Songwriter Workshop

I attended a Eugene based songwriters' workshop for the first time a couple weeks ago. It ended up being a group of about 15 this time, which meets in a local bookstore once a month. The intent is to critique songs for form, content, everything except performance. Some bring in recordings and some play their guitars. I had no idea what to expect and as fate would have it, I was asked to present first. I'm glad I had a CD instead of playing this first time. Too much pressure for this old guy.

I was extremely impressed with the way the people in the group sized up the presenter and gave great feedback in the form of suggestions as well as positive responses. I have written before about belonging to an online forum community called SongRamp. My take on it so far is that people tend to give only positive reviews which is great for the ego, but does little for the process of improvement. While sitting face to face in Eugene, I found it to be a very effective approach. I know I took with me some great suggestions with the song I presented as well as some good ego boosting comments, but its the suggestions for improvement or at least ideas to think about that I appreciate the most. I found myself a little slow to the critique process of other peoples' material, but I got into the swing after a couple of them. I really loved it and will continue to go as much as I can in the future.

As a follow-up to the workshop, I logged onto the website that is maintained for it and discovered that I could set up a free website of my own for my music. Its free, until I want to have more than around 10 songs, so I'm sure I'll either find another avenue or upgrade for a small monthly fee. Pretty cool and simple for someone who isn't overqualified in website management. My site is garytodd.webs.com if you're interested.

Happy writing to all. Soon.