Canadian Juno and Latin Grammy winning artist, Alex Cuba joined us to talk about his songwriting process and perform a new song, Solo Mia, live on the show.

We talked about:

* Alex’s first visit to Canada as part of his father’s band

* How a melody-first way of songwriting tells Alex what the song is about

* The differences between solo writing and collaborating with others

* How to develop unique and rich chord progressions (hint: jazz)

* Writing in Spanish vs English

* How Alex’s playing style is unique to him, and why this is important – this applies to everyone!

* Alex’s song Solo Mia, and its unique structure

* “Talent is the ability to make something complicated sound simple” (borrowed from John Coltrane)

Download the lyrics (Spanish and English) for Solo Mia