2023 Song School

2023 Song School

2023 Song School

2023 Songwriting Instructors

Instructors

Caitlin Canty

Caitlin Canty is an American singer/songwriter whose music carves a line through folk, blues, and country ballads. Her voice was called “casually devastating” by the San Francisco Chronicle and NPR Music describes her songs as having a “haunting urgency.”

Canty’s fourth studio record, Quiet Flame, arrives June 23, 2023. Produced by Chris Eldridge, Quiet Flame features Sarah Jarosz (mandolin, banjo, vocals), Brittany Haas (fiddle), and Paul Kowert (bass) as the core backing band. Andrew Marlin sings backing vocals, Noam Pikelny and Eldridge guest on a few songs as well. The band recorded live over four days at The Tractor Shed in Nashville with Sean Sullivan engineering and mixing.

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Mary Gauthier

Mary Gauthier

Mary Gauthier is a Grammy nominated songwriter who has released eleven studio records. She is also a published author. Her book Saved by a Song (St Martin’s Press) explores the healing power of songwriting, and has been praised by Rolling Stone Magazine as “A must-read book that is just right for the times we live in.” The Associated Press named Mary Gauthier as one of the best songwriters of her generation. Her newest release, Dark Enough to See the Stars, was released in 2022. Her 2019 release, Rifles & Rosary Beads (a collection of songs co-written with wounded veterans), was nominated at the 61st GRAMMY Awards (2019) for Best Folk Album. The record was also nominated for Album of the Year by the Americana Music Association and named Album of the Year by Folk Alliance International. That same year, Mary was named International Artist of the Year by The UK Americana Music Association.

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Instructors

Bonnie Hayes

Bonnie Hayes is a songwriter, recording artist, musician and record producer. She has released 5 records as an artist, including a stint at Chrysalis Columbia and the early Slash/Warner’s record Good Clean Fun. Her songs have been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, Bette Midler, Booker T & the MG’s, Adam Ant, David Crosby, Huey Lewis & the News and many others. Hayes also toured as a keyboardist/vocalist with Billy Idol and Belinda Carlisle world tours and has shared the stage with Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bonnie Raitt, Tower of Power, Don Was and countless others. 

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Instructors

Phoebe Hunt

On the heels of 2021’s acclaimed “Shanti’s Shadow”, Phoebe Hunt is excited to release “Nothing Else Matters” in July of 2023 (Thirty Tigers). The album of solo fiddle and voice marks a departure for Hunt, whose previous projects have showcased her skill as a bandleader and collaborator. Yet it is also a joyful return to her foundations.

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Instructors

Stephen Kellogg

I wish I’d known when I started out that the contents of an artist biography ends up being repeated many times in the years to come. It can be frustrating to be viewed through an outdated lens. But what’s to be done? The past, including old one-sheets, remains unshakable.

I know you’re a busy person and, chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re here for the updated Cliffs Notes. So I’ll tell you what I’m proud of having done over the last 20 years and you decide for yourself if any of the soundbites interest you.

I was born, raised and am currently residing in New England. I have four kids and married my high school sweetheart. I’ve written about them extensively on all my records. I also put out a book in 2020 called “Objects In The Mirror: Thoughts on a Perfect Life from an Imperfect Person.” It’s a collection of essays about what I’ve found to be the most important aspects of a life well-lived.

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Instructors

Pat Pattison

Pat Pattison is an author, clinician and Berklee Professor of Lyric Writing and Poetry whose students have composed for major artists and written number one songs. At Berklee, he developed the curriculum for the only songwriting major in the country. In addition to his four books, Songwriting Without Boundaries, Writing Better Lyrics, The Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure, and The Essential Guide to Rhyming, Pat has developed three online lyric writing courses, one on poetry, and one on creative writing available through Berkleemusic.com.

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Instructors

Paul Reisler

Paul Reisler is a composer, songwriter, recording artists, performer and teacher. He is the founder and artistic director of Kid Pan Alley, co-founder of Trapezoid, as well as his current bands, Paul Reisler & A Thousand Questions featuring Howard Levy, and Three Good Reasons. Over his almost 50-year career, he has performed in over 3,000 concerts, recorded close to three-dozen albums, co-written Aesop’s Fables for Orchestra and Narrator, music for theatre, dance and film, as well as the script and songs for two musicals—Bouncin’ and The Talented Clementine.

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Steve Seskin

Steve Seskin

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.

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Instructors

Siri Undlin

Humbird

Inspired by the crystalline chill of the north country she calls home in Minnesota, Humbird combines a wintry longing with the warmth of a familiar folktale. Humbird’s music moves between experimental folk and environmental Americana to embrace the unexpected. The music invites a refreshing dissonance into the house. It leaves bread crumbs along the path and reflects light back at the stars.

Siri Undlin witnessed the power of storytelling in her childhood home and began writing music and performing in church choirs and in Irish ensembles from a young age. Her voice, which contains the unwavering fortitude of hymnal melodies, reveals her traditional background.

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2023 Elective Instructors

Instructors

Mike Beck

“Chicago” Mike Beck is an ASCAP-award-winning songwriter and recording artist who has been touring full-time in the USA and Europe since 2001 as a solo performer and with his band Chicago Mike’s InterGalactic Brother & Sisterhood of Big Eyed Beans. Mike has held a residency several weeks each year at the historic Bright Angel Lodge on the south rim of the Grand Canyon and has toured Europe over 30 times, performing in Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France, Ireland, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Estonia, Bulgaria and Luxembourg.

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Instructors

Ryan Benyo

Ryan Benyo is a Los Angeles based, Gold-Record Award-Winning producer, engineer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with credits including Parachute, Sheppard, Baker Grace (Bitter’s Kiss), Lisa Loeb, Lime Cordiale, Alberta Cross, Through Fire, Vusi Mahlasela, and Caro Emerald. He has also worked on a variety of music and sound design projects for visual media including for Carl’s Jr/Hardee’s, NBCUniversal, and many others.

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Instructors

Rabbi Joe Black

Joe Black fell in love with Song School three years ago and looks forward to it every summer. He was ordained as a Reform Rabbi 36 years ago and serves as Senior Rabbi of Denver’s Temple Emanuel- the largest synagogue in Colorado. He also serves as a Chaplain in the Colorado House of Representatives.

Joe is a poet, singer and songwriter – having written and recorded 7 albums of original music. He has performed his music around the world and has published several books of poetry and prose. As a performer, he is known for his guitar virtuosity, soaring voice and lyrics that are funny, inspirational and thought provoking.

Ron Browning

Ron Browning

Ron Browning is internationally known as the “Voice Coach to the Stars.” Alison Krauss, the most celebrated Grammy Award winner (27 wins), recently praised him in the New York Times, USA Today, BBC News, the Tennessean, and The Sun in London, where she called him “a genius” after he saved her from a debilitating case of dysphonia and brought her back into excellent voice where singing felt effortless.This restored the confidence needed to finish her Windy City album, which won her 2 Grammy nominations. She was then able to move on with her singing career.Ron accompanied Alison Krauss on the Red Carpet for the 60th Annual Grammy Awards in Madison Square Gardens.

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Instructors

Jill Brzezski

Interpreting life through music while integrating a vast composition of styles, Singer/Songwriter Jill Brzezicki (pronounced Brr-Zit-Ski) delves into her country and bluegrass roots in her third full-length release. Darkness Falls delivers traditional bluegrass tracks alongside some of Jill’s best new original songs.

Jill attended the Colorado Contemporary Music College in Fort Collins, Colorado in 2004 and graduated with a diploma in performance and education. Jill released her debut full length solo CD “Consequence of Truth” in 2007 and her second full length CD “The Horizon” in September, 2012. As a solo singer/songwriter Jill has enjoyed supporting local and nationally touring bands as well as headlining local and regional venues.

Attending and teaching at the Rocky Mountain Song School since 2007 has allowed Jill the opportunity to hone her skills and learn new techniques in playing, writing and performing.

Instructors

Megan Burtt

Rocky Mountain raised, and international touring artist, Megan Burtt is a decorated performing songwriter. Since her sophomore release “The Bargain”, she has performed at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater, been featured with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, toured Europe, toured across the US, and supported artist like Gregory Alan Isakov, Chris Isaak, Leann Rimes and Marc Cohn. Guitar World calls Burtt “Pulsing, powerful and lovely. Burtt gracefully manipulates words and melody into a sultry delight.”

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Instructors

Sarah Clanton

Refreshing, empowering and authentic, Sarah Clanton inspires audiences to join her on an uplifting musical journey that delights and surprises. Whimsical and witty, Sarah invites her community to cello-brate life as she defines her own style of music with intuitive songwriting and a memorable voice paired with her unique style of playing her carbon fiber cello.

Sarah’s engaging performances invite audiences to join her in an escape from the ordinary. Having used music to heal in her own life, Sarah share’s her journey through her unconventional, yet vulnerable approach. A celebration (or what Sarah aptly calls a “cello-bration”) of the unexpected, captivating yet approachable, Sarah’s innovative sound is an eclectic blend, with flashes of the classically-trained pop sensibility of Norah Jones and the sultry jazzitude of Amy Winehouse.

