A lot of folks have been asking me about West Coast Songwriters. I wrote an article about the organization’s September Conference for the October Newsletter. That article is extracted from this article… it will give you a feel about what it’s like go into total immersion with a bunch of songwriters for two days.
For songwriters who are looking for marketing leads, partners to collaborate with and tips on improving their craft, the West Coast Songwriters conference offers all of these things plus a large dose of inspiration — and sometimes an opportunity for deep reflection and soul searching! Held annually the second weekend in September at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California, the conference kicked off at Cibo Restaurant on El Camino in Palo Alto Friday night September 11. No host bar and dinner gave us all a chance to get reacquainted from last year, meet new folks and bend the old elbow with the many distinguished guests who fly in from all over the country or drive in from the greater Bay Area to serve as our faculty and mentors for the weekend. Most of the out of town guests were staying at the Creekside Inn, which is right there next to Cibo. And a few spilled over into other establishments along Palo Alto’s Motel Row. After Cibo shut down, there was the usual sneaking off to hotel rooms for the late night sing-alongs and song sharings.
So the conference itself lasted all day Saturday and Sunday with the wonderful Sunset concert Saturday night. My writing partner (that would be Scott)and I screened about 8 songs to industry pros for feedback and sat in on lots of song screenings. I found the judges respectful but also realistic as to the present commercial value of the songs they heard. That’s one thing you have to ask yourself over and over again. How commercial do you want to be? Who are writing for? Yourself or a larger market? Should you talk to pros if what you really want to do is write songs and play for yourself and your friends?
My favorite screening experience was with Nashville-based song plugger Penny Dionne. She listened to my song “Crazy Girl” in which I thought I was conveying the story of a beautiful rebel girl that everyone called crazy, but that the singer was secretly “crazy” about. Penny asked me, “What kind of crazy are we talking here? Shopping cart crazy? What’s she like exactly?” I stared down at my lyrics and realized they did not convey what I saw in my head. I had to laugh. Sometimes we are so close to our work we can’t see that we’re painting with the wrong words or with inadequate words. In fact upon careful review, I realized a lot of my lyrics needed to be punched up and clarified. Thanks, Penny!
My songwriting partner (that would be Scott) and I attended our two twenty minute one-on-ones (a steal at $20 extra each) with two industry pros who alternatively raked us over the coals, loved us, critiqued us, “inquisitioned” us and inspired us. We loved their valuable insight. And smarted a little, too. Another Nashville-based song plugger Antoinette Oleson listened through our CD of original “country” style songs. Her main criticism was that the lyrics weren’t bold enough, didn’t paint strong enough pictures. But she loved our hooks and thought we had some wonderful melodies and themes. But again, the melodies here and there sagged, and she gave great suggestions. And she praised our wisdom in not having paid for demos when the songs were clearly not ready. I didn’t want to hear the songs were not ready, but I also didn’t come there for the “soft pedal” either.
We then went 9 rounds with Jason Brawner who works with young artists to develop their talent. He ticked through our daughter’s catalog of original songs. He said the timbre of her voice was her strongest asset. And he could point out where in the songs it was present and was strongest. He pointed out that several songs needed to be sung in a lower key to capture that timbre. And he said why parts of the songs were not commercial but he also pointed out what was working. He suggested she work with a seasoned songwriter to craft them like Steve Seskin. He also gave us the name of two local producers who he thought could work with her in the studio to give her a great production. And he also shared with us the kind of commitment it would take on her part to get to the next level. Realistically she could do it, but she’d have to have a single mindedness of purpose. And maybe she’s not ready to go “all in”. It takes going “all in”. Jason gave us so much to think about, and again no sugar pill.
When I happened to run into Steven Seskin later, I talked to him about our meeting with Jason and Steve immediately took our daughter’s CD. That’s the networking part of the conference!
In addition to screenings and one-on-ones, we also took classes on making “it” stronger. It being things like lyrics, melody, hooks, performance comportment, marketing, co-writing, you name it. Performance coach Steve Memel took volunteers from the audience and had them sing a bit of their song. After working with them on technique, magically their performance was stronger within just a few minutes. Things like opening your eyes, picking one person to sing to in the audience per lyric line, tricks on getting past your mistakes so that you don’t lose focus, making sure you are comfortable, that the mike is placed right, realizing the audience isn’t going to be aware of a mistake unless you make a face or get distracted. Steve was truly amazing.
