Songwriting | Laurelyn Dossett | All Levels | Period 1 | Week 2 (July 14-19, 2024)
This songwriting class will focus on enhancing the “story” of your songs. All levels. No instrument required, bring a notebook if you like! If you are working on a song feel free to bring it and we can workshop it together with the class.
We will work on elements of storytelling to enhance your songwriting:
Setting place and time
Use of heightened language, vernacular language, old language
What’s the goal, the job, of the song?
Distilling all of those words down to the essential story
Research
The role of melody and chord structure in telling the story
About the Instructor
Singer/songwriter Laurelyn Dossett lives and writes in Stokes County, NC. Her songs have appeared in film and television (Hell on Wheels, Ain’t In it for My Health) and have been recorded by many artists including Grammy-winning Levon Helm (Anna Lee) and Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops (Leaving Eden). She has written the songs for seven plays, staged at Triad Stage and Playmaker’s Repertory. Her song cycle, The Gathering: A Winter’s Tale in Six Songs was commissioned by the North Carolina Symphony and premiered in Raleigh in 2011. She last performed it in 2019 with the Winston-Salem Symphony. Laurelyn has written songs for various protest movements in North Carolina including My Beloved Enemy and Vote Against Amendment One. She remains a voice for social justice and environmental activism in North Carolina and beyond. The River’s Lament is her testament to the devastation of the Dan River coal ash spill. She founded and continues to host the annual “Songs of Hope and Justice” at the North Carolina Folk Festival. Laurelyn has taught songwriting and singing at the Augusta Heritage Center, as well as at many universities, workshops and festivals. She is the recipient of the Betty Cone Medal of Arts, the North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship for songwriting, the Chris Austin songwriting contest at Merlefest, and has been a fellow at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=supfx7HVdmA.