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Indie-pop/rock artist Zachery joined us to talk about writing from lyrics, agency, and manifest destiny in his song I Don’t Know. If philosophy in songwriting is your thing. Download the lyrics to follow along. We talked about: Our songwriting challenge for 2026 to write a traditional country song Using a simple but compelling chord loop (I-ii-iii-IV) when you’re primarily a signer Starting a song with writing a poem, fully intending to turn it into a song Sticking to your melody, even if it mean putting the em-PHA-sis on the wrong syl-LAB-le Writing with subtle sarcasm and a philosophical angle About Zachery Born and raised in Trinidad, Zachery‘s music is a blend of many influences, including music from up to 50 years ago to the music we love from today.… Read the rest

Canadian country artist Brettyn Rose joined us to talk about collaboration, traditional country, and being open about her songwriting. Download the lyrics to See it on Her to follow along. We talked about: Our songwriting challenge for 2026 to write a traditional country song, and what traditional country means to Brettyn Collaborating with Chris Yurchuck Writing lyrics from a specific story, but being open to anyone’s experience Saving ideas that don’t fit for another song Once you find the hook of the song to make the rest of the songwriting really easy When it’s a good idea to write a I-IV-V song About Brettyn Rose Brettyn Rose is a rising country artist with music rooted in an acoustic aesthetic, woven with honest lyrics, powerful vocals, and a hint of sparkle.… Read the rest

Dana and Harry from Secondhand Dreamcar joined us to talk about writing their blues / soul song The Meaning. Download the lyrics to follow along. We talked about: Our songwriting challenge for 2026 to write a traditional country song How the band collaborates on songwriting and instrumental arrangements Dana tends to bring piano-based songs to the band, but not acoustic guitar The act of ditching songs or ideas that are not working When and how do you know when a song or idea is good?… Read the rest

Mike and Barbara Borok of New Middle Class joined us to talk about writing a pop song with a super crazy bridge. Download the lyrics to Television Sky to follow along. We talked about: How Angine de Poitrine use Microtonality Our songwriting challenge to write a traditional country song How the bridge can be the emotional high point of your song How a song takes on a life of its own as you’re writing it Working a song until it’s better than “good enough” Writing for a different singing voice than your own About New Middle Class Mike Borok is a singer-songwriter from New York’s Hudson Valley.… Read the rest

Our songwriting challenge for 2026 is to write a traditional country song. To help us launch this challenge, we were joined by singer-songwriter and music educator Blair Packham. Thanks Blair! We talked about: Phil has an issue with Everybody Knows by Leonard Cohen, and The Famous Blue Raincoat album Why mathematics and literature have more in common than you may think | Ideas | On Demand | CBC Listen Challenging the Tyranny of 440 hz Typical characteristics of a traditional country song: Simple “campfire” chords Stories about the past or regret (unlike pop songs, which are primarily concerned with “now”) Lyrics are the most important thing A story with a specific time and place A strong, central idea There’s no guessing as to what the song is “really about” They don’t usually have a bridge I Can’t Help it if I’m Still in Love With You by Hank Williams – download the lyrics to follow along a verse-refrain structure how country was considered “old-timey” in 1951 when this song came out simple, relatable story and a 3-chord song Mama Tried by Merle Haggard – download the lyrics to follow along Merle Haggard was considered an “outlaw” in the 1960s Nashville establishment How this sounds more modern than Hank Williams A more detailed story in a 4-chord song It’s not necessarily autobiographical Stay tuned to the podcast and our dedicated webpage for this challenge to get the date for submitting YOUR traditional country song to the challenge and have it featured on the podcast.… Read the rest

Grammy-winning They Might Be Giants’ John Flansburgh joined us to talk about songwriting from listening and intuitions. Download the lyrics to Outside Brain to follow along. We talked about: Modal writing when you don’t know what modal writing is, and our Songwriting Challenge 2023: Write in a Mode Tension between conventions and breaking the rules Songwriting as a very plastic medium where the variations are endless Using terms like “gold dust” and “kicker” to identify elements or sections of songs How learning the I-vi-IV-V became the key to start writing songs How John and John typically bring completed songs to each other, but work at editing for a long time until it’s right Starting songwriting by failing at cover songs John says, rhyming is overrated and bridges are overrated About They Might be Giants They Might Be Giants treat the entire history of popular music as a trampoline rather than a rulebook.… Read the rest

