In May I wrapped up a nine month certificate program co-sponsored by the EMP and the University of Washington Extension College. The program was taught by three prominant Seattle musicians, each offering their own take on the art of tune-smithing. Sean Nelson, lead singer for Harvey Danger and writer for the Stranger, took the helm the first semester, the introductory course, where we broke down songs by their basic components, chorus, verse, bridge, etc. Sean researched his lectures well, and his delivery was awesome. He also had a real flair for picking up on the direction the class was leaning and letting the students go that way. Second semester brought Carrie Akre of Hammerbox, Goodness and a flourishing solo career. Carrie was brought in at the eleventh hour, but she looked like she'd been doing it all her life. She helped us focus on claiming our artistic selves, developing a habit and a practice of writing regularly. We wrapped up semester two with a late night gig at Hattie's Hat. Third and final semester brought Jon Auer of Posies fame. This semester was devoted to production, and Jon worked with each of the lucky 13 who had stuck it out, producing our songs and helping us record them at Glenn Sound and at various other local studios. He helped the class put together an excellent CD, which we named the Experience Songwriting project, and the experience wrapped up on May 25 at a gig at the Science Fiction stage at the EMP.
Boy, what a long introduction to get what I wanted to talk about, which is that the ESP group has continued to collaborate. We are meeting for the next two Wednesdays at Kelly Krisjanson's studio to begin work on the next album. We're recording one of Will Morgan's songs as an ensemble. We also have a gig scheduled for August 19th, a Friday, at the Flying Lion Cafe in West Seattle. It's looking to be an excellent summer.
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