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"Join-Us" Songwriting Workshops
Archives

Upcoming Program

Program to date

    2011

    Fledderjohn  Simon Basey  Don Morrison  Robert Petchell  vicki bennett Cal Williams Jr 

    Venue: Higher Ground
  • Tuesday, 18th October 2011 Cal Williams Jr Chord Ideas for Songwriters
  • Tuesday, 20th September 2011 vicki bennett Shameless Plundering and Other Virtues In Songwriting
  • Tuesday, 16th August 2011 No workshop
  • Tuesday, 19th July 2011 Robert Petchell Into the Creative Unknown
  • Tuesday, 21st June 2011 Don Morrison Surprise Delivery
  • Tuesday, 17th May 2011 Simon Basey Writing songs that don't necessarily conform to the standard verse/chorus structure
  • Tuesday, 19th April 2011 Fledderjohn (Michael Heath) Using loop pedals in your songwriting

    2010

    Greg Milton  Kenny Green  Ronnie Taheny  Rowey G  Evan Jones  Clayton Werner  John McCall  Robert Childs  Adrian Miller  Corey Stewart

    Venue: Higher Ground
  • Tuesday, 16th November 2010 Adrian Miller and Corey Stewart Collaboration - working together to finish a song.
  • Tuesday, 19th October 2010 Robert Childs Whose Turn Is It Now?
  • Tuesday, 21st September 2010 John McCall He Made Me Strong
  • Tuesday, 17th August 2010 No workshop
  • Tuesday, 20th July 2010 Clayton Werner 4 Little Strings
  • Tuesday, 15th June 2010 Evan Jones Old Red Chair
  • Tuesday, 18th May 2010 Rowey G Love Mustard
  • Tuesday, 20th April 2010 Ronnie Taheny Trade
  • Tuesday, 16 March 2010 Greg Milton Dirty Love; Kenny Green Rescue Me

    2009

    Corey Stewart  David Cronin  David Robinson  Ann Auld  Sandy Klose  Geoff Hastwell  Adrian Miller  Brian Foley 
    Robert Childs  Lindsay Boyd  Gloria Albanese  Greg Milton  Clayton Werner  Krysha Starre  Garth Dutton  Jane Brown 
    New Format
    Venue (2004 - 2009): The Joiners Arms Hotel
  • Tuesday, 17th November 2009 Garth Dutton 1945; Jane Brown Go Your Way
  • Tuesday, 20th October 2009 Clayton Werner and Krysha Starre Laundromat Spin; Bill Dempsey All The Best For Me
  • Tuesday, 16th September 2009 Gloria Albanese Cruisin' the Freeway and Thankin' You; Greg Milton Heroin Girl
  • Tuesday, 18th August 2009 Robert Childs Nipple; Lindsay Boyd Diamond, Flesh and Gold
  • Tuesday, 21st July 2009 Brian Foley Again; Adrian Miller The Reckoning
  • Tuesday, 16th June 2009 Sandy Klose I Am Love; Geoff Hastwell January 2009
  • Tuesday, 19th May 2009 David Robinson Monday Bloody Monday; Ann Auld Hanging on a Dream
  • Tuesday, 21st April 2009 Corey Stewart Mountaintop; David Cronin Vietnam Vet

    2008

    Cal Williams Jr  Diana Sautelle  Peter Mundy  Susie Keynes  Corey Stewart  Jonathan Brown  Robyn Habel  Adrian Miller 

  • Tuesday, 18th November 2008 Adrian Miller (singer/songwriter, lyricist) - The Lyrical Playground
  • Tuesday, 21st October 2008 Robyn Habel (singer/songwriter, composer) - Songs That Sing: Tips on writing songs that are catchy and appealing, but not typical
  • 16th September Jonathan Brown (Radio Adelaide) - Building your online audience
  • 19th August No Workshop
  • 15th July Cal Williams Jr (award winning songwriter, song competition judge, master guitarist) - Open Tunings
  • 24th June Corey Stewart (award winning songwriter, song competition judge) - How to win a songwriting competition!
  • 20th May Susie Keynes (award winning songwriter, founding member of Fruit, FOOM Song Competition judge) - Ten Years On The Road
  • 15th April Peter Mundy (sound engineer) - What every Sound Engineer wished Performers Knew - Part 2
  • 18th March Diana Sautelle (multi award winning composer and judge) - Uniting Form with Originality
  • 19th February Cal Williams Jr (award winning singer/songwriter, author, judge and master guitarist) - Chord Substitution
  • 15th January General discussion about the songwriting process (booked speakers were unable to attend).

