Where do songwriters find things to write songs about? For Janis Ian, a great source was the newspaper.

You can check out Janis Ian's music and more at www.janisian.com. Janis is a legendary and extraordinary songwriter. She's also written a lot of great articles about songwriting and being a singer-songwriter including a column in Performing Songwriter magazine. (You can read many of these article on her website - click on "Prose".) In fact, she's written about lots of things - she's very smart, compassionate and interested in almost everything. (She'd probably say that these are qualities that help in her songwriting too.)

And you can hear some of the music I've written at my music website: www.ChocolateStrawberryStudios.com

Thanks again for listening. And please comment - I look forward to hearing what you think!

Ever get discouraged in your songwriting? Today's tool helps me get inspired again. It comes from singer-songwriter-instrumentalist-teacher-philosopher Don Richmond. It's called "The Water and The Conduit" and I hope you find it as helpful as I do.

You can check out Don's music and more on http://donrichmond.com/dons.htm. Plus, Don's written an extraordinary book called "Getting Your Music Past the Fear." You can order a copy through his website.

By the way, you can hear some of the music I've written at my biz website: www.ChocolateStrawberryStudios.com

Thanks again for listening. And please comment - I look forward to hearing what you think!

Today's tool from my Songwriter's Toolbox is called "Weaving a Story". We'll learn about this tool by checking out the song "The Bike" by a master storyteller: singer-songwriter Amy Correia. Wait till you hear how she weaves her tale!

You can check out Amy's music and more on MySpace at www.myspace.com/amycorreia

And remember: it isn't a rule, it's just a tool to make songs more powerful.

Today's tool from my Songwriter's Toolbox is "Being ready for inspiration." We'll learn about this tool by checking out the song "The Other Side" by folk singer-songwriter extraordinaire Don Conoscenti. www.donconoscenti.com

Remember: it isn't a rule, it's just a tool to help give birth to great songs.

Today we learn about phrasing in Jackson Browne's song "The Pretender."

It's my first post of a podcast. Let's see how it works!

By the way, The Songwriter's Toolbox is where I keep that tools that I use in my role as the Song Analyst on Art of the Song - Creativity Radio (www.artofthesong.org). It's also the title of my forthcoming book! Stay tuned....