Troubadours
The other day I pulled out a couple of CDs that I had not listened to in a long time—Lo Gai Saber: Troubadours et Jongleurs 1100-1300 and Forgotten Provence: Music-making in the South of France, 1150-1550. The CDs contain songs...
The other day I pulled out a couple of CDs that I had not listened to in a long time—Lo Gai Saber: Troubadours et Jongleurs 1100-1300 and Forgotten Provence: Music-making in the South of France, 1150-1550. The CDs contain songs...
Let me state from the beginning that any list of The Top 20 Greatest Singer-Songwriters is subjective. This is only my opinion, reflects my own musical preferences, and includes those whose music I know and listen to. And, on any given day I might argue that the order and/or content should be changed. This is how it seems to me today at this moment.
Along with the song camps that I attended during 2007 and 2008, I took part in songwriting workshops sponsored by my local and other NSAI chapters. Our Birmingham chapter held monthly meetings with opportunities to play our songs and have song critiques. They sponsored several concerts at local music venues where we could showcase our songs as singer-songwriters. Sometimes there were special events where professional songwriters from Nashville presented workshops.
NSAI Song Camp 301 was held October 21-23, 2007. This song camp was the last in the series and I was very excited about going. I also ordered tickets to the Bluebird Café for the late show on Tuesday night.
From the moment in November 2006 when I decided to become a songwriter my life had a purpose and a goal. Although I could dimly see my destination, I was on a day-to-day journey not knowing exactly what was next. Going to Blue Ridge Song Camp was a huge step on that journey.
After my trip to Nashville, for the Song Camp 201 in May 2007, I began voice lessons with Ron Browning. He is a vocal coach who was, at the time, also a teacher at the Nashville Jazz Workshop. In June, he was going to be on the faculty at the Blue Ridge Song Camp. Although I had only had four lessons with Ron, I already deeply respected his opinions and advice. He urged me to attend.
Song Camp 201 was offered May 20-22, 2007 and I decided to attend. It was limited to forty-two people and offered six song critique sessions. The faculty for Song Camp 201 was Walt Aldridge, Rick Beresford, Craig Carothers, Don Henry, James Dean Hicks, Ralph Murphy, and Hugh Prestwood.
I drove to Nashville on Thursday, March 29, 2007 for the NSAI Songwriter Symposium. The night before I left, I read my pastor’s sermon from the previous Sunday about providence. It convinced me to be on the lookout for providence during my trip—and assume that everything that happened and everyone I met was providential. That idea changed how I perceived the people and events around me.
When I arrived at NSAI Song Camp 101 I was eager to learn. I took pages and pages of notes. The following information from those notes captures tidbits of advice and inspiration from these wonderful teachers. Even though some of the information is specifically about songwriting, it also is helpful for anyone wanting to learn how to adapt a creative mindset.
I left for Nashville Saturday, February 17, 2007 about midday. For the song camp we were told to bring three songs for critiques but, I had five songs on my CD because I wasn’t sure which ones I wanted to share. As I got to the north side of Birmingham I slid the CD into the player and listened intently.
I am a composer, singer-songwriter, church musician, and writer.
I share my compositions, songs, stories, and essays — as well as tidbits and trivia about all kinds of music.
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