Last
month, my husband David and I were lucky enough to attend the Switchback
Songwriters Weekend. Not only did we get
the benefit of being part of such a rewarding weekend, but we got to spend it
at the Four Mounds Inn in a secluded area off in its own little world near the
Mississippi River. Switchback fans, if
you have not been there, I would strongly suggest you attend next year! It gets
your juices going, and for those people that think they cannot write a song, you
will find that you can do it! I have firsthand experience with that. I actually
participated this year and came away with my own song called Butterflies and
Flowers.
The assignment was to 1) pick a movie you have seen quite recently
that just stuck with you for some reason or another. Well, I happen to love the movie My Cousin
Vinnie. 2) Pick something that
represents you. I picked butterflies and flowers: butterflies because I like everything, and
flowers because gardening is something I love to do! J The ironic part of this whole story that no
one from the weekend knows is that one other idea I had written down is the
leather jacket that has just been calling my name at Starved Rock. I feel it
represented me and would have fit into my song, but I ended up not including
it. I guess if I wanted to, I could try
to rewrite it somehow.
Day
1
Being
first time travelers to Dubuque, Iowa, David and I decided to take the scenic
route to Apple River Canyon, and it was so beautiful! We may go camping there
sometime in the fall. On Highway 20 to Galena we found a neat little restaurant
in the business district called Dirty Gurt’s. I would give it four stars. We would definitely go back there again.
Once
we arrived in Dubuque, David and I decided to go off on our own and seek out the
best dinner spot in the area. It was the Dubuque Star Brewery right on the
Mississippi River. Again, another great
place to tell our friends about! After
dinner, we arrived at Four Mounds Inn where we enjoyed a wine and cheese
reception with a “passing of the guitar” with the other guests. This was intended as a way to get to know one
another. Each person played some type of
song or was asked to sing whatever they wanted.
David
woke up before I did and had already written three songs. I decided to go for a
walk before breakfast, and it was so beautiful that morning. What a gorgeous
sunrise it was! It is so beautiful around the Mississippi River this time of
year. I ran into Kay Shelton, another musician attending the seminar. We were talking about bird watching, and that
got me thinking about writing another song and how to go about it. I have the
idea but for now it is just a work in progress. After breakfast, we all sat around the
breakfast tables as we were given our assignments. Then we were able to go off until noon and if
we needed any help, we could ask any of the four songwriters who would be
available for consultation. I took full
advantage of that once I wrote my first draft.
I showed Marty and he told me to talk to Scott who gave me a different
perspective on how to write a song. You
have to end it somewhere and then write at least three pages of ideas because
those are your foundation even if you do not use them. You then have them for a song composition later.
They will always be your ideas! I felt
as if everyone had a different idea for my song as I was going through this
process. I wanted my song to be about a
gangster who had a soft side and asked for forgiveness because she liked
butterflies and flowers, and in the end her friends had to make amends.
Later
that day we scheduled consultations with the songwriters. My time was with
Marty and he had me take all my papers and put them in my room, and then he asked
me what I wanted my song to be about in my own words. He asked me if I had
written the top part of the song which would become my refrain about
butterflies and flowers. Then the first verse had to be about me, the gangster
in Riverside. Then the second verse had
to be about my peeps (refrain), and the third and final verse had to be about going
to St. Mary’s to ask for forgiveness. I
even asked James for help and he put some words in there that really did not reflect
my concept. I asked Brian if he would play it with me, and he said this did not
sound right and not to come back to him until it was more my song. I had to
work on that until it made sense in my own words so that I could sing it and
feel comfortable. That is what writing a song is about. One thing I have
learned is never to work with someone that is too close to you because that
person may have a different way of thinking. This is not a bad thing -- it just
sometimes does not work if you do not have the same thought process.
Day
3
I showed Marty my song and I told him I know
that is not how to write a song. Marty asked how do you think you write a song?
I responded it is by writing with spaces
in between as my husband does. He said
that everyone is different and that sometimes you have to take a step back from
your partner, meaning David, because no one writes a song the same way as anyone
else. Then we were able to perfect our
songs if we were not already done and we each performed in front of the group
at 9 am. It was a round robin concert with no set order so everyone just
volunteered to go and it was nice that way. It is really a rewarding and
relaxing weekend as a whole, and I am glad I attended as a participant because
it was a completely new experience for me. Thanks to everyone that made this
weekend happen, especially Jan Hoag, our Booking Agent, who was on site to help
with anything that came up. 
Being
first timers in Dubuque, my husband David and I decided to go sightseeing at
the Museum and Aquarium of Dubuque. We went into an actual steamboat that is a historical
landmark. There is so much fascinating history in this area that we both
decided we would have much more to see when we go back.
Well,
it just makes me look forward to more traveling to Iowa, which brings me to my
next subject, The Mayfly Dance “Dance” on June 22, 2012. We want to fill the dance floor at
TJ Hunters in Lansing, Iowa so let’s get those dancing shoes on and I hope to
see you out there! Then the day after
the dance is the Mayfly Dance Cruise on the evening of June 23. If you are interested, go to www.waygoodmusic.com for all the details. What a great way to travel down the river,
listening to Switchback while looking at the beauty of nature!
You will also want to mark your calendar for
September 8-9, 2012 when Switchback will debut the orchestral arrangement of “Falling
Water River” at The Grand Opera House of Dubuque. Arranged and directed by Paul
Hemmer, the music will be performed by the 30-piece Grand Pops Orchestra!
Best Regards,
Fan Club President of Switchback
Our Outreach Program in Dubuque, Iowa has taken on marathon proportions at times. One year we played for 9000 students in just 10 days. The most recent jaunt to Dubuque was for two middle schools where we presented an after-school workshop on songwriting that we call "Why Did We Write That?".
So we voted on what type of song to write. The girl's birthday gift was chosen as the best project. In five minutes we had important facts about dad listed on the chalkboard. He was a first child of four and this daughter was also the first of four. He was the only boy in the family and his daughter had one brother as well. They shared the same date but different months, both being born in the fall. When they would have a daddy-daughter outing, they loved bowling, sledding, and going to movies together. Marty would write these ideas on the board with a marker. Later he found out he used a non-erasable marker and we had to spend 10 minutes cleaning the board.
Abercrombie shirt enthusiastically waved her hand. "How about we have her ask her dad for new clothes?"
This April, we will have our second Annual Switchback Songwriter's weekend at Four Mounds Conference Center in Dubuque. We are bringing in a guest songwriter, Kevin Gordon, to share his experiences with songwriting. We also will have our resident songwriter, Scott Momenthy, on hand to help coach individuals. More information is on our