Songwriting Works 2023 East Sims Way #271 Port Townsend, WA 98368
Tel. (360) 385-1160 www.songwritingworks.org [email protected]
Life’s A Song Album (LAS)
WHO • 200 individuals - all rural Olympic Peninsula Washingtonians - ranging in age from 12 to 103 - composed more than 20 songs in collaboration with 8 acclaimed Olympic Peninsula professional songwriters (most of whom tour nationally). • 70% of Life’s a Song community participants were age 60+ (average age 80). Of these, 70% were persons diagnosed with Alzheimer’s/dementia or other cognitive impairments. All were residents of rural Jefferson or Clallam county. More than 50% were low income. • 21 Puget Sound regional musicians and media artists then brought participants’ words and music into recorded form. SW’s core group of songwriters (a.k.a. “SongTeam”) perform on the album in ensemble.
WHEN • Songwriting took place between 2007 and 2013. • The National Endowment for the Arts supported the establishment of SW’s ongoing rural programs as well as facilitator training for professional songwriter-performers in 2009 (Creativity and Aging in America grant) and, in 2013, supported the Life’s a Song recording. • Life’s a Song was mastered on June 30, 2016. • The album is being readied for late 2017/early 2018 release • National and international tours will follow through 2019
• Renowned Americana multi-instrumentalist Orville Johnson WHAT produced the recording, radio documentary style, weaving in elders' voices to share moments of inception for select songs. • 12 songs were recorded in 2013. A successful Kickstarter campaign ($10K+ raised) followed, and with support of a 2015 Jubilation Foundation fellowship, the song “Hometown” and its music video were added to the album. THE PROCESS • All SW’s programs, as well as its governance and operations, are guided by 8 Principles of Creative Engagement: access, inclusion, originality, authenticity, respect, reciprocity, restoration and celebration. Awareness and a sense of context uphold these in our collective mission to Restore Joy, Hope, Health and Community through Song.
• Often described as "musical mural painting" or "song quilting" - for it's similarities to these community-based projects that retain individuals' creative input in a larger collective composition, the SW experience has been www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjdVpBOCnZg documented, discussed and researched. Case studies This video shows two songwriting sessions in have been published in academic textbooks and progress in Seattle and Port Angeles. “I’m articles. Satisfied” is on the album. (3 mins) To learn more, contact us.
THE MUSICIANS
Orville Johnson (Producer, Multi-instrumentalist) Puget Sound guest artists: orvillejohnson.com • Hanna Rose Trailer (vocals, guitar) Songwriting Works’ professional SongTeam • Joe Breskin (guitar, “Generations”) songwriter-facilitators: • David Michael (harp, “WWII Homecoming Song”) • Judith-Kate Friedman (executive producer, vocals, guitar) • Jeff Busch (percussion) judithkate.com • Keith Lowe (bass) • Keeth Monta Apgar (vocals, lead guitar) harmonicapocket.com • Hans Teuber (clarinet, “In Our Time,” “The Happy Life”) • Matt Sircely (vocals, mandolin) • Alanna Dailey (vocals, “Hometown”) mattsircely.com • Tomoki Sage (drums, “Hometown”) • Aimée Ringle (vocals, guitar) • Bill Mawhinney (spoken word, “Hometown”) theaimeesmusic.com • Gabe vanLelyveld (director, “Hometown” video) • Anke Summerhill (vocals) ankesummerhill.com Recorded at George Rezendes' ToolShed SoundLab in Port Townsend. SW board and advisory members: Mixed by Orville Johnson at David Lange's Seattle studio and his • Daniel “3D” Deardorff (associate producer, vocals, home studio. harmonica) soundcloud.com/daniel-deardorff Mastered by Ross Nyberg, Nyberg Mastering in Issaquah, WA. • Laurence Cole (vocals) laurencecole.com Field recordings documented on location in Port Townsend, Sequim and Port Angeles, WA during Songwriting Works workshop sessions.
