South Sudan-born, Toronto-based indie fusion singer, model and writer Amanie Illfated joined us to talk about her songwriting journeys across nations and cultures. Guest host and singer-songwriter Kayt Lucas filled in for Phil – thanks Kayt! We talked about:

* Amanie’s journey from Regina to Toronto at age 16

* blogging and modelling as they apply to songwriting

* trance vs. pop

* the use of melodrama and operatic aspects

* the influence of a multi-cultural Toronto on Amanie’s music

* using different languages in your lyrics

* connecting emotionally with your audience

* setting and achieving goals in life, but also appreciating the process of getting there

Listen to the show:

Download the lyrics and follow along!

Letter to Myself

You Me

Singer/songwriter Angela Saini returns with a couple of great tunes and some pretty in depth talk about songwriting concepts.

Listen to the full show

Stuff we talked about:

* Angela’s first appearance on Song Talk Radio

* Preproduction

* https://www.angelasaini.com/

* Songs: live vs recording

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roncesvalles,_Toronto

* Constructively using audience response to songs

* We were wrong “A Hard Day’s Night” by the Beatles is in the key of G, not C

* Rhyme Schemes

We figured it was time to talk about rhyme; a cornerstone of songwriting. So we invited one of our favourite singer/songwriters – Blair Packham – to take a closer listen to songs with a plethora of rhymes and one with virtually none! We talked about:

* The songwriter’s personal approach to rhyme

* Does rhyme distract from the the emotion of the song?

* Kinds of rhymes – rhymezone.com

* Perfect rhymes for something certain (e.g. right/might)

* Assonance rhymes for uncertainty or negative feelings (e.g. around/down, blood/rush)

* Pat Pattison – how do rhymes serve the song?

* Rhyme schemes

* Neel’s notes on rhyming from Pat Pattison’s Songwriting course on Coursera

* The notion of the “illusion of authenticity” – stay tuned for a future theme show with Blair!

Listen to the show

https://s3.amazonaws.com/songtalk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Song-Talk-Radio-Episode-218-Rhyme-A-Rama.mp3

 

Download the lyrics

Simple Twist of Fate by Bob Dylan

Cry Me a River by Arthur Hamilton

You’re the Top by Cole Porter

Fast Car by Tracy Chapman

Drummer, songwriter and guitarist Paul Lamarche stopped by to trade songwriting tips.

We talked about

* Working as a musician on cruise ships

* Different pronunciations of words for style

* Writing songs for others to sing

* Working in 6/8

* MEET-ME-HALFWAY-lyrics

* MAKE-IT-GOOD-lyrics

* Cakewalks SONAR DAW now free

* Show sponsor: easyDNS.com

 

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For this special episode, each of the Song Talk Radio hosts shared one of their own songs for discussion. We talked about:

* a Gaurdian article about the Hall & Oates song I Can’t Go For That

* our upcoming show on key modulations

* Bruce’s experience with his producer

* an email we got about our Comedy Songs episode

* writing a song from the bassline (Phil’s song example)

* our episode featuring Blair Packham’s deep dive on two Beatles songs

* are songs being inspired by the #meToo movement (like Neel’s song example)

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The Songs

Part way through her cross-country tour which began in her hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, singer/songwriter Rebecca Lappa stopped in at the Song Talk Radio studio to share two original songs. She was accompanied on piano by the talented musician Nick Samoil. We talked about:

* releasing your first album at the age of 12

* FACTOR grants

* Canada’s Music Incubator

* metaphor list as a writing tool

* co-writes

* the story is the thing

* a song about a Vimy Ridge hero

* 1st or 2nd person in a song

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The Lyrics

Valiant-of-Vimy

Deep-Water

Watch the live performances

 

We got our funny on by looking at what makes comedy songs tick. Friend of the show Mike MacInnes “Phil’d” in for Phil. Thanks Mike! And our own tech person, Linda Lavender, treated us to a live comedy song she just wrote – great stuff Linda!

We talked about:

* why Top 40 charts don’t have many comedy songs

* stand-up comedians who also release comedy songs

* “Weird Al” Yankovic

* Flight of the Conchords

* Childish Gambino

* The Beautiful South

* Randy Rainbow

* the difference between clever songs and comedy songs

* how to not give away the joke off the top

* the use of innuendo

* satire and parody

* improvisation

Listen to the show

The songs

Bruce’s pick – his own song Scuba Diver (download the lyrics)

Neel’s pick – How Do You Solve a Problem Like Korea by Randy Rainbow (download the lyrics)

Guest host Mike’s pick – Song for Whoever by The Beautiful South (download the lyrics)

Our Audio Engineer Linda’s pick – her own song My Joy (download the lyrics)

 

Patrick Ballantyne stopped by to pull apart two of his fave songs. The open and emotive “Cowboy” by Randy Newman, and “Somewhere” from West Side Story by Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein.

Stuff we talked about:

* Patrick Ballantyne’s website

* Randy Newman “Cowboy” Lyrics

* Somewhere Lyrics

* Northwood Records

* West Side Story

* Randy Newman

* Leonard Bernstein

* Somewhere TAB

* 11 o’clock number

Listen to the show

We had the pleasure of having the prolific Toronto poet, novelist, and singer/songwriter Robert Priest (with David Hynes on guitar) back in the studio to share a couple of his children’s songs. We talked about…

* testing a song on a 6-year old

* moving from writing for adults to writing for children on the same day

* chord choices for children

* writing for younger and older children (the differences)

* kids deserve quality songwriting

* “Inchworm” (an old favourite)

* repetition in kids’ songs

* using words that kids will have to look up (why not?)

* the work habits of a prolific writer

* Gilbert and Sullivan style (The Ships of Bath)

* do you have to have kids to write for children?

Listen to the whole show

Robert-Priest-Lyrics

Watch the live performances

Sean Bertram returned to the show following the release of his debut album, The Right Place. We talked about:

* Sean’s studies at Humber College in Music Guitar

* poetics in your lyrics

* changing chords and melodic centre between sections of your song

* contrast in pop songwriting

* self-doubt in songwriting

* Taming Your Gremlin by Rick Carson

* how to change up your guitar playing from section to section

* how to use an AABA structure in your verse

* Sean’s new album The Right Place

* Sean’s dad, Allister Bradley and his appearance on the show

Listen to the show

Download the lyrics for Caroline and I Think Too Much

Watch the live performance