Monday, November 06, 2006

Song of the Week

Five weeks ago, I took up the challenge of writing a song a week for a brand new radio show, Take5 on CIUT 89.5 FM. The idea is that every Friday, I perform a new song in studio inspired by one of the stories they've presented during the week.

Should be fun, I thought. And it is. When it's not really, really hard.

So far, this self-imposed assignment has led to many unexpected challenges and joys. Already it's been a roller-coaster ride of managing deadlines, trusting my instincts, following my muse and performing live with very little rehearsal.

In short, it's provided enough food for thought to justify resuscitating this blog, which has been more-or-less dormant since I decided to take a break from busking. (A good decision and one I don't regret. Oddly enough, this project has a few things in common with busking which I may explore in a future post.)

So far, I have written songs inspired by the following topics: Scarborough, trash, a brewery that holds a mock election with beers named for politicians, songwriter Penny Lang and other women singers who have appeared on the program, and a new book called Vessie Flamingo: Outshining the Moon.

I'll write about some of these songs in upcoming posts...and about the creative process in general.

The host commented last week that after 52 weeks, I'll have enough songs for a Time-Life collection.

That's 47 songs to go.

No comments: