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For the seventh time, the Art City Music Fest will invite all local songwriters/musicians to undertake its yearly challenge: to meet, collaborate, create and perform a song – all on the same day! This year’s event will be held on Saturday, Nov. 14.
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The ACMF is a highly unique experience. Songwriters, singers, instrumental musicians, writers, poets and artists come from all over the West to participate. They will meet like-minded performers, form into writing/performing groups and slam out a song (sometimes multiple songs) in just eight hours. Then they will perform their song as part of an “all-star concert” which is open to the public. All the events of the ACMF 2015 are absolutely free.
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This year’s ACMF songwriting workshop, titled “Four Approaches to Songwriting,” will be taught by a former music instructor at the University of Utah. This concise, insightful class will help get ideas churning and will offer direction for those who are newer to the songwriting craft.
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The bulk of the day will be spent in self-contained songwriting groups. The participants will break into groups of their own choosing, brainstorm together, collaborate on music and lyrics, and test their ideas by rehearsing the various parts. They will write and rewrite, sing and play, hone and polish. Their songs will benefit from the “cross-pollination of ideas” and – ultimately – from the collective experience of the group.
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The crowning achievement of the ACMF each year is the concert, wherein the dozen-or-so groups will perform their song on stage, to a live audience, with amplification and monitoring. This is a perfect opportunity for photos and recordings. There are also door prizes for the participants donated by local businesses. This event is extraordinary in that many of the performers will have met for the first time that very morning.
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One notable example of the importance of meeting and networking with new musicians is the band Star-Off, which was listed as “one of the best indie bands in the world” (Wiles Magazine, “Summer Guide to Independent Artists,” July 2014). And – you guessed it – Star-Off’s Brad Williams and Nathan Standage met at the Art City Music Fest. Find more information at Artcitymusicfest.com.