I poked my head in on one of the business sessions and one on the nuts and bolts of song writing. I caught one of the interviews with an industry legend – Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues and then had dinner with a mixed group of peers and mentors. One of the appealing things about the WCS conference is that it is small and intimate and that you have access to the people you want to meet. Furthermore the conference is located in the beautiful hills so there is a relaxed vacation atmosphere that you couldn’t quite duplicate if you were in the middle of LA.
Just walking around for two days with other songwriters was inspirational. Spending that much time with people who are so like me and doing what I am doing was affirming, like coming home. Listening to the songwriter/artists performing their own work live in the quad all day long plus the lunchtime concerts added to that feeling of songwriting immersion that can really feed your soul deep down if you are open to it.
Finally new this year was the band showcases where bands performing original songs could get a long session with engineers, producers and other professionals, and get critical feedback. Bands doing original music have found a place in WCS as evidenced by the presence of Hero’s Last Welcome on the Sunset Concert stage.
I was grateful to sit down and relax at the Sunset Concert Saturday night after feeling “plugged in” all day as I ran around trying not to miss anything.
Executive Director Ian Crombie opened the evening for us and was given a spontaneous standing ovation when board member Tami Mulcahy crooned a “thank you Ian,” from the audience. So after Ian tried to deflect any praise away from himself as quickly as possible as is his way, he introduced the winning artists of this year’s West Coast Songwriters Competition FINALS to sing their a couple of songs including their winning song.
First up was fourth-placed Emily Rose with her amazing country ballad, I Still Leave the Light On. Next was second place Sam Cosio with his intimate electric guitar singing his placing song Pour Me a Glass. Next up was Michael McNevin, the writer and performer of this year’s #1 hit song: Scarecrow. Last was the band, HERO’S LAST MISSION. Lee Hurtado his brother Luis Hurtado, Quentin Garcia, Art Padilla and Julian Mendoza took third place with Luis’s original song Baby You are Something.
After the four top placers performed, Ian handed over the mic to hit songwriter and industry luminary Andre Pessis with his inimitable, refreshingly almost politically correct patter. Andre alternately introduced and roasted the “lifers” of WCS who kindly performed for us that night.
We were treated to performances by a string of hitmakers, starting with WCS co-founder Michael Silversher, and then we heard 1000 Songwriting Ideas author Lisa Aschmann, Foothills College professor and songwriter Jim Bruno, Monica Pasqual of the band Blame Sally, George Merrill of Boy Meets Girl Music and finally the amazing Steve Seskin. Each one of these performances passed the give-me-chills test.
I blogged about the entire concert on my “American Songwriter Show” myspace page, if you want more details.
The second day we were back for breakfast and coffee in the quad. And then at 10 am Sunday it all began again – more classes, screenings, one-on-ones and sitting in on interviews with industry luminaries. By Sunday I was feeling pretty much like everyone there was in my extended family. I was swapping business cards, CDs and checking out possible co-writers to bring in to strengthen our songs, particularly the lyrics!
The day and the conference wrapped with an intimate concert featuring Steve Seskin with Jim Photoglo. They sang their original songs and took a few audience requests. Jim’s rendition of his and Gary Burr’s “Silence is King Around Here” had the room in pin drop mode and the audience sang along with Steve’s “This is My Day.”
The WCS conference signaled the end of the WCS season with the presentation of the winning songs in that year’s song competition. But the Conference really was only the beginning as just around the corner, the next season of competitions begins. And all the other events that WCS puts on in support of the craft of songwriting start up as well — song screenings, Works-In-Progress, master classes, etc. So when I left the conference I didn’t feel it was over, I felt it was just another beginning for me. But I wasn’t ready to write a song. I was exhausted and encouraged and discouraged. So I went right home and wrote a song with Scott, called “If I Had to Write a Song Tonight I’d Cry.” You can listen to it on our Key Largo Music Myspace Page. We had a lot of fun writing it.
