Songwriters in Pittsburgh

Songwriters Circle allows creative outlet for local musicians

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/11/29/songwriters-circle-allows-creative-outlet-local-musicians

You don’t need to be signed to a major record label to release an album — at least not in Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Songwriters Circle has released five albums, all of them featuring an ensemble of local musicians and songwriters — none of whom consider making music their careers.

“I love writing songs just for the sake of writing songs, and the people who come to the Songwriters Circle are the only people I know who understand that,” songwriter Bruce Hoffman said.

The Pittsburgh Songwriters Circle is a local folk-singing group that meets at least once a month to share its appreciation of music and assist others in songwriting.

The meetings allow a chance for feedback and critique of personal pieces in a comfortable environment.

The group is free to join. It’s easy to get in, and yet even its members admit it took a while to grow completely comfortable in the group.

“What takes some work is for each of the members to decide that they finally want to show up and participate,” songwriter Peter Donovan said. “I am not unusual in the fact that I thought about going for years before I finally put my guitar in the car and drove to the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern.”

Hoffman also spent a period of time finding the courage to walk through the door as a newcomer.

“Once I did, I realized this was the place for me, and I have been a regular ever since,” Hoffman said. “I discovered that there were all these other people who shared my interests. That was a revelation for me.”

The shared interest allows for feedback on songs that otherwise might not be available, so composition is always encouraged.

“Songwriting in a vacuum is limiting,” Donovan said. “Sure, you can steal ideas from recordings, but it is so much more fun to steal ideas from talented people in the same room.”

Every month the songwriters pick out or are given an assignment to help narrow the focus of the song topic and idea, which also assists in the composition process.

“The more you [write], the better you get,” Donovan said. “It takes talent, practice and spark [to create music].”

“The assignment that we get each month pushes me to write, because I want to come back the next month with a new song,” songwriter Sue Gartland said. “There are so many different styles of writing represented in the group. One subject can be interpreted in so many different ways.”

With an assignment as a focus topic and limited songwriting time, the next step is to find some inspiration to write the song. The best inspiration seems to be everyday life.

“Real life is probably what informs and inspires all great songs,” Hoffman said. “Though they may be fictionalized or revised or taken way out of context, personal experiences, both past and present, pop up in my songs all the time.”

Donovan and Gartland agreed that their lives are what inspire their songs.

“The Songwriters Circle provides the camaraderie and encouragement and even the technique,” Donovan said. “But real life is what provides the fodder. That’s where the heartbreaks happen and where the spirit moves.”

Then comes the meeting and critique, and over time, the finished work is completed and recorded for CDs such as the newly released Collection 2010.

But organizing and maintaining the group can be a challenge, too.

“You need to have two or three people who are willing to take on the brunt of it and a few others to pitch in as needed,” Hoffman said. “We are lucky to have that. My hope is that when the time comes for those of us who take on those responsibilities to move on, there will be others ready to step up and take over.”

Despite the challenge of scheduling meetings, keeping members informed, recording and even advertising, the songwriters are happy with their group.

“I really appreciate that we have some members of the group that keep us all updated through e-mail, by reminding us that the first Tuesday of the month is coming up, reminding us what the assignment is and maintaining a MySpace site for the group,” Gartland said. “Our annual CD compilation is a project we all look forward to. [We work] on the project, and then when it’s done, [we get] together for our release party, [which] we just had. We have a great time supporting each other.”

Brett Gleason makes mediocre 'Dissonance'

Brett Gleason makes mediocre 'Dissonance'

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/11/19/brett-gleason-makes-mediocre-dissonance

Brett Gleason
The Dissonance
Label: Fluxure Advanced Motion Media, Inc.
Rocks Like: A grown-up Backstreet Boy
Grade: C-

Brett Gleason was spot-on in naming his new EP The Dissonance.

The album is inharmonious and tense in composition and style.

The entire album revolves around taking acoustics and revamping them into electronic keyboard mixes. It’s an interesting — if not necessarily good — idea, but it’s done poorly. The end result sounds unnatural and forced.

There is no accurate way to describe the music. Is it electronic? A failed attempt at rock? Maybe both?

