April 11-13, 2025

A weekend in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina teaching songwriting with intention.

Please note that the schedule is subject to slight changes and participants will be notified via email prior to the retreat.

Friday, 4/12

• 10:00 am – Meet and Greet, staff and class intros

• 11:00am-12:30 pm – Everyday Prompts– Don Henry

Movie scenes. News of the weird. Photographs. Books. Art. Conversation. Everything’s a song!

Let’s talk about the act of writing as inspiration instead of waiting for inspiration to make you write. (Bring a paper & pen. We’ll do some brainstorming and exercises)

12:30-1:30 pm – LUNCH
Space is available for lunch at the Civic Center, but you provide your own food. You can bring lunch, order and pick up, organize a lunch run, and if you want, hang out with your fellow songwriters and get to know them.

• 1:30-3:00 pm –   Overcoming Creative Paralysis in Your Songwriting – Susan Cattaneo

Struck by an unstoppable urge to write a song?  Maybe you have a melody, chord progression, or a snippet of lyric, but then something happens, and you just can’t write past it? And your inner critic is whispering give up and try something much more fun like…accounting? Don’t lose hope.  Help is on the way. This master class focuses on practical tools and tips that will help writers get and stay inspired.  Great song ideas are all around you. Let me help you find and finish them! Come prepared to write.

• 3:15-4:40 pm– Turning a Six Word Story Into a Song –   Cathy Fink

Dinner on your own

7:30 PM – Instructor Concert at Ashe Civic Center with Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Don Henry, Susan Cattaneo

Post Concert Song Swap at Arts Council Building

 

Saturday, 4/12

• 10-11:30 am – Musical Hooks & the Rewards of Ryhming– Don Henry

So often songwriting classes focus primarily on lyrics. This class will show how musical cadences, phrasing and chord progressions can be as important as a great lyric. And, we’ll look at how hunting down a great rhyme can accidentally open up some brilliance in your writing that you didn’t know was there! (Bring an original verse or chorus and we’ll have some fun!)

• 11:45 – 1:15 pm  – The Devil’s in the Details… and so is a Great Song! – Susan Cattaneo

How often are you stuck with lyrics that feel “generic” and uninteresting?  Join me as we explore ways to generate sense-bound imagery for your songs! I’ll start the hour by showing you some in-class writing techniques to get you thinking about ways to “show not tell” your story. Some of the writing prompts we’ll learn about are focused writing, object writing, and writing through the power of metaphor and how it can transform any song into magic. 

1:15 – 2:30 pm – LUNCH
Space is available for lunch at the Civic Center, but you provide your own food. You can bring lunch, order and pick up, organize a lunch run, and if you want, hang out with your fellow songwriters and get to know them.

• 2:30 – 3:30 pm – Editing Your Song – Cathy Fink (with Susan & Don)

Step by step, we’ll talk about the details that help you make your song better. You’ll have a chance to do some of your own editing in class and we’ll take a few songs from participants to demonstrate editing possibilities.

3:45 – 4:45 pm – Happily Ever After: The Marraige of Music and Meaning – Susan Cattaneo & Cathy Fink

Sometimes, a song is a perfect union of words, melody and chords. We can’t quite put our finger on why it all works so well. We just feel it. When that happens, chances are, prosody is in the process! This hour will be devoted to exploring and working with this invaluable songwriting concept. We will listen to songs and look at lyrics that have great prosody built into them and then I’ll have you try creating some sections of your own.

4:45 pm – 7:30 pm Hangout with your Fellow Participants, dinner break

• 7:30 pm –   Song Swap at Arts Council Building

Sunday, 4/13

• 10:00- 11:00am –  Working From the Inside Out –  Don Henry

We’ll use your anchor idea for a chorus then look at it from as many angles as possible to find out if your idea has enough legs to see it through. Then we’ll look at the most effective options to use, so you’ll get the best out of your idea and avoid any stumbling blocks along the way.

• 11:15 am – 12:15 pm – Painting with Words –  Susan Cattaneo

This workshop explores an invaluable and transformative lyric tool called Re-coloring. We will look at various song styles that incorporate Re-coloring and learn how this technique supports the narrative flow of your lyrics. A wonderful and creative tool for all songwriters—you might never write another song the same way again!

12:30 pm – 2:00 pm – Speed Meetings with Instructors and Preparation for Student Showcase
(Bring your lunch!)

Each participant can schedule one meeting with one instructor for 15 minutes to work on one thing- it can be help with a song, song title, song puzzle, challenging line or other single focus topic. Be realistic, 15 minutes. Meantime, many participants enjoy helping each other with harmony or instrumentation for the participant showcase and this time can be used for rehearsal.

Marcy Marxer will also be on staff for this and would love to work with people trying to improve the music to their song.

• 3:30-5pm – Participant Showcase at Old General Store in Lansing NC, Weather Permitting, group photo at 3 pm in front of Ola Belle mural in Lansing

Plan on 20-25 minute drive to downtown Lansing.

Coffee, tea, cider, wine, snacks available for purchase