Delyn Grey returned to the show for the third time to talk about her new release My Mind is a Riot and her upcoming album Delynquent. Download the lyrics to follow along. We talked about: How AI Will Fail Like The Music Industry Delyn’s previous appearance on the show How working in a minor key and having crunchy guitars is dark enough Sometimes stepping away from a song and getting perspective can be better Make sure the song wins no matter what or how finished you think you might be Engaging in songwriting challenges to grow your creativity – and our Songwriting Challenge 2023: Write in a Mode About Delyn Grey My Head is a Riot was released in February and is the first song off of Delyn’s twelve-song 2026 project, “Delynquent,” written, recorded, and produced in her garage with her dad.… Read the rest

Max Tojicic joined us to talk about writing songs by intersecting interesting chords with personal experiences. Download the lyrics to Lavender Bouquet to follow along. We talked about: Upcoming free Live Looping workshops with Jacob Moon: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/179GNpQieV/ Check out Jacob’s episode on this show all about live looping: https://youtu.be/X2TrGNrbKSI?si=BxBcUNjqi470iz6V… Read the rest

Singer-songwriter Mark Ippolito talked about his experience with February Album Writing Month (FAWM), challenging himself to write a full album of songs in 28 days. Check out his album on Bandcamp. We talked about: William Shatner to Record a Heavy Metal Album Featuring Covers of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden Our Song Talk Meetup The wonderfully supportive community of songwriters at the FAWM website The diversity of genres, instrumentalists, and approaches at FAWM Opportunities for collaborations between lyricists and musicians The organizers propose weekly challenges to prompt individual songs (e.g.… Read the rest

Singer-songwriter Ursula Hegge joined us to talk about the process behind writing her song I‘ve been writing lots lately. Download the lyrics to follow along. We talked about: Suno, AI Music, and the Bad Future Writing a song that sounds natural but really went through many versions Finding interesting chord progressions on the guitar by accident Using melodic variations in each chorus Recording older songs Why (or why not) you might want to record to a click About Ursula Hegge Ursula Hegge is a singer-songwriter from Toronto who has been writing songs for almost 15 years.… Read the rest

Our longtime friend of the Song Talk Meetup, Paul Gallagher, joined us to talk about everything he learning getting his latest EP out on streaming services, community radio, and other digital services. Download the extensive and handy documents Paul provided for this episode: 10 Key DIY Release Takeaways DIY Release Detailed Breakdown We talked about: Getting all your ducks in a row before releasing music, including written agreements with your co-writers Capturing a wider breadth of places for your music, beyond typical digital distribution services Registering with SOCAN for both reproduction and performance royalties – see this video about the new live music performance royalties and our episode about registration with Allister Bradley The importance of preparing and submitting metadata to various platforms Make sure your final master recordings are the best they can be How IRSC codes are the unique identifiers for your songs and are needed (and free) for tracking your songs on streaming services Paul also submitted individually to a ton community radio stations, or you can also use the !earshot… Read the rest

For our final episode of 2025, we reminisced over the past year, and talked about Neel’s ongoing exploration of his songwriting challenge song. We talked about: Some of our favourite episode from 2025 Sync Songwriting with Chris SD Songwriting Tips (mostly) for Beginners Songwriting through writer’s block with Dexter Sloan Breaking the rules with intention with Zoe Thiessen Heather Feather: Children’s songs with a message Mistakes that “amateur” songwriters make 5 tips that will make your band sound better today Neel’s further exploration of his songwriting challenge song Neel plays with a polymeter for his songwriting challenge answer Suno’s interpretation of the lyric using the AI prompt “Create an epic orchestral gothic rock song similar to Evanescence using this chord and lyric sheet.”… Read the rest

For this special episode, Neel shared his answer to the songwriting challenge from Song Studio to write a song based on the word “shadow.” Download the lyrics and chords to Silence, absence, stillness to follow along. We talked about: Replies from our listeners to their featured songs on our songwriting challenge to write a song in an odd time signature Use Newsletters spam test by mail-tester.com… Read the rest