Inspiration

I met with local music journalist Jade Burns from Liverpool Community Radio to talk about my EP... (did you get yours yet?) 

One of the things she asked me about was how do I write a song... which was a timely question since I'd recently written this one for the Liverpool Acoustic Songwriting Challenge - their annual fundraising event at View Two Gallery - about a poster for the classic movie Casablanca.

With this song I had a little pen and paper time to write down my favourite lines and memorable scenes from the movie. 'Here's looking at you, kid', the line I chose to make the chorus for my song, was recently voted one of the most memorable film quotes of all time in a Radio Times poll, so I knew I was onto a good thing. One of the most rewarding things about songwriting is when an audience loves your songs as much as you do!

Next I thought about the story my song would be telling and worked on my first verse and chorus. 'Get on that plane/ Just walk away...' the song starts, so next I matched this with my favourite moody chords A and Em and soon the song had taken shape. A run thru with some nearby ears and a bit of fine tuning later - et voila! - Casablanca (according to SheBeat) was ready to share with the big wide world!

While lots of my songs are inspired by the strange and delightful things that occur in the world around me - certainly you can apply the word confessional to a lot of my lyrics - I find art very inspiring when looking for another story to tell. That's what SheBeat songs try to be - short stories you can sing along to.

Prior to finding out about the Liverpool Acoustic challenge last year I was already using pictures for inspiration. An american artist Todd White gifted me a couple of his prints after I became the first fan to ink his name on their person - I am a HUGE fan of his gritty portraiture but slightly lacking in the Fine Art budget! One of these awesome prints now on display at SheBeat Towers inspired one of my favourite songs I've written so far - Always On The Run  - which also features on my EP with added swoony keys and fiddly bits thanks to a little help from my friends Peter Jackson and Darren Jones.

Grab my debut EP here
Or find it on Amazon or Spotify 

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