    2007

    Darren Mullan  Corey Stewart  Andy Armstrong  Sarah Tomlinson  Cal Williams Jr  Peter Mundy  Clayton Werner  Debra Manskey

  • December 2007 Note that we have a break from our workshop series in December.
  • 20th November 2007 Debra Manskey (ARIA award winning singer/songwriter) - Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone
  • 23rd October 2007 Clayton Werner (songwriter and radio presenter) - Songcatcher - some ideas
  • 18th September 2007 Pete Mundy (sound engineer) - What every Sound Engineer wished Performers Knew
  • 21st August 2007 no workshop programmed
  • 24th July 2007 "Bring your latest song" night (no topic or speaker)
  • 19 June 2007 Cal Williams Jr (multi award winning songwriter) The Creative Process
  • 15 May 2007 Sarah Tomlinson (Radio Adelaide and APRA) From Package to Playlist - Catching the eyes and ears of a Radio DJ
  • 17 April 2007 Andy Armstrong (award winning singer/songwriter) Using different chords to make more interesting songs
  • 20 March 2007 Corey Stewart (songwriter and FOOM judge) Dissecting the Songwriting Process
  • 20 February 2007 Darren Mullan (songwriter and FOOM judge) Marketing your songs online: Using Myspace and other online facilities for your songwriting advantage. (Report on this workshop)
  • 16 January 2007 - No speaker. General discussion and workshopping of songs.

    2006

    Michael Coghlan  Gloria Albanese  Ali Burnett  Jim Lesses  Kathy Gibbings  BJ Thomas  David Robinson  Renfrey Clarke  Peter Zajax  Jude Aquilina  Paula Rosenbauer  Kylie Cowling

  • No December 2006 workshop
  • 21 November 2006 Kylie Cowling (songwriter and FOOM judge) Collaboration and Copyright
  • 17 October 2006 Paula Rosenbauer (APRA SA member liaison) What you need to know about APRA and Copyright
  • 19 September 2006 Jude Aquilina (award winning Poet, FOOM judge) Fishing for ideas, catching a song
  • 15 August 2006 Peter Zajax (Award winning composer) Musical Composition: Why have a key change or a bridge in a song? A basic talk on key changes, bridges and picking the right key for a song and how the right key and chords reflect, enhance or diminish the message and mood of a song.
  • 18 July 2006 Renfrey Clarke (Award winning lyricist) The Shock of the Real: Using Images in Song-Lyric Writing
  • 20th June 2006 David Robinson (award winning songwriter/FOOM judge) - What to do when the well runs dry - some ideas to get the creative juices flowing again (opens off site)
  • 16 May 2006 BJ Thomas (Artist and Content Manager - iTribe) - Digital Distribution
  • 18th April 2006 Kathy Gibbings (award winning songwriter/FOOM judge) - Structure
  • 21st March 2006 Jim Lesses (award winning songwriter) - Honouring Your Muse
  • 21st February 2006 Gloria Albanese (multi award winning songwriter) with Ali Burnett (Star encouragement winner 2005) - Personal Application
  • 17th January 2006 Michael Coghlan (songwriter and FOOM Song Competition judge) - Improving The Raw Material (opens off site)

    2005

    Clayton Werner  Rob Transini  Darren Mullan  Nesta Mitchell  Geoff Hastwell  Garth Dutton  Jacqy Phillips  Kylie Cowling  Kathy Gibbings  Mary Heath and Vicki Bennett
  • No December 2005 workshop
  • 15th November 2005 Vicki Bennett (songwriter/FOOM judge) and Mary Heath (songwriter, educator) - Song feedback: giving it thoughtfully, using it wisely
  • 18th October 2005 Kathy Gibbings (songwriter/FOOM judge) - What's your Theme? Themes in Songwriting
  • 20th September 2005 Kylie Cowling (songwriter) - Collaboration in songwriting
  • 16th August 2005 Jacqy Phillips and Cliff Stoddard (songwriters) - Writing songs for performance
  • 19th July 2005 Vicki Bennett (songwriter) - Being playful with melody and chords
  • 21st June 2005 Garth Dutton (songwriter/poet) - An Alternative Way Of Writing Songs
  • 17th May 2005 Geoff Hastwell (multi-award winning lyricist) - Mentors and Models of good Songwriting
  • 19th April 2005 Nesta Mitchell (songwriter, sound engineer, producer - Fishshop Recording Studio) - Recording for Songwriters
  • 15th March 2005 Darren Mullan (songwriter, producer) - Songwriting – the Producer’s perspective
  • 15th February 2005 Rob Transini (songwriter, producer - Industry Studios) - Unusual Song Structures
  • 18th January 2005 Clayton Werner (songwriter, SCALA Treasurer and organiser of the workshops) - Songwriting Tools

    2004

    Quentin Eyers  Paula Rosenbauer  Judith Crossley  Jim Patterson  Robert Childs  Peter Zajax  Corey Stewart  Nesta Mitchell  Jude Aquilina  Robert Petchell
  • NOTE: There was no workshop in December. We resumed again in January 2005.
  • 16th November Robert Petchell (composer and FOOM judge) - Songwriting for Projects and with community groups.
  • 19th October Jude Aquilina (award winning poet and FOOM judge) - Some tips on writing unusual, colourful and memorable lyrics
  • 21st September Nesta Mitchell of Fish Shop Studios (FOOM Sponsor) "Home Recording"
  • 17th August Corey Stewart (FOOM judge, songwriter and performer extraordinaire) "How to cultivate good ideas and inspiration for Songwriting"
  • 20th July Robert Childs (SCALA President) Some ways to write songs with Peter Zajax demonstrating the use of MIDI keyboards in composing.
  • 15th June Jim Patterson (of the Borderers) "Writing the hook and catching the audience's attention"
  • 18th May Judith Crossley "Don't just get mad, sing it"
  • 20th April Paula Rosenbauer APRA, Copyright and Songwriters
  • 16th March 2004 Quentin Eyers (QEM) Songwriting (see report below)
Upcoming Guests

from SCALA News

The Inaugural "Join-Us" Songwriting Session

An initiative by hard-working SCALA treasurer, Clayton Werner, is a new series of Songwriting Workshops at The Joiners Arms on the 3rd Tuesday of each month. Gary Stiliano gives his impressions of the first one.
The inaugural Join Us songwriting workshop was held on Tuesday, March 16th [2004] at the Joiners Arms Hotel from 7.30pm to 10pm. It was well supported by SCALA regulars and a couple of newbies.

Each night there is a special guest. Quentin Eyers (pictured) was our first, speaking on the topic "the Quentin Eyers Theory of Songwriting". He played us a couple of songs, illustrating his points. Quentin, who is a regular judge with SCALA, might have been taken by surprise when he received both feedback and criticism on his own songs for a change but it was all in good fun.

Some of his points were:

  • The lyric must have integrity and the singer must have heart and soul in the delivery.
  • In matching the lyric with the rhythm of the melody, the lyric must sound as if naturally spoken - eg FAScinating as opposed to FascinaTING.
  • Challenge yourself and try to write differently to your normal mould, eg write melody instead of lyrics first, or vice versa.
  • There were plenty of others, but these remain "Secret Attendees Business"!
Quentin Eyers When Quentin finished his presentation, the participants were given the opportunity to present something that they are working on or finished, to receive feedback or simply for the pleasure of playing to a listening audience. All were applauded for their efforts and many received valuable insightful feedback from fellow songwriters.

One wit amongst us suggested that it was a bit like Australian Pop Idol but of course the song was under the spotlight, rather than the performer.

Everybody agreed that it was an enjoyable and satisfying evening and a great way to rub plectrums with fellow musos ... don't miss the next one !

Copyright © Gary Stiliano 2004

(Extract from SCALA News #97 - Jan/Feb/March 2004)

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