I host a songwriter’s circle, the first Monday of each month, at my home, in downtown Edmonton. Twenty odd songwriters sit in a circle and each play new songs we’ve written and the rest voice their opinions about what they liked about that song and how they’d change it if it were theirs. It’s a great place to get an honest opinion of how an audience is reacting to a new song you’ve written. It’s not for everyone. There are those who feel the first version of a song is a gift from their muse and shouldn’t be changed. On the other hand if you are like me and once you’ve written a song you tend to be so close to it that you have a hard time seeing it objectively, this is a good wake up call if the song is not working.
The idea is that you take the comments that you hear and if you agree with them you rewrite the song to make it better. Not everyone at our circle is an expert writer but I believe everyone is an expert listener. The comments are often very helpful and almost always well intentioned. For the better part the feedback will come in the form of “what I liked about your song was …… and if it were mine what I would like to see is ……”
It’s a very supportive group. We started over a decade ago at the B Scene Studios, hosted by Todd, the owner. We moved downtown a few years ago and we still have a hand full of the original members. Some show up every month, some every other month, some a couple times a year and some come once and its not for them. Many of the members who’ve hung in have gotten much better over time and the level of craftsmanship has improved tremendously. If you are interested and you think you'd like to join just email me and I'll put you on my mailing list. I send out a general invitation a week before each event which will explain everything you need to know to participate.