“Hometown” video filmed on land and sea in Port Townsend, WA. ALBUM TRACK LIST
Song Title Genre/Instrumentation Words & Music by Location
Out On the Water Folk Ensemble Elders Life Care Center, Port Townsend, WA
Tuna Fishing Story Field Recording Tuna Fisher Life Care Center, Port Townsend, WA
Wake Up You Sleepyheads Folk/Americana Ensemble Elders Life Care Center, Port Townsend, WA
Hometown Folk/Rock/Spoken Word 7-12th Graders & Elders Jefferson Community School, Port Townsend, WA
On a Good Piece of Ground Folk/Americana Ensemble Elders Victoria Place, Port Townsend, WA
Puget Sound Memory Field Recording Elders Dungeness Courte Memory Care, Sequim, WA
Way Up in the Air Folk/Ensemble Elders Dungeness Courte Memory Care, Sequim, WA
When You’re Blind Field Recording Community Elder Port Angeles Senior Center, Port Angeles, WA
Life’s a Song Country/Americana Ensemble Elders & Friends Port Angeles Senior Center, Port Angeles, WA
WWII Homecoming Song Cantata/Choral Ensemble Elders & Loved Ones Dungeness Courte Memory Care, Sequim, WA
It’s Wonderful Folk Duet Elders & Loved Ones Dungeness Courte Memory Care, Sequim, WA
The Happy Life Folk Ensemble Elders Seaport Landing, Port Townsend, WA
The Way I Am Field Recording Veteran OlyCAP Encore Program, Port Angeles, WA
I’m Satisfied Folk/Americana Trio Elders OlyCAP Encore Program, Port Angeles, WA
Gotta Get With It Swing/Americana Ensemble Elders OlyCAP Encore Program, Port Angeles, WA
Big Band Memory Field Recording Jitterbug Dancer Discovery Memory Care, Sequim, WA
In Our Time Big Band (Small Ensemble) Elders Discovery Memory Care, Sequim, WA
Generations Rock Ensemble Elders Advisory Council Songwriting Works’ Space, Port Townsend, WA Life’s A Song On Tour
With the release of Life’s a Song, Songwriting Works is expanding to serve regions across the U.S.
We welcome collaboration. Join us in dynamic partnerships supporting artists-in-residencies and trainings in communities nationwide. Our mission is to restore Joy, Hope, Health, and Community through song.
Our vision for the album is to reach tens of thousands of listeners for whom music is a life line and for whom the songs, and the stories behind the songs, can open doors, lift hearts, change attitudes, and result in more inclusion–and more music–for everyone.
To get involved, contact us: Tel. (360) 385-1160 [email protected]
Our sponsors, venue hosts, community partners, and volunteers make it happen!
CONCERTS EVENTS & CONFERENCES • SW's Life's a Song trio premiered album songs and its multi-media theatrical performance on the Age Stage at IAGG, the World Congress on Gerontology and Geriatrics, in July 2017. Conference presentations in 2017-18 include Far-West Folk Alliance (Bellevue, WA), Aging in America (San Francisco, CA), and others. • SW's Touring ensemble will tour in conjunction with key event & conference dates through 2018-19. Contact [email protected] for booking. • SW's "Songs on the Sound" monthly radio broadcasts stream live on KPTZ.org featuring the latest news and songs from local, regional and national projects.
NETWORKS FOR ANNOUNCING LAS RELEASE, TOURS & TRAININGS • 70+ songwriter associations across the U.S. • 60+ music therapy degree programs, plus gerontology and lifelong/lifespan learning and music education degree programs • 100’s of care partner networks and older adult social networks nationally • Dozens of intergenerational school/afterschool programs in the Northwest • SW’s 2,000 person e-list and outreach to more than 10,000 individual arts/health/aging/education constituents via partners’ newsletters/blogs.
MUSIC VIDEOS FOR LIFE’S A SONG “Hometown” featuring Hanna Rose Trailor, and an updated version of SW’s “WWII Homecoming Song” - will be on youtube.
All video releases will be closed captioned and made accessible to the widest possible audiences. EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS Along with artist-in-residencies, hands-on and online training, Songwriting Works offers a growing collection of print and online publications for professional musicians, artists, service providers and educators. • Facilitator Certification Training • Master classes • Music Empowerment kits for family and professional care partners of elders living with memory loss, and other physical, cognitive & mental health conditions • Music/arts education curriculum for cross-generational learning and integrating music-making into non-arts core subject areas. • Community MusicTeams™ Action Guide • Book chapters in: • This Thing Called Music (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) • Enhancing Cognitive Fitness in Adults (Springer, 2011) • Oxford Handbook of Medical Ethnomusicology (OUP, 2008)
LAS ALBUM PARTNERSHIPS – BUSINESS PLAN & VISION
Partners and sponsors enable audiences and participants to experience the life-changing music and creative adventure of community collaboration with SW.
Partners (over the course of the 10-year LAS project) include: • National Endowment for the Arts • ArtsWA/Washington State Arts Commission • Arts Northwest • National Center for Creative Aging • American Society on Aging • Family Caregiver Alliance • The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation • Alzheimer’s Association chapters and support networks • Olympic and other Area Agencies on Aging • Port Townsend Public School District • Care and community site hosts in more than 20 U.S. regions SW is gathering a “Country Road and Street Team” volunteer corps who will share news, music and video via social media and grassroots/community networks.
We invite prospective partners, business sponsors, media partners, and allies to join us in reaching out to the widest possible audiences.
Photo Credits: p1 JKFriedman, Jeff Eichen, Aimée Ringle; p2 Aimée Ringle, Sam Robinson, p5 Jake Seniuk, Gabe van Lelyveld