#23wksp6 Jim Ratts – Songwriting

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10am to 4:30pm CDT         All Skill Levels – Songwriting

A song is the world’s most powerful way to tell a story, share a complex feeling, or change the world.  Songwriting is a spell so captivating that once you are in it, you have at your fingertips the tools to create an even better song.  You can start with a tidbit  and because of that spell, your tidbit expands with your imagination, into a song.  Learn how to capture the ideas around you, use tried and true techniques to develop ideas, chord progressions, song structures, a beat and rhythm, and more.

I have enthusiasm to share that might encourage someone else to learn the joys of the craft of songwriting. Let’s explore some techniques used by some of the acknowledged great songwriters of our genre. Simple tools that set you free to be creative, and help to facilitate both your music and poetry.

Bring your instrument of choice, though you don’t have to play to write songs. Gather your thoughts about songwriting. We’ll be wanting to hear from you.

Bob Shane once asked me to write him a hit song about the Kingston Trio. Now, I don’t know how to write a hit song, although I did accept his challenge. I’m so captivated by songs in general that any effort to that end sounds like a worthwhile pursuit. And, I had some things to say about his legendary Trio. Weren’t songs the construction material with which he built his global career?

Being a fan of The Dillards and The Limeliters, I was honored that they both covered a couple of my songs each. The legendary Sam Bush had a hit with my composition “Howlin’ At The Moon”, and he’s been singing it for over two decades. (The originators of Telluride Bluegrass Festival first heard Sam’s Newgrass Revival at Winfield back in the early ’70s and the rest is Colorado history.) The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Jimmy Ibbotson sang “Howlin’ At The Moon” on our Wild Jimbos’ MCA record, and it’s been featured in a movie and covered multiple times. It’s been quite a good friend to me.

And, yeah, I wrote that song for Shane, called “Singing Every Inch of the Way”. It wasn’t a big hit, but he recorded it and released it twice. It’s the final song on the last recording he ever made. At the end of his memorial service a couple of years ago, this Bob Shane recording came over the speakers singing the story of his life. ‘Singing every inch of the way’.

Let’s get together and celebrate songs!