JULY 2021 NEWSLETTER

Hey songwriters,

Another full house at the Starlite Lounge and nearly everyone tackled the July assignment by presenting a wedding song. Some were newly written, others were pulled from the songwriter’s archives. Songs ranged from confessional to wildly fictional, from sentimental to contemplations of the integrity of the social institution. Sue Gartland (suegartland@juno.com) brought a download of her decade-old bluegrass recording recounting a true story about her grandmother getting hitched in a car during a drive-through wedding in 1918. On Jessica Duke’s (jessicaduke74@gmail.com) actual wedding anniversary, she played a song written to commemorate another couple’s nuptials. Long married Paul Sproull (Paulsproull@yahoo.com) and Janice Jankowski (Janicemjankowski@aol.com) interpreted the assignment through a duet about a comically tragic shotgun wedding.

The group’s next assignment is based on the theme of a songwriting contest entered by member Jon Eric (trickyhipster@gmail.com). At the August meeting, introduce yourself in a song.

Starlite Lounge

When distancing requirements were dropped, Pittsburgh Songwriters Circle was given a more permanent place on the Blawnox restaurant’s schedule. The virtual open stage hosted by Devin Russian (Russiandevin@gmail.com) is back to live performances on the second, third and fourth Wednesdays of each month. The Songwriters Circle has the backroom on first Wednesdays.

Devin has graciously added a new feature to his open stage. The fourth Wednesday of each month will include a featured performance by a Songwriters Circle member. Support Jess Duke’s featured set on July 28.

CD project

Duping fees are in and most of the 27 participants have scheduled their first recording session with producer Mike Hickman. The deadline for getting on his schedule was the end of June. The first-session scheduling deadline protects producer Mike Hickman (512-785-2132, studio@fallguys.net)

– John