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Instructors

Jenn Cleary

Jenn Cleary is a singer-songwriter and musician known for her soulful vocals and captivating shows. She hails from Boulder, Colorado and has been actively involved in the music scene since 2006. Jenn’s music encompasses a blend of folk, rock, and blues, creating a rich sound with stirring melodies and heartfelt lyrics. Jenn Cleary has released multiple records, including two children’s albums, and has performed at various venues and festivals throughout the USA and Europe.

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Instructors

Nan Crawford

Nan Crawford [she/we] has been performing, directing and teaching improvisation for more than 30 years. Nan uses theatre as a lens for leadership, teaching at Harvard’s Graduate School of Business, and for clients such as Dolby, Google, and Netflix. Nan is on the board of advisors for Lin Manuel Miranda & Wayne Brady’s Freestyle Love Supreme Academy, where she has also been a performer, teacher, and faculty mentor. FLS is the Grammy nominated, Tony Award winning freestyle hip-hop improv ensemble that was the breeding ground for the musicals In The Heights and Hamilton.

Insights from her master’s thesis — Transforming the Inner Critic and Allowing Our Innate Creativity to Flourish — inform all of Nan’s work. She is CEO of Nan Crawford & Co. where they coach bold women leaders to step onto a bigger stage. From coaching clients to deliver TED Talks, to preparing executives for interviews for Board of Directors seats on publicly traded companies, to her dynamic keynote performances on Courageous Creativity, Cultures of Collaboration, Data Storytelling, Resilience and Navigating Change… empathy, courage, and story are at the core of her work. Nan has most recently been working on her forth-coming book: You Are Amazingly Powerful. Period. 

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Instructors

Ellis Delaney

There’s just something about Ellis, who is at once funny and wise, thoughtful and uninhibited, with a captivating voice that is matched by their uplifting lyrics. Ellis has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion four times and has been voted “most-wanted-to-return” performer at festivals including Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Moab Folk Festival, Kerrville, and Sisters Folk Festival. Ellis regularly receives h messages from strangers including, “you exude pure joy”, “I heard you and fell in love” and “I was stopped in my tracks by your music and captivating laugh” as well as “Yours is a voice we all need to hear.”

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Terri Delaney

Terri Delaney

Terri Delaney is a Minneapolis-based social worker turned booking agent turned trauma therapist. After running a booking agency for many years, Terri then re-focused her career onto trauma therapy and helping people heal using mind-body approaches. She still collaborates with her spouse, contemporary folk musician Ellis, co-managing their record company Singing Crow Music.

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Instructors

Shanna in a Dress

Shanna in a Dress is a clever millennial who sucks at dating, a masterful storyteller, and as candid as it gets! Her show will take you on an emotional roller coaster with as many ups and downs as the hills she bicycled on her 2021 musical-bicycle tour across the US, “Tour de Dress.” Shanna’s quirky, fearless songs will make you laugh out loud, then punch you in the gut. This playful, witty free spirit from Boulder is a Kerrville New Folk winner, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival crowd favorite, and is one to watch as her career is taking off.

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Rebecca Folsom

Rebecca Folsom

Rebecca Folsom is an award-winning songwriter, a national touring performer, a teacher, and a coach of transformational creativity. Dubbed “The Creativity Shaman” Rebecca has been coaching individuals and groups in transformational creativity for over 27 years. She offers a toolbox of simple and potent embodiment exercises, both traditional and non-traditional to help singers/writers/performers open streamlined vocal, songwriting, and performance flow.

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Instructors

Mark Monroe Gibson

In 2019, drawn by its scenic majesty and lack of humidity, Mark Monroe Gibson abandoned his lifelong deep southern roots, 25 years of law practice and relocated to Colorado to pursue music full time.

With a keen wit, balanced occasionally with compassion, Mark offers thought-provoking story songs filled with charismatic, unusual and sometimes flawed characters that give listeners an unconventional perspective on everyday life.

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Instructors

Vance Gilbert

“If Joni Mitchell and Richie Havens had a love child, with Rodney Dangerfield as the midwife, the results might be something close to the great Vance Gilbert”, says Richmond Magazine.

Vance’s new album, “The Mother Of Trouble”, features Grammy winner Lori McKenna on background vocals, Juno award recipient and Bonnie Raitt Grammy hit song co-writer Joey Landreth on guitars, and Americana-Roots master mandolinist Joe K. Walsh. With 4 bullies, 4 deaths (3 of them murders), 3 moms, 2 accidents, 2 Black people, 2 dogs, 1 dog ball, 1 gay kid, and 1 missed flight thanks to gas station sushi, this album benefits from the gifts of time and experience honing songwriting skills that put this most vital of acoustic storytellers at the top of the game.

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Instructors

JJ Jones

As a touring drummer, JJ has played over 800 shows in six countries with countless artists and bands — including Po’Girl (Allison Russell), Girlyman, Heather Mae & Crys Matthews, Ramy Essam and Margaret Cho.

As a private coach, facilitator and instructor, she’s taught more than 200 women and girls how to play drums. An accomplished rhythm guitarist as well, JJ teaches the sell-out online guitar course “Right Hand Bootcamp” throughout the year, and provides private coaching on rhythm and strumming.

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Instructors

Arthur Lee Land

Lyons Colorado based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Arthur Lee Land is known for his joy filled, innovative live performances, his mad guitar and live-looping skills, Arthur’s hands are full theses days writing, recording and performing with multiple projects. First as a solo artist, you have his unforgettable one-man act employing the Art of Live-Looping to create his Electro-Americana BAND of ONE featured in his last studio album release Cracked Open featuring songs co-written by his wife and songwriting partner, clairvoyant lyricist Carol Lee. In late 2014, Arthur replaced Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon in the veteran Colorado Americana Jam-Band Great American Taxi.

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Instructors

Clare McLeod

Clare McLeod, Harvard EdM, is an Associate Professor in the Voice Department at Berklee College of Music, where she is the principal author of the Minor in Teaching Contemporary Voice and Berklee Online’s Essentials of Teaching Contemporary Voice. A certified Estill Master Teacher, Clare also trained at the National Center for Voice and Speech, and is a member of the Voice Foundation, the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Pan American Vocology Association. In addition to teaching at Berklee, she presents voice clinics regularly around the world and continues to contribute to developments in voice research.

Instructors

John McVey

Owner, Head Engineer/Producer - Cinder Sound Studio

John is a musician’s musician, a songwriter’s songwriter, and a force in the studio.

An award winning singer songwriter in his own right, he left the touring life to be a studio musician. The more time he spent in recording studios, the more he loved it. The more he learned, the more he discovered his passion for producing.

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Bill Nash

Bill Nash

Bill Nash has been a musician all his life. He was a 5-year-old boy soprano, a 4th grade french hornist (played horn all through college), a 15-year-old beginning guitarist and then an 18-year-old guitar teacher, and a graduate of Bradley University’s School of Music, majoring in composition studying under the tutelage of Professor Dean Howard, and an almost master’s degree from time at the University of Colorado (just one semester short!). Bill began writing music and lyrics in his early teens and his roots are firmly embedded in what is now known as the singer/songwriter acoustic music genre. He has performed styles as diverse as rock ‘n roll, fusion, country, polka, folk, and even old-time western music, ala the Sons of the Pioneers.

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Instructors

Justin Roth

Justin Roth is a nationally-touring singer/songwriter, fingerstyle guitarist, teacher and recording engineer/producer from Fort Collins, CO. Currently, he is also a lead songwriter with Kid Pan Alley, writing songs with school kids, both in-person and virtually.

His path to acoustic music was solidified at 17 when he heard innovative guitarist, Michael Hedges, and saw how the acoustic guitar was capable of creating such a huge sonic palette, much more than he had ever heard before. From that moment on, he knew it would be the root of his musical world. His use of alternate tunings, partial capos and his innovative two-hand tapping technique has been described as, ‘more than just an instrument, but an extension of himself.’ “Fans of Leo Kottke or Michael Hedges will find themselves right at home with [Roth’s] intricate guitar work…beautifully written lyrics.” - San Francisco Art Magazine


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Instructors

​Alan Rowoth

Alan Rowoth started playing professionally in 1968, 54 years ago. With thousands of gigs under his belt, He has also worked as an agent, manager, publicist, record producer, lighting designer and audio engineer. Alan pioneered the folk Internet in 1990 and created Internet Quartets and the Folktrain. He’s written for Performing Songwriter, Sing Out!, Dirty Linen, and other magazines. For over 3 decades, Alan has been teaching musicians at Song Schools and conferences on a broad range of technical and business subjects including live streaming, social media, and monetization strategies. His Big Orange Tarp has showcased hundreds of musicians at festivals and conferences. Visit his blog at http://BigOrangeTarp.org

Instructors

Bonnie & Taylor Sims

RIAA Certified Gold recording artists Bonnie & Taylor Sims are one of Colorado’s most powerful and dynamic musical duos. From the soul shaking harmonies and masterful songwriting to the endearing onstage moments, Bonnie & Taylor have captivated audiences all across the world. From their most recent global success I See Red tallying over 200 million streams and a deal with Columbia Records to playing countless live shows and festivals around CO and the Western US; tours to Germany, Canada and Sweden; multiple studio albums; exciting collaborations with other area musicians and hundreds of students through summer camps and private lessons Bonnie & Taylor have established themselves as a potent creative force of the vibrant Colorado music scene.

Instructors

Amy Speace

“Amy Speace has one of the richest and loveliest voices in the singer/songwriter genre and her songs are luxuriously smart…she’s profoundly personal yