Noon – 12:45pm Community Sing, Matt Watroba
This workshop will give you the opportunity to experience the power of song and community singing as well as give you the tools to start a singing tradition in your community. Song choice, song leading, and best practices will be modeled for the purpose of reminding us that singing is way too important to be left just to the professionals! Matt will lead the community sing, as well as emcee and perform on the Blue Sky main stage today.
1:00 – 1:45pm Vocal Health for Folk Singers, Kate Kooser
Kate Kooser is a classical and jazz trained vocalist and educator who performs folk and Americana music in the Cleveland area. In this workshop, Kate will delve into how our voices work, healthy habits to keep our voice safe, and how to navigate vocal health in a folk singer’s performance lifestyle. Bring your water bottle and questions!
2:00 – 2:45pm Creative Wordplay in Songwriting, Matt Harmon
Explore the use of advanced lyric writing techniques such as internal rhyming, rhythmic cadence and alliteration. Unlearn the rules and unleash your lines. Identify times to ignore the rhymes in order to make the most impact.
3:00 – 3:45pm Song Writing, Scott Franklin
Close friends and band mates of Jimmy Buffet, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash are among the people who have performed with or heard J Scott Franklin and remarked at his poetry of song. Scott is a trumpet player turned poet turned songwriter. There will be minimal discussion of formulas and a lot of discussion of substance. What does it take to unlock your songwriting and melodic abilities? Well-wishers as well as professionals equally welcome.
4:00 – 4:45pm Song Writing, Charlie Mosbrook
Charlie Mosbrook is an award-winning songwriter, performer, and advocate for American folk music. In the summer of 2018 Charlie’s song “Remember Who We Are” earned him 2nd place in the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival Songwriting contest. The honor included an invitation to perform on the mainstage during the festival.
Beginning his career in 1988 as a street musician, he quickly became a popular open mic host throughout Northeast Ohio. From these early roots he nurtured his songwriting, musicianship, and stagecraft and today performs for major festivals and concert series throughout the US. His recordings of original and traditional songs have earned him rotation on many popular folk radio programs around the world.
