Classes
Jai Josefs Songwriting Class - NEW DATE - Sunday, June 2nd....see below Seskin workshop
Steve Seskin Liz Longley and Julia Sinclair all day Songwriting Workshop Saturday, June 1st in San Carlos CA
All day songwriting workshop with Steve Seskin, Liz Longley and Julia Sinclair at YORMO, 151 Old County Road, San Carlos CA 94070 9:30an - 4:30pm cost $90 PAY HERE
Julia Sinclairis an award-winning classically trained guitarist turned singer-songwriter.It wasn't long before the music industry began to take interest from her early material that she posted online. Inadvertently, Julia was approached by powerhouse producers and songwriters including Babyface (Kenneth Edmunds) and Rodney Jerkins.Soon after, she was sought after by the team responsible for guiding the careers of some of the most successful artists today ranging from Dave Matthews Band and Phish to Alicia Keys and Faith Hill, and quickly enlisted their help to officially join the roster.Julia proceeded the hone in on her craft and moved out to Los Angeles last summer to work with an all-star list of writers and producers ranging from John Alagia (John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band) to Shelly Peiken (Christina Aguilera, Pink).She recently recorded an acoustic EP at Dave Matthews Band's Haunted Hollow Studio in Charlottesville, VA and made the move to Nashville, TN where she will begin to work on her debut album for ATO Records (Radiohead, David Gray, Patty Griffin).Julia is a talented instumentalist, playing piano, cello, bass, drums, mandolin, and guitar. She studied classical guitar intensively for early six years and then began to incorporate her skill and technique to her love for modern pop music.She cites cotemporary influences including John Mayer, KT Tustall, Jason Mraz, and Imogen Heap, as well as classic artists ranging from The Beatles to Nick Drake.For Julia, it has been a whirlwind of excitement over the past two years, and she is eager to take her music and her craft on the road new new audiences, one show at a time.
SteveSeskin is a successful songwriter with seven #1's to his credit. Songs recorded by Tim McGraw, Neal McCoy, John Michael Montgomery, Kenny Chesney, Collin Raye, Peter Frampton, Waylon Jennings, Alabama, Mark Wills, and Peter Paul and Mary. His song "Don't Laugh At Me" was a finalist for CMA "Song of the Year" in 1999, and has spurred an entire tolerance movement, launched by the Don't Laugh at Me Project. Other Seskinhits include: "I Think About You," "Life's A Dance," "No Doubt About It," "If You've Got Love" and "Grown Men Don't Cry." While many others have recorded his songs, no one sings them with the passion he brings to each song every time he takes the stage.
A SteveSeskin concert will have you wiping away a tear one minute and laughing out loud the next. His songs all have messages that touch the hearts of everyone: from the feelings of a little boy missing his father, to growing up and being true to yourself, to one of his most well know themes of being considerate to and respectful of one another as expressed in “Don’t Laugh at Me.
Liz Longley: In the short time since her graduation from Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music, singer-songwriter Liz Longley has assembled an impressive resume. While best known for her stop-you-in-your-tracks voice, Liz has steadily developed a reputation as an accomplished songwriter, crafting intimately personal portraits through her music.
In the past two years, Liz has taken home top prizes at some of the most prestigious songwriting competitions in the country, including the BMI John Lennon Songwriting Scholarship Competition, the International Acoustic Music Awards and the Rocky Mountain Folk Fest Songwriting Competition. New England named her the 2011 Female Performer of the Year, the Washington Post declared that Liz is "destined for a larger audience" and Dig Boston called her "a rising acoustic sensation." Even John Mayer is a fan, calling her music "gorgeous, simply gorgeous."
A Philadelphia native, Liz recently made the move to Nashville, Tennessee where she has quickly made her presence known throughout Music City. In addition to writing more than forty songs with some of the best songwriters in the business, Liz has also managed to keep up her seemingly never-ending touring schedule, playing over one hundred shows in the last year - all without the help of a record label or booking agent.
While Liz frequently supports the likes of Shawn Colvin, Amos Lee, Paula Cole, Nanci Griffith, Livingston Taylor, Lori McKenna and Colin Hay, something remarkable has begun to happen - audiences are emerging from these shows as fast fans of Liz's music as well. An engaging performer with an effortless stage presence, Liz has broken advance ticket and merchandise sales records at numerous venues across the country.
Most recently, Liz's music has taken center stage on a national level with numerous television placements and radio airplay. ABC's critically acclaimed series NY Med featured Liz's music throughout the first season, and the 2012 season finale of Lifetime's Army Wives displayed her towering vocals in an epic grand finale song, "This Is Not the End." Executives at SiriusXM caught wind of her captivating cover of Van Morrison's hit "Moondance" and added it into regular rotation, along with her award-winning original song, "When You've Got Trouble." After an impressive response from listeners, Liz was invited to perform live in the SiriusXM studios in New York City and was named one of their Coffee House Discoveries of 2011. Following the success of her previous release, Hot Loose Wire, and an impressive crowdfunding campaign this past summer, Liz recently returned to the studio where she recorded her fourth full-length album which is scheduled to be released on February 26, 2013.
Jai Josefs Songwriting Class - NEW DATE - Sunday, June 2nd
GETTING INTO THE GROOVE
Class is held in San Anselmo from 11am - 4:30pm. $65 in advance and $75 at the door for WCS members. $75 in advance and $85 at the door for non-members
Why are some songwriters getting placements in film and TV on a regular basis? Why do their songs sound more “contemporary?” What’s the difference between the songs being cut in Nashville today and more traditional country? What makes a melody more appropriate for the pop, folk, rock, or country market?
The answer to all these questions and many more lies in an understanding of the rhythmic GROOVE – the foundation on which modern melody and lyric writing are based. In this workshop, Jai will show you how learning these underlying principles of rhythm can make a major difference in your songwriting. Using 
examples from well-known music in the pop, rock, singer-songwriter, and country genres, he will show you how working with groove can dramatically impact your melodies – and your lyrics – with a special emphasis on how you can immediately apply what you learn to your next song.
The class will begin with a lecture/presentation in the morning that includes listening to current successful songs and analyzing how the groove gives them their unique sound. In the afternoon, Jai will listen to songs and give you specific feedback on how the principles of groove could be used to make them sound fresher and more accessible so your message reaches a wider audience.
Jai Josefs is a nationally renowned songwriting coach who has taught songwriting at UCLA, as well as at dozens of seminars and conferences throughout North America He has also been a successful songwriter and producer in his own right with songs recorded by artists from Jose Feliciano to Pam Tillis, with such companies as Universal, RCA, Motown, and Disney, and in over 60 TV shows and feature films with stars like Harrison Ford and Billy Bob Thornton. He is currently coach and mentor of the Northern California SongShop. Under his guidance members have released several CD’s with national radio airplay and had over a dozen placements in film and television within the last year.
WCS MEMBERS SIGN UP HERE NON MEMBERS SIGN UP HERE
Steve Seskin Songwriting Class in Richmond CA
New class starts TBA. Held at Steve's home in Richmond. There will be two lecture and four critique classes from 7pm-10pm on the dates above. Cost for the course is $250. SIGN UP HERE
Steve Seskin is a successful songwriter who has written seven number one songs, including Grammy-nominated “Grown Men Don’t Cry,” recorded by Tim McGraw, and “Don’t Laugh at Me,” winner of NSAI Song of the Year and Music Row Magazine Song of the Year in 1999 as recorded by Mark Wills. His other #1 hits are “No Doubt About It” and “For a Change,” both recorded by Neal McCoy, “No Man’s Land” and “If You’ve Got Love,” both recorded by John Michael Montgomery, and “Daddy’s Money,” recorded by Ricochet. Other chart toppers include “I Think About You,” recorded by Collin Raye, and “All I Need To Know,” recorded by Kenny Chesney. The video for Raye’s “I Think About You” single was named the Academy of Country Music’s Video of the Year in 1997, and the song and video were also given an award by the Tennessee Task Force Against Domestic Violence. Recent recordings of his songs include “Pictures,” by John Michael Montgomery, “We Shook Hands,” by Tebey, and “I’ll Always Be There For You,” by Brian McComas.
