Lennie Gallant
Songwriters' circle is intimate ECMA event
SOCAN songwriters' circles take place on Saturday and Sunday, cost $25
By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
Canadaeast news service Published Thursday February 7th, 2008
It's the next best thing to getting inside a songwriter's head.
The SOCAN songwriters' circle on Saturday and Sunday at the East Coast Music Awards in Fredericton features 10 of the best-known performers in Atlantic Canada jamming and talking about their creative process.
"It is one of the most popular events for music lovers and delegates at the conference," said ECMA spokeswoman Meghan Scott.
"It is almost like they (the audience) are participating in the writing of a song."
The songwriters' circles will be held at The Playhouse from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $25.
On Saturday, Fredericton musician David Myles will host Jean-Francois Breau, Thom Swift of Hot Toddy Trio, Damhnait Doyle and special guest Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies.
On Sunday at 1:30 p.m., Lennie Gallant will host Christian "Kit" Goguen, Jenn Grant, Roger Howse and special guest Martha Wainwright from Brooklyn, N.Y., who's the sister of Rufus Wainwright.
"The artists all sit up on stage together in a semicircle and they chat about how they write their songs, where their inspiration comes from," said Scott.
"They perform the songs (and) they tell the audience about their stumbles and their successes in trying to get the song recorded or published or put to music," she said.
Traditionally, Scott said, many audience members at songwriters' circles have an appreciation of the creative process and its pitfalls, especially those who might be artists suffering from writer's block and need inspiration.
This will be the first time Myles has hosted the ECMA songwriters' circle, although he said he's participated in many circles before.
The 26-year-old, who now lives in Halifax, said a good songwriters' circle should be informal, intimate and fun.
"It should seem less like a performance and more like people playing music in their living room," said Myles in a telephone interview.
He said because most of the participants know each other, they are comfortable playing together.
"So if someone feels like singing a harmony to someone else's song while playing guitar, (they can)," he said. "I think usually the most interesting part of a songwriters' circle is the interaction between the people on stage and the audience."
Myles said he's been looking forward to coming to Fredericton for the ECMAs.
He said he was born and grew up here, adding he even delivered The Daily Gleaner newspaper for seven years. He moved to Halifax a few years ago.
"Fredericton is my home," he said.
Myles said composing songs is a constant thing for him.
"My big thing is just making sure that I give myself time every day to sit with my guitar with the intention to write," he said.
"The first thing I did this morning is I sat with my guitar for an hour, played, hummed melodies, think about it and then something will come up and I will revisit it this afternoon," he said.
But Myles also said inspiration can hit in the strangest places, including while on bus rides, running or at the gym.
"I wrote the song (When It Comes My Turn) that I won that international songwriting competition (in 2006) with on a bus in Alberta," he said.
"I was just humming this melody in my head.
"By the time I got off the bus, I had written the chorus and the first verse. And once you have a chorus and the first verse, it is just a matter of working through the details."
The inspiration, the mood and the melody are the hard parts, he said.
For Myles, usually the melody comes before the words. He said that's the opposite of songwriting convention.
He said sometimes he even leaves the melody without words for a while.
"That is basically my life," said Myles. "I probably have four or five tunes in the hopper right now, waiting for the appropriate words. It (the words) seems to just appear out of no where."