smoothly, or
are there rough spots? Is it singable? Is it well-suited to the
intended genre (country, pop/rock, etc.)? Is the song written in one of
the standard song forms (AABA, Verse-Chorus, etc.)?
Lyrics-do the lyrics sing well? Do they tell a story, or express a
consistent idea? Is the lyric tight (that is, not unnecessarily wordy)?
Does it stay consistent in tone, tense, and viewpoint? Does it have
fresh, memorable rhymes, if applicable? And does it match up cleanly
with the melody (this is called prosody)?
Hook-does the song have a simple, memorable hook? Is the hook the title
of the song (this is usually, but not always, desirable)? Is the hook
located in a place or places in the song that make it stand out? And is
it original?
Potential-does the melody, lyric, and/or idea have the potential to be a
great song? Is there something outstanding about the song that makes it
worth sticking with, even if it needs work? Is the song commercial?
When critiquing, try to be consistent (on a given night, anyway). If
you give the first song a '3' for melody and the night's last song has a
much better tune, you'll of course want to give that song's melody a '4'
or '5'. '1' and '5' should be uncommon scores, reserved only for
poor/outstanding efforts; a critiquer who awards perfect 20's to most
songs isn't helping his/her fellow writers. Every month, scores from the
critique sessions are calculated and averaged based on the number of
critiques. The top five efforts are listed in the next newsletter.
Soon thereafter (hopefully at the next ISG meeting), the writers will
receive a slip showing composite scores for each of the above
categories. Getting and giving critiques is a big part of what we do,
for a reason.Give both your best!
A letter from Bradley Hodge. September 29th, 2000
Dear Russ,
It’s been a while since we’ve talked to each other. I hope this finds
you well. I still enjoy the newsletter from the “guild” each month. I’m
glad to see that things continue to move forward. New members and new
songs and new hope and never giving up… that’s what it’s all about.
Speaking of never giving up, I am living proof that persistence
sometimes actually pays off. I have some news that may inspire other
songwriters to relentlessly follow their hearts and dreams and believe
that good things do happen.
For the past three years – ever since I recorded my demo CD – I have
worked very hard to spread the word about my songs and to just get the
music out there any way I could. That means gigging when I don’t want
to and giving away CDs when I can’t sell them. It means working all day
at my “real” job and working all night in bars and restaurants for a few
measly dollars and hardly ever a tip. It means pouring your heart out
on stage and going home feeling rejected by an apathetic audience that
would just as soon chit chat with their friends to the sound of a cheap
transistor radio and a blender full of margarita mix. It means sometimes
swearing that you’ll never do it again… but you always do.
Well, sometimes when you least expect it the stars and the moons and the
planets all fall into line and if you happen to be in the way something
wonderful can happen. I received a letter last week from Columbia
TriStar Television and SONY Entertainment telling me that they would
like to license 12 of my songs to be used as a soundtrack for the
2000-2001 season of the television series “Dawson’s Creek.” A few phone
calls and faxes later it was a done deal. Signed, sealed, delivered.
Just like that.
I thought you would want to know. Very best regards, Brad
Web Chatter cybertoad2000@yahoo.com
Hi again, folks from cyberland. We had 2 new members this month. Vickie
Overton and Joe Sandusky. Joe is no stranger to us, having been a guest
at the guild, as well as attending 2 of Rusty Gordon’s workshops. He is
a member of the Musician’s Union, and plays a mean guitar!!!
Recently new member Lisa Firestone is starting a buzz in the local area.
She played at the Sapphire last month, and is slated to play at the
House of Blues Living room jam in October. (Hopefully she will give us a
full report of how it went). She has a Demo CD ($10:00) with 6 wonderful
songs on it.
I got a hold of Steve Busey’s latest efforts (Big Red and the Bus), and
I am wearing the CD out. You must get a copy ($10:00 for ISG members).
The songs are catchy, humorous and playfully upbeat (for the most
part). His website is: www.pan.com/geosync . Please check it out!!!
October
TOP FIVE WINNERS
Of last month’s Evaluation Session
(Members only)
1st Place: Happy New Year Blues Sharon Conway/P. Roberts
2nd Place: I want to mambo Kent & Susan Trewick
3rd Place: The Circle Lisa
Firestone
4th Place: Every once in a While Asli Walker
5th Place: Ballerina Emil
Ernyey
ISG Secretary Position is vacant We are still looking for a secretary
(or Administrative Assistant). Let’s pull together to make this Guild
all that it can be!!!
Gig schedule
Laura and Seven are playing at the Cork room on Goldenrod (near the
408) on the 1st 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. It is Bike night
from 8 ‘til 11 (free wings). Also on Thursdays they play at The Handle
Bar and Grille in Longwood. Their contact # is (407) 322-1731
Asli Walker will be performing at Borders Oviedo on Saturday December
the 2nd from 8:00 to 10:00 pm
Where’s your next gig? – Let us know, so we can be there
Please feel free to contribute articles to the Newsletter If you have
any information that you would like to see added to the newsletter,
please see Susan Foster-Trewick at the meetings, or you can E-mail her
at cybertoad2000@yahoo.com. Please keep your articles brief.
Classified advertising may be placed free of charge to members in good
standing in the ISG. For more information on display advertising and/or
classified advertising for non-members, please call Russ Robinson (407)
851-5328, or e-mail: i_s_g_2000@yahoo.com