The vocals seem to get a bit of a makeover through the synthesizer, making the overall feeling of the album even more unnatural.

The vocals are average, striving to hit the notes rather than convey any emotion. And where’s the emotion and passion within this melting pot?

With lyrics like, “Nothing comes when you need it to / When one thing goes wrong here, what I often do / Give up the hope to achieve it,” this isn’t exactly uplifting music.

But with the lack of emotion, these lyrics are just bland. If the lyrics have to be depressing, the vocals should be emotionally depressing to match.

Nothing on this album seems to mix well, and with its separate components clashing, it looks like the album is the one that’s “Futile & Fooled.”

Flyleaf Performs in the 'Burgh

Flyleaf hopes to leave musical 'Memento' in Pittsburgh
http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/11/10/flyleaf-hopes-leavew-musical-memento-pittsburgh

photo credit: Courtesy Flyleaf

Flyleaf melds alt-rock sound with dark and brooding lyrics.

Flyleaf
Mr. Smalls Theatre
Nov. 11, 8 p.m.
$25
412-821-4447

Its new album, Memento Mori, dropped on Tuesday and this week it’ll be making a stop at Mr. Small’s on tour. Welcome to Pittsburgh, Flyleaf.

Flyleaf began playing alternative rock in Texas as a two-member band, according to bass player Pat Seals.

Since 2000, the band has expanded, toured, released two albums and been voted as Best Artist and Best Band by MTV and the public on Yahoo! Polls, respectively.

Despite the fact that its first, self-titled album went platinum, selling more than 1 million copies in the United States, its goal remains fairly humble.
“Flyleaf’s mission is definitely to use our music and personas/careers as a platform to convey what has changed our lives,” Seals wrote in an e-mail interview.

“Our band would not exist today the way it does without the many people from home who believed in/helped us,” Seals wrote. “We had a really wonderful base of support from our friends and families, with [guitar player Jared Hartman’s] parents ... letting us use both of their vehicles to get ourselves and equipment to shows for just about two years. My folks allowed me to drop out of college and crash at home while Flyleaf was betwixt showcases and recordings.

“Also, a cadre of other local bands in the Belton/Temple, Austin, Dallas and Houston areas provided us a ‘scene’ in which to exist and gather influences,” he wrote.

Music composition can be difficult, but Flyleaf can make even the difficulty of combining many different and musical tastes work somehow work together well, he said.

“We have a pretty functional system in Flyleaf so far, so it’s only about as hard for us to write a song we feel good about as it is to mow a medium-sized lawn with a push-mower, but in April or so when it is not too hot outside,” Seals wrote.

Topic-wise, the band’s lyrics lean toward the dark and emotional.

“Frequent themes for me are dissatisfaction and longing,” Seals wrote.

“I’m no brilliant or prolific writer, but when I manage to write something I feel good about, it seems to be the result of many ideas I’ve culled by happenstance in a pedestrian manner that have been ‘put into my brain blender,’ so to speak, and then ‘poured into my song cup’ for others to enjoy ... or ignore.”

“I feel great about Memento Mori as far as quality — I also have very high hopes for it,” he wrote. “I feel that [Memento Mori] is a big step forward for us musically and sonically. When our self-titled was released in 2005, I had no idea what to expect or if it would be successful at all.”

With the release of Memento Mori and a tour to complete, the band’s life is surprisingly quiet, according to Seals. Occasionally a prank is pulled or a friend is seen at a show.

“Exploring creepy/haunted venues is fun, and seeing the sights of places we haven’t been before is always a blast,” Seals wrote.

The band continues to set up concerts for its tours, but Seals admits things could change if something unforeseen happens.

“We can’t predict the future — our careers could easily peter out in a few months,” he wrote. “We of course hope to keep doing this, but we are very happy to have what we have at this moment in time. If Flyleaf was over, I would not feel ungrateful for what we got to experience of the past six years.

“Many moments have arisen that made me question the lot in life I have chosen, but for each of those moments there are a few dozen others that confirm Flyleaf’s and my own decision to exist and persevere as the correct one. God has blessed us so immensely with each other, our crew and the ability and resources to do what we do. It’s not roses all the time, but it is honestly wonderful,” he wrote.