Alberta’s Artist in Residence, John Wort Hannam, will be sharing his creative process to help local songwriters hone their creativity and create a song.
The Juno-nominated musician and three-time Canadian Folk Music Award winner is hosting 10 workshops, Everyone has a Story, across the province, and will be in Grande Prairie on May 9 and 10 for a two-day workshop.
“It’s open to anybody, whether you’ve written a song before or not, whether you play an instrument or sing or not, it doesn’t matter, it’s all about sort of taking people from idea to creation to sort of song completion,” said Hannam.
The inspiration for the workshop came in part from over 25 years of touring and hearing the many stories of people Hannam has met along the way.
“I get people who come to my shows sometimes that are left leaning, and I get people that come that are right leaning, and you realize when they tell you their stories, we have more in common than we don’t have in common.
“There are always things that we can sort of agree on.”
During the workshop, people will begin crafting their stories into songs; some may sing them, while others can recite parts of their songs.
“Maybe we can learn something about our neighbours, and if we learn something about our neighbours and we find some common ground, we can have a bit more empathy in our community for people.”
He said the first day of the workshop focuses largely on creativity.
“I think for a lot of people, they think that there are creative people and non-creative people in our world and that some sort of divine hand reaches down out of the sky and taps certain people,” he said, noting that creativity is a skill that can be learned by anyone.
“Being creative is a skill, and I think it can be learned through repetition.
“I believe that about songwriting, I believe that songwriting is not necessarily a talent, but it’s just something that can be learned by just doing it over and over and over again, just like anything else.”
He said the workshop includes giving participants different exercises and techniques to hone their creative side.
Hannam said the blank piece of paper can be the hardest place to start a project, but if you use tools such as writing exercises and sketches, you can get to the task at hand a bit more easily.
“All of that pre-work is what allows us, when we actually do attempt to write lyrics, to have something to pull from.”
He said he references famous painters who did many sketches of their paintings before making their masterpieces, noting that masterpieces don’t just appear but are rather worked on bit by bit.
Hannam limits the workshops to about 24 people to ensure there is time for some one-on-one time with participants for feedback and help.
“I don’t want it to be a lecture, like nobody wants to be talked to for two days; I want to make sure that they’re working.”
Once the workshop is full participants can be added to a waiting list. You can register for the workshop by going to johnworthannam.com and clicking the poster for your community.
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