Garrett Lajoie: Writing with FAWM for ten years

Hamilton-based singer-songwriter Garrett Lajoie talked about taking on February Album Writing Month for the last ten years and how that experience has shaped his approach to songwriting. Download the lyrics to Window Shopping to follow along. We talked about: Collaborating on a love song with Alex Whorms An Instrument For Every Child | Hamilton Music Collective This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession: Levitin, Daniel J.:… Read the rest

Delyn Grey returned to the show for the third time to talk about her new release My Mind is a Riot and her upcoming album Delynquent. Download the lyrics to follow along. We talked about: How AI Will Fail Like The Music Industry Delyn’s previous appearance on the show How working in a minor key and having crunchy guitars is dark enough Sometimes stepping away from a song and getting perspective can be better Make sure the song wins no matter what or how finished you think you might be Engaging in songwriting challenges to grow your creativity – and our Songwriting Challenge 2023: Write in a Mode About Delyn Grey My Head is a Riot was released in February and is the first song off of Delyn’s twelve-song 2026 project, “Delynquent,” written, recorded, and produced in her garage with her dad.… Read the rest

Canadian country artist Amanda Keeles joined us to talk about her latest album and starting a song based on a beat she found on her digital piano. Download the lyrics to Leads Me to You to follow along. Check out Amanda’s earlier appearance on the show.… Read the rest

Max Tojicic joined us to talk about writing songs by intersecting interesting chords with personal experiences. Download the lyrics to Lavender Bouquet to follow along. We talked about: Upcoming free Live Looping workshops with Jacob Moon: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/179GNpQieV/ Check out Jacob’s episode on this show all about live looping: https://youtu.be/X2TrGNrbKSI?si=BxBcUNjqi470iz6V… Read the rest

Geneviève Racette talks about taking a personal experience and writing it into an accessible pop song. Download the lyrics to Common Denominator to follow along. We talked about: Writing from personal experience but making your song open to others Capturing an idea as soon as you can, even if it occurs in your sleep or in the shower Using the bridge as a way to redirect the narrative What’s up with long, wordy choruses in modern pop songs?… Read the rest

Singer-songwriter Mark Ippolito talked about his experience with February Album Writing Month (FAWM), challenging himself to write a full album of songs in 28 days. Check out his album on Bandcamp. We talked about: William Shatner to Record a Heavy Metal Album Featuring Covers of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden Our Song Talk Meetup The wonderfully supportive community of songwriters at the FAWM website The diversity of genres, instrumentalists, and approaches at FAWM Opportunities for collaborations between lyricists and musicians The organizers propose weekly challenges to prompt individual songs (e.g.… Read the rest

Pop singer-songwriter Emma K talks about rearranging parts of her song to create a clearly structured pop song inspired by Billie Jean. Download the lyrics to follow along. We talked about: Rearranging sections of your song, and ending with the pre-chorus Using the same chords in sections of your songs, and still making them distinct Working with Matte Black Records Toronto to polish off the song Using dance as a songwriting tool, and the interplay between the artforms Songs that have declarative chouses, or not – see our episode How to use Declarative Choruses in your songs About Emma K Emma K is a pop singer originally from Penhold, Alberta.… Read the rest

Singer-songwriter Ursula Hegge joined us to talk about the process behind writing her song I‘ve been writing lots lately. Download the lyrics to follow along. We talked about: Suno, AI Music, and the Bad Future Writing a song that sounds natural but really went through many versions Finding interesting chord progressions on the guitar by accident Using melodic variations in each chorus Recording older songs Why (or why not) you might want to record to a click About Ursula Hegge Ursula Hegge is a singer-songwriter from Toronto who has been writing songs for almost 15 years.… Read the rest

Saska Lammila joined us all the way from Helsinki, Finland, to talk about his medieval-style folk song Suspended, for his band Ravio Jackson. Download the lyrics and chords to follow along. We talked about: Taking inspiration from a years-ago spiritual experience, through a poem, and into a finished song How Saska wrote a poem in Finnish several years ago, and translated it into English for the song Having a 3-verse and coda structure with a blooming, intense ending Writing songs with parts for his bandmates in mind, but that also work for a solo singer-songwriter show About Ravio Jackson Raivo Jackson is a versatile Americana band hailing from Helsinki, Finland.… Read the rest

Our longtime friend of the Song Talk Meetup, Paul Gallagher, joined us to talk about everything he learning getting his latest EP out on streaming services, community radio, and other digital services. Download the extensive and handy documents Paul provided for this episode: 10 Key DIY Release Takeaways DIY Release Detailed Breakdown We talked about: Getting all your ducks in a row before releasing music, including written agreements with your co-writers Capturing a wider breadth of places for your music, beyond typical digital distribution services Registering with SOCAN for both reproduction and performance royalties – see this video about the new live music performance royalties and our episode about registration with Allister Bradley The importance of preparing and submitting metadata to various platforms Make sure your final master recordings are the best they can be How IRSC codes are the unique identifiers for your songs and are needed (and free) for tracking your songs on streaming services Paul also submitted individually to a ton community radio stations, or you can also use the !earshot… Read the rest