2019 Women, Nature and Song
June 22nd and 23rd
We are so excited to host the second song writing workshop for women on our beautiful Stillpoint land.
Our vision for this weekend, Women, Nature and Song, is for women songwriters, singers and poets, beginners to professional, to join in a sacred and supportive space on our beautiful 40 acre land. There will be time to share, learn and be inspired by each other and the beauty surrounding us. The workshop will be facilitated by Beth Wood and Ara Lee James of Stand and Sway, two extraordinary and gifted singers and musicians who love sharing their wisdom of performing, singing, and writing. We will explore our creative gifts and challenges as women writers, singers, and performers.
Check out this clip of Beth and Ara at the Rye Room. A great example of the beauty they create.
We will gather in our 30 foot Yurt as well as lots of outside space in the woods at Stillpoint. There are trails to hike in the forest, a spiral to walk and an organic farm to tour. We can have a campfire at night and share songs.. and even roast some marshmallows! and smores!
Check below for more details for the workshop content.
Below is a flyer that gives more details but here they are too:
When: June 22 from 10:00 until evening (lunch and dinner included)
June 23 from 10:00am to 4pm (breakfast and lunch included)
Where: Stillpoint Farm Yurt, 86915 Territorial Rd, Veneta, OR 97487
There will be a limited number of women attending this workshop so please sign up soon to reserve your spot.
Cost: Sliding Scale $ 175 – 225. If you can afford the high end, please do so for those that can only afford the lower end. Thank you! When you donate I will get an email from Paypal confirming your spot.
Please email me with diet preferences/needs and accommodations.
If you don’t do the online thing and want to pay by mail please send me an email at Kathy@kathymarshallmusic.com
With much harmony and creativity,
Kathy and Gi
And please share with other women songwriters that might be interested!
From Ara and Beth:
OPEN SONG – Play More
Singing, songwriting, performance workshop for everyone.
Singing can be intimidating. Writing can be intimidating. Jams can be intimidating. And open mics? My palms are getting sweaty just thinking about it. Maybe you were born with nerves of steel but for most of us, even seasoned performers, putting your creative self out there feels like standing in front of a room naked and you get all shaky and second guess yourself and feel like everyone is better than you and wonder why are you doing this again?
Trying something new is some of the bravest work you’ll ever do. And we believe that the best way to coax out ideas, songs, words, whatever might in there takes a thoroughly supportive environment and permission to simply try.
We don’t teach people how to sing. We help people remember how to play. Come to a workshop where we’ll play together.
Things we will do:
Write group poetry. It’s strange and silly and surprisingly fun.
Make up songs. We’ll approach songwriting from new angles, and if you’ve never done it, we’ll give you some ideas to get you going.
Do some creative unlocking. We’ll do some talking about why and where and how we get stuck. And we’ll give you some tools to dig up that stuff and give you permission to start where you are.
Sit still. We think this alone is worth the price of admission. What happens when we do that is things float to the surface. We’ll help you catch that stuff with a net, usually in the form of a piece of paper.
Sing, like nobody’s listening. OK we’ll be listening, but we’ll be doing it together. Off key, on key, loudly, softly, together, and solo if you feel ready. We’ll do it in a non-religious, non-performance, non-take yourself too seriously environment. Because singing is the most fun and if you can talk, you can sing. We promise.
Performance Class Details
The work of music begins in solitude: practice, time, and the attention it takes to write songs or learn them. But when it comes time to put your work out into the world, it moves beyond the personal experience into the realm of performance.
Performance is an art unto itself. To take a song and communicate it requires an entirely different skill set than the solo work of rehearsing and writing. In every live performance there are myriad of unknown factors, and effectively taking the audience on a musical journey is a craft can be learned and refined, just as an instrument can.
We’ll address many of the common questions that female musicians have:
- How to understand the basics of sound systems so you can clearly communicate with sound engineers (usually male) and know what the heck you’re talking about
- How to work with different types of microphones
- Between song banter: the art of setting up a song
- How to write an effective set list
- How to hold different kinds of space – changing tactics depending on audience size and energy
- Tips for dealing with the nerves we all get, how to work with nervous energy rather than against it
- How to be who you are onstage without apology
We’ll also talk about the deeper part of performance, the ultimate work of allowing music to do its work through you, or how to get out of your own way and let the song sing itself. This work is brave, and needed, and requires safe space to learn. We’ll provide that space and learn to play together!