Transformative Songcraft Workshop with C.B. Smith

Adult Group Class / Songwriting Program

What is transformative songcraft?
Transformative can be defined as “causing a marked change.” The goal of this songwriting workshop is to plant seeds of change by helping participants develop meaningful work. To promote this lofty goal we will look at how the best songs help both creators and listeners process life’s challenges and celebrate life’s pleasures.

Together we’ll study the work of others and develop our own abilities to write more meaningful words and music, creating inspiring narratives and characters who evolve in unexpected ways.

The point of view here is that songs can enrich our lives in deep and surprising ways, as the practice of conscious, skillful and thoughtful writing helps us live happier, more useful and more complete lives.
We’ll participate in writing exercises to spark ideas and share them together if time permits. Lyrics will be an important focus, but we’ll also look at building vocal and instrumental vocabularies, working in genres like folk, Americana, blues, bluegrass, jazz, rock and soul.

Songs we’ll study include:
A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke)
Deeper Well (Harris, Lanois, Olney)
Deportee (Woody Guthrie)
I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (Williams)
Like a Bird (Oscar-nominated song from Sing Sing)
Mercy Now (Mary Gauthier)
Respect (Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin)
What’s Going On? (Gaye, Benson, Cleveland)

Topics
Knowing why you’re writing
Three Chords and the Truth (the power of simplicity)
Empathy (the songwriter’s superpower)
How good songs celebrate self-reliance, sobriety, resilience, reinvention and dignity How songwriting can add meaning to our lives and help us survive
issues like addiction, grief, isolation, remorse and trauma Creating songs to help us navigate about troubled times Building your personal writing practice

About the instructor
C.B. Smith is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in New York’s Hudson Valley. He has released two albums of original songs, with a third due in 2025. From 2010-2022 he led the Americana band C.B. Smith & the Lucky Devils.
“C.B. Smith’s songs ring true. There’s no higher compliment as far as I am concerned.” – Mary Gauthier, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and author of Saved by a Song.