Owen Danoff Newsletter October 2015

What's going on Happy Halloween, Oktoberfest, and whatever else you may celebrate this month! (In advance because I may not talk to you before then)  Here’s a little update about what’s been happening on my end and what’s coming up next!   I went down to Nashville for a few days last month and the trip went really well.  I had some long drives there and back but stocked my car with CDs to keep me company.  The newest Gary Clark Jr. album got a lot of plays as did Sound & Color by Alabama Shakes and more than one Green Day album.  I also got to finish listening to the first season of Serial (A gripping and wonderfully made podcast – I recommend checking it out!), which was long overdue.  I relish any chance I get to go to Nashville despite the lengthy drive so I was really looking forward to this trip.   I spent three full days in town and co-wrote a song with a different songwriter every day I was there.  I’m happy with what we came up with and even happier to keep trying this co-writing stuff out.  I’m learning that the skill of co-writing is kind of like a muscle in that you need to exercise it to strengthen it.  I know how intuitive that sounds but I never thought my way of writing songs (read: slowly) would lend itself to writing with another person.  By starting to work with other writers I'm exploring different methods of how to write songs which can only be good in the long run!   Speaking of writing, while I was in Nashville I went to check out a free show in town.   The show was the “Big Machine Writer’s Round”, Big Machine being a very successful record label with a roster of artists including Taylor Swift.  The idea of the show was that some songwriters associated with Big Machine would play and sing songs they’d written, most of which had been recorded and made known by other artists (Sun Daze by Florida Georgia Line being one).  I always love seeing these kinds of shows because it’s like getting to hear songs with the curtains pulled back and the inner workings exposed.  Every time I hear a song performed by the songwriter and not the artist, I feel like I'm hearing the song in a different way.  Also, this show happened right at the end of my run of co-writes and it was pretty cool to get a glimpse of the Nashville songwriting world from multiple angles. Nashville Skyline  Shortly after I got back from Nashville I headed to DC to perform at a house show raising money for a charity called A Wider Circle.  A Wider Circle works to fight poverty by helping individuals and families get everything from basic needs items to jobs. The organization provides home goods items such as beds, tables, and dishes to people who need them and hosts workshops on things like job preparedness and financial planning, among other things. Check them out here.   If you remember from one of the newsletters I sent out last summer, I played a similar charity-benefitting house concert then.  The hosts for this show were the same people that hosted the show last year, though last year the concert was benefitting the Fenix Foundation.   I was honored to be asked to return and I feel so happy I could be a part of such a good thing.  I think the idea of putting on a house concert with this kind of goal in mind is a brilliant idea and a wonderful way to work towards making a difference.  I’m already looking forward to next year! Photo (stolen from the Instagram of) Donna S.  Thanks Donna!

More Scoring! I told you all back in January that I was interested in doing some more composing work.  Well, since the Wider Circle house show I’ve been working on scoring a short film and having a lot of fun with it.   When I write songs, I tend to put the lyrics ahead of everything else.  That’s not to say I always write the lyrics to a song first - just that I often put the most time and effort into the lyrics of something I'm working on.  In spite of that, or maybe because of that, writing instrumental music to picture is a breath of fresh air.  It’s so unlike what I usually do to tell an emotional story using only music that I think I sometimes forget it’s possible.  When I’m scoring something I’m reminded that there is room for expression and sentiment when I’m writing music the same way that there is when I’m writing lyrics.  Though it’s not something I do all the time in my songwriting, I love figuring out what I’m going to say and saying it through instrument choice rather than word choice and  figuring out the tone of what I want to express and expressing it with actual musical tone.  Pictured: Composing Ultimately I think the confluence of the different styles of writing I’ve been exploring (co-writing and composition) is going to make me a better solo songwriter, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens the more I work on all three.   Shows! Now for some dates! On the 25th of this month Mike Squillante and I will be returning to Rockwood Music Hall in NYC.  I think I can speak for both of us when I say I can't wait for this and am excited to get back up on stage at Rockwood.  It's been a lot of fun doing these shows every couple of months and if you haven't had a chance to check one out, here's an opportunity!  We would love to see you there. Other upcoming shows: 10/22 (Thursday) - Landsdowne Folk Club, Landsdowne PA 10/25 (Sunday) - Rockwood Music Hall, NYC 11/20 (Friday) - Community Room On King, Lancaster PA More on the website!  owendanoff.com/events   As always please write back with any questions/comments/how your day was/etc!  Thank you all for reading! - Owen Copyright © 2015 Owen Danoff music, All rights reserved.