My November/December column, “Listen…Do You Want to Know a Secret,” promised to provide more examples of rainbow phrases in hit songs by The Beatles, examples that you could use to improve your own songwriting, regardless of style. At first I thought it would all fit in a single blog post, but after I got started, [...]

“All you need to write a country song is three chords and the truth.” – Harlan Howard As a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Harlan knew his chords. But his often-quoted formula glosses over a couple of key questions: Which three chords, and when do you use them? This column will offer [...]

Craig Wedren, composer, songwriter and frontman for Shudder To Think has released a mind-blowing new video for “Are We,” the first single and “story-chapter” from his upcoming concept album and interactive film Wand. The “Are We” video employs pioneering 360° technology, allowing fans to interact with the video in real time, and features appearances from [...]

NOTION Notion 3 List Price: $299.00 www.notionmusic.com Upon opening the Notion 3 box, users are greeted with this quote: “The next great thing in music will never come from a company or some shiny new machine. It’ll come from you.” Inspiration has struck. The tricky part now is to be able to create music without [...]

Van Dyke Parks may be one of the few acts at MoogFest you won’t see on stage with a Moog synthesizer. But that doesn’t mean the legendary songwriter, composer, arranger, pianist and performer doesn’t have a unique history with the instrument. “If anyone should be playing MoogFest, it’s me,” Parks says, half-joking, from his home [...]