Folkwriters

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 09:23 AM

This is an online effort only please!

Thank you,
Folkwriters Adm.

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: Sue Allan
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 09:17 AM

There was a great collaborative song writing project on Hadrian's Wall a few years ago involving singers/musicians Boo Hewerdine, Jez Lowe, Julie Matthews, Rory McLeod and Ruth Notman and poets Kate Fox and Elvis McGonagall. They wrote some great songs, but achieved it by holing up in a house together for a week. Fellside Records produced a CD :
http://www.fellside.com/shop/Details.asp?ProductID=694

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 09:09 AM

Ooops!
Iwrote a song
Oops!
but I did it wrong
Oops!
you know it sounded bad
Oooooops!

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 09:07 AM

Oops!
http://www.purewatergazette.net/images/milkisanatural.gif

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 09:06 AM

Tune: Help! by the Beatles

Gulp!
I need some milk
Gulp!
so I drank some milk
Gulp!
you know I need me some
Milllllk!

http://www.purewatergazette.net/images/milkisanatural.gif

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 08:52 AM

Tune - Home on the Range

Folkwriters is sane
we like the wild and the tame
when you can always hear
the song in your ear
and no one has copyright claim

Home, alone and deranged
those critics are givin' me pain
yuh know i coulda been
a contender but then
someone shot me fer being so lame

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 08:30 AM

Interesting. I will watch with interest how it develops. I suppose what is a bit intimidating is the prospect of having to say to someone - I listened, but I thought it was crap. Then this bloke who you don't know goes off and does themselves in.

Years later you turn out to be the one that pushed Nick Drake over the edge - or something similar.

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: GUEST,Special Guest
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 07:59 AM

Thank you Bert. I appreciate your encouraging words. I did that search for "song challenge" as you suggested looked at one of the top threads. I'll read some more in the next few weeks. I noticed that people have experimented with parodies. That's a good thing because you can just play the tune in your head without even having an instrument and the music used is either in the public domain or at least not an original melody which has not been copyrighted.

As I said in my OP, I am interested in exchanging over the web. I said that we could send stuff to eachother. What I really want to do is just get some of that ol' "folk process" going in a global context. Seems like it could be fruitful grounds for artistic expression. That's all. :)

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: Leadfingers
Date: 29 Nov 11 - 07:13 AM

I dont understand what the OP GUEST hopes to achieve with an anonymouus post and no contact details .

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: GUEST,999
Date: 28 Nov 11 - 08:18 PM

Rihgt!

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: Rockhen
Date: 28 Nov 11 - 08:04 PM

Thanks Georgiansilver,
I think I assumed that the Guest wanted to make contact with other writers online at first then arrange to meet up and form a face-to-face group but I think I maybe just jumped to that conclusion. I understand what you mean about trust. I do know the majority of people are decent but there is always the chance of one who is not, spoiling things. I am glad to say, we have a smashing group of people at ours.
(Btw,anyone who is interested in starting their own group up, please feel free to PM me, if it helps to talk over what we found worked or didn't with our group, am happy to speak ...but separately, rather than gatecrashing this thread.)

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: Bert
Date: 28 Nov 11 - 04:48 AM

Actually this is already a great place for songwriters. Search for song challenge and you will find scads of great songs.

Join up and tell us who you are and where you are. Post a song and you will get plenty of feedback.

If you are in or near Colorado Springs come along to The Front Range Songwriters.

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: Valmai Goodyear
Date: 28 Nov 11 - 02:28 AM

There's an all-day workshop on songwriting in the tradition with the wonderful
Jez lowe at the Lewes Saturday Folk Club on 24th. November 2012. Jez performs at the club in the evening. Full details will be on the club website about four months before the event.

If you'd like to go on the mailing list for this and other workshops, please email me on valmaigoodyear[at]aol[dot]com.

Valmai (Lewes)

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 28 Nov 11 - 02:16 AM

I think that sounds great Rockhen... but at least your group is face-to-face.. and you can bond as people. You can then build a trust within the group...... To start such a thing online would be so open to exploitation by the less talented.. I would not want to be involved in anything similar..... tried it with a writing group once, online, and paid a price. Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: Rockhen
Date: 27 Nov 11 - 07:03 PM

What would be the aims of your songwriting group? If to compete, I don't think you will find it works very well. I co-host a songwriting group that started as an experiment and is still going strong after 18 months and so far, so good. I am really happy that it seems to be working so far.
However, we do not run it as a showcase for our own songs, but as a supportive and friendly social group with egos left at the door. It sounds a bit pretentious but we were determined not to have some taking it over.
We all write in different ways so I don't think you can tell someone how to write songs but I think listening to others keeps you more open minded.
Songwriting is a fairly solitary thing but we find it is good to share our ideas and pick up ideas about how others approach writing. None of us take ourselves too seriously and I can honestly say I think each one of us has benefitted from the group in various ways. Some of us like to use themes to inspire a song, others just prefer a freer approach, writing about anything that just happens to feel worth expressing in a song. Some use all sorts of approaches.
I feel I have made some new friends who understand what it feels like to complete a song you have written and developed yourself.
I hope if you get a group going, it is a positive experience and that a non-ranking supportive atmosphere is achieved rather than a few forceful, (notice I didn't say 'strong' as I mean 'loud' rather than strong) characters taking over, who like the sound of their own voices too much. Best wishes, and probably a good idea to have a single identity name rather than 'guest' as above.
PS One of the group even stated that it has totally changed his life...in a very good way. That is worth a great deal to me.

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 27 Nov 11 - 10:21 AM

You really ought to start by telling people WHO YOU ARE.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Folkwriters
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 27 Nov 11 - 10:17 AM

I would imagine the lack of replies could be due to a few factors. 1) Most songwriters work on their own. 2) Collaboration in songwriting usually takes a lot of trust, which one could hardly give to someone unknown (especially a Mudcat GUEST) 3) In such a collaboration, one or more persons talents may be exploited by one or more members of the group. 4) Some will only join such a group to glean what they can from it without solid input.
There may be other reasons but those are my main ones for not collaborating with a group... not again!!!! Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: Folklore: Folkwriters
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Nov 11 - 09:07 AM

Hope this is in the write place! Anyway, I was wondering if there are any songwriters here who would be interested in forming a songwriters group? We could send stuff to eachother for critique and collaboration - get a little friendly competition and cooperation going on. We can talk about it for a few months and maybe get the thing going by the middle or end of 2012?