This coming Friday, October 26th, I will be the presenter-organizer for the Songwriter In The Round Showcase I have been doing since the beginning of this year at Catbird Cafe, New England Wildlife Center in South Weymouth, MA. Featured songwriters will be Jay Psaros, Patti DeRosa and Beth DeSombre and each will do 4-5 songs and have a dialogue with the audience about the songs and songwriting.
When I set up this series, I asked myself how I would like to make this series different from other songwriter showcases I have experienced and for me, what has been missing is the dialogue piece. I like to hear songwriters talking about their songs but I also like the feedback loop. I think it benefits both audience and performer. For the audience, it breaks down the fourth wall. For the performer, it helps take the ego out of songwriting and you get to look a little bit more at the craft and what inspires the writer, both musically and lyrically.
Lyrics are important (sorry, David Byrne but I do think they matter) but looking at the music, the verses, chorus and bridge (s0metimes two) is also important to the feel of the song. I don’t like to repeat myself but I know that sometimes I do. How do I get away from that? How do you keep your style from being too stereotyped? I like to be able to go both fast and slow, both light hearted and serious-minded. With this series, I also hope to have my participants look in the mirror at what they do and maybe pick up a few new ideas from their fellow performers or from the audience.
I am hoping to continue this series into next year. Lisa Martin and Donald Tassone have been successful with their series and I hope to join them.
