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music by Ronan Reinan Crack the W h i p : W r i t e the Song s o n g w r i t e r s t o make the m o s t of the m y r i a d ideas these b o o k s toss at you. C e r t a i n l y o n e of t h e best things y o u can d o is a t t e n d p r o f e s s i o n a l songw r i t i n g w o r k s h o p s , w h e r e y o u ' l l find qualified s u p p o r t , g o o d ideas, and a c h a n c e t o m e e t o t h e r local artists. N o r t h V a n c o u v e r singer-songw r i t e r Jay K n u t s o n r e c e n t l y o r g a n i z e d such a w o r k s h o p , s p o n s o r e d by the N o r t h S h o r e A r t s C o m m i s s i o n . H e l d at P r e s e n t a t i o n H o u s e T h e a t r e o n N o v e m b e r 13 and a t t e n d e d by a p p r o x i m a t e l y 65 p e o ple, t h e w o r k s h o p f e a t u r e d , in a d d i t i o n t o K n u t s o n , a panel of established s o n g w r i t e r s : R o n Irving, Shawn C a r l e , G e o f f G i b b o n s , and publishing veteran Terry O ' B r i e n (former vicep r e s i d e n t o f B M G M u s i c Publishing Canada). F o r t h r e e h o u r s , t h e panel disc u s s e d v a r i o u s s o n g - w r i t i n g styles and m e t h o d s , i n d u s t r y e x p e c t a t i o n s , legal aspects, and publishing and m a r keting tips. "It w a s v e r y exciting," says Knutson. " A n d I was quite surprised. T h e r e w e r e m o r e p e o p l e than w e e x p e c t e d , and the average age w a s higher than e x p e c t e d . " T h e average age o f attendants, K n u t s o n guesses, w a s b e t w e e n 25 and 45 years. A s f o r c o n t e n t , K n u t s o n says t h e panel c o v e r e d a l o t o f g o o d g r o u n d , " b u t still w e o n l y s c r a t c h e d t h e surface. It w o u l d be nice t o c o n t i n u e t h e series and t a c k l e different issues in s o m e m o r e d e p t h . T h r e e h o u r s goes by p r e t t y quickly." B u t w o u l d p e o p l e be i n t e r e s t e d in returning to Presentation House T h e a t r e f o r a n o t h e r round? G e o f f G i b b o n s ( w h o s e n e w e s t s o l o album, Love Totoos, is n o w available t h r o u g h N o r t h V a n c o u v e r - based Spark R e c o r d s ) t h i n k s so. "Judging by the t u r n o u t , " G i b b o n s says, " y o u ' d t h i n k t h e r e w e r e e n o u g h p e o p l e t o fill venues f o r t h e s e types of w o r k shops." A f t e r all, G i b b o n s p o i n t s o u t , the w h o l e p r o c e s s is a b o u t self-learning, s o m e t h i n g a s o n g w r i t e r can Ronon Reinart is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist (specializing in guitar), and a member of the band Spike. n e v e r get e n o u g h of. " S o n g w r i t i n g c o m e s f r o m t h e heart," he says. " P e o p l e break t h r o u g h w h e n they find t h e i r o w n v o i c e . " A n d that's w h a t the best w o r k s h o p s will r e i n f o r c e : y o u r o w n v o i c e and y o u r o w n place in t h e s o n g - w r i t i n g c o m m u n i t y . F r o m t h e r e , it's o n l y a small step t o m o v i n g t h a t c a r e e r ahead, if t h a t is o n e o f y o u r goals. H e l p i n g c a r e e r s was definitely o n e o f t h e goals of the o r g a n i z e r s . N o r t h Shore A r t s C o m m i s s i o n e r U m e e d a S w i t l o says that the w o r k s h o p was put t o g e t h e r t o "give y o u n g s o n g w r i t ers t h e help they n e e d t o find t h e skills and t h e c o u r a g e n e c e s s a r y t o establish t h e i r careers." To back that up, t h e A r t s C o m m i s s i o n is h o l d i n g a major contest, the N o r t h Shore Song Search, w i t h local businesses c o n tributing various prizes t o the w i n n e r s (see b e l o w f o r details). P r o s p e c t i v e c o n t e s t a n t s n e e d only have the d r i v e and w h e r e w i t h a l t o w r i t e s o m e g o o d songs. So n o w w e u n d e r s t a n d the s o u n d r e s o n a t i n g t h r o u g h t h e hills, shaking the t r e e s , and w a k i n g the napping c h i l d r e n . It's n o t the great h o r n e d r i m m e d t o o t h l e s s Jabawaba L i z a r d as I had first s u s p e c t e d . It's m o t i v a t i o n , snapping against the backs of freshly inspired songwriters. O f course, t h e r e ' s a n o t h e r s o u n d t o o . It's called music. Workshop nizer, singer-songwriter jay Knutson orgaG e o f f Gibbons G o o d n e s s me! W h a t was that sound? D i d y o u hear it? A great h o r n e d - r i m m e d t o o t h l e s s Jabawaba Lizard, snapping its spiny tail and s w a l l o w i n g an unsuspecting dung b e e t l e f o r a mid-day snack? N o . Stranger still, it's that long and f u r t i v e w h i p - t h e unseen m o t i v e s o f a h u n dred hopeful songwriters - cracking against t h e a f t e r n o o n ' s haze, egging o n like s o m e senile banshee run a m o k in a field o f N e i l D i a m o n d albums, g o l d - s e q u i n n e d cummerbunds a n d peanut b u t t e r Twinkies. H a n g o n . I'm getting a bit ahead o f myself here. Let m e e x p l a i n . Back in t h e s u m m e r , I w r o t e an a r t i c l e f o r this magazine called " S o Ya W a n n a Be a Rock Star?" about starting o u t in t h e music business. W h i l e conducting the numerous interviews f o r that p i e c e , it w a s b r o u g h t up t i m e and again t h a t h o p e f u l musicians s h o u l d i m p r o v e t h e i r s o n g w r i t i n g . In fact, many specialists said that s o n g w r i t i n g is t h e single m o s t i m p o r t a n t skill f o r a n y b o d y w o r k i n g in today's music industry. T h a t said, finding g o o d places t o learn s o n g - w r i t i n g skills can be t o u g h . Y o u can e n r o l in c o u r s e s , b u t a s s o c i a t e d c o s t s can be a bit of a d e t e r r e n t y o u can read b o o k s ( t h e r e are e n o u g h o f t h e m o u t t h e r e ) , but y o u ' l l still n e e d t o i n t e r a c t w i t h o t h e r