Upcoming Events

Please check our SAW Events list for more information on these events and additional events.

Balancing the Art, Craft & Business of Songwriting
Workshop featuring Jen and Scott Smith from Naked Blue

Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008 (1:00pm-4:00pm)
Place: The Lab at Convergence (1819 Crestwood Drive, located off of N. Quaker Lane).
Cost: $30 SAW members / $40 non-members if registered by June 6. $40/$50 after June 6.

Fill out the registration form to register.

Mail-in forms should be sent to:
Songwriters' Association of Washington
4200 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, PMB 106-137, Washington, D.C. 20016
must be postmarked by June 6th, to receive the discount.

Have you ever wanted to get your songs into television, film or in the hands of successful recording artists? Are you looking for focus on where you'd like your songs to end up and what you can do to get them there? Are you concerned that your work isn't "refined" enough to be appealing, or if you should commercialize to appeal to the masses?

In SAW's upcoming workshop, Balancing the Art, Craft & Business of Songwriting, successful songwriting veterans Jen and Scott Smith of the band Naked Blue will share their experiences as writers in the "industry". The workshop will begin with a discussion of the joys & conflicts they have experienced while making (and trying to make) money from their songs. Jen and Scott will deconstruct a hit song and define the elements that make it broadly appealing. They will help you apply those concepts of "craft" to your own songs. So be sure to bring copies of your lyrics and a guitar or recording of the song you want to work on. They will conclude the workshop with a Q&A time on practical and legal issues affecting songwriters in today's market. If you have ever paid for a consultation with an entertainment lawyer to answer questions about today's legal issues, you will realize that this part of the workshop alone makes it well worth the price of admission!

By the end of the session you will have gained some focus on where you'd like your songs to end up and what you can do to help get them there.

Scott & Jen Smith have written hundreds of songs, released 5 CDs and co-written and/or worked with a few high profile artists including Anton Fig, Ivan Neville, Gary Nicholson, Kenny Rogers, Pete Brown & John & Sally Tiven. They've had songs recorded by MCA recording artists Evangeline, Telarc Records recording artist Troy Turner and have appeared on compilations including The British at Midem, A Taste of AAA, Paste Magazine Sampler 2 and 3, Recording Magazine Playback 18 and 3 Best of Taxi compilations, to name a few. Their most recent CD peaked at #105 on FMQB. Scott & Jen have also had song placements in 14 films & TV shows to date.

Directions to the Lab at Convergence: Take the Shirlington exit off of I-395 and follow the signs to Quaker Lane, then take the second left on Crestwood Drive. The Lab is the first building on the left, with the entrance facing Crestwood Drive.

For more information, contact education@saw.org.

SONGWRITERS—START YOUR ENGINES! MASC 25 IS COMING
It’s time to start getting those songs ready for this year's 25th (Silver Anniversary!) Mid-Atlantic Song Contest (MASC). The entry period will begin in May--look for special prizes and opportunities the MASC will be offering this year. More details to come!

SESAC, BMI, and ASCAP are proud sponsors of The Durango Songwriter's Expo, one of the nation's premier singer/songwriter events, which will for the first time take place in the Southeast in Asheville, N.C., May 29-31, 2008 at The Crowne Plaza Resort.

The Expo is a combination of workshops, listening sessions, showcases, panels, and open mics, and in each of the last several years new artists have been signed at the event. The Expo is also a highly regarded hit songwriter's retreat with two #1 songs written there by participating songwriters. Expo attendee, Alissa Moreno, wrote with Jeffrey Steele at our Santa Barbara event two years ago as the winner of our song contest and that song they wrote is the new Rascal Flatts' single, "Every Day".

With over 40 music industry pros and hit songwriters, all genres of music, and registration limited to 200 attendees, The Expo is truly an unparalleled networking bonanza and very much an intimate and rewarding event. Special guests include Emerson Hart from Tonic, Mindy Smith, Jill Sobule, Chuck Cannon, Walt Aldridge, Gary Baker, Kendall Marvel, and a veritable who's who of industry pros from LA, Nashville, and NY.

For more info and to download the registration form go to Durango-Songwriters-Expo.com or call 970-259-9747. This is one not to be missed, especially for all you who've been unable to come out West for prior Expos.

Listen up, local singer/songwriters/musicians!

Every Saturday from 4-5 p.m., SAW Board member Michelle Murray will be hosting a web radio show, called "Open Stage," on WLOY-AM (1620) the Loyola College Radio Station. Each week Michelle will play primarily acoustic-based local music, exposing the listener to the best of the area’s singer/songwriters. Her show will feature a variety of musical genres including folk, blues, country, bluegrass, and Celtic music.

You can listen online, and they offer three different streams to choose from.
http://www.wloy.org/listen.html

Michelle is looking to play as many local musicians as possible. If you would like to send your CD to play, just mail a copy (preferably 2 copies, that way Michelle can put the extra copy in the station library) to:

Michelle Murray (you need to put the name on there!)
WLOY-AM
Loyola College
4501 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21210

Also, here's a link to Michelle's show page on the site:
http://www.wloy.com/shows/openstage.html

So take a listen and support the local music community!

Guitars Not Guns is starting up their winter guitar class sessions and are in need of volunteers at three locations - the Sacramento Center near Fort Belvoir, the Boys & Girls Club in Old Town Alexandria, and the Boys & Girls Club near Landmark Shopping Center.

These classes normally run on weekdays for an hour some time between 4 & 6 pm. Not all volunteer positions require teaching guitar.

If you or someone you know is able to volunteer for this very worthy cause, please contact Skip Chaples, President of the Virginia Chapter of Guitars Not Guns, at fchaples@cox.net for more details.

Please be aware of a wonderful opportunity for student members of Songwriters' Association. A scholarship fund exists that will pay the tuition to SAW workshops allowing full-time student members to attend at no cost.

This fund was set up in the memory of David Scales, a SAW member who was killed in the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon. Donations were collected during SAW's gala Mid-Atlantic Song Contest awards evening in November 2001, and additional cash contributions have been received since then. The fund is not huge, but those monies will be apportioned to offset workshop fees for younger writers as long as the funds last.

Songwriters' Board of Directors would like to share this opportunity with as many student members as express an interest, but administration of this fund is going to be informal. If you are a student member and did not receive a letter or email with similar information, please make yourself known by leaving a message at 301-654-8434.

Current full-time students in high school and college are eligible.

The scholarship consists of the following:

- Join SAW for only $20. Request a membership brochure/application at the phone number listed above.
- Free attendance to SAW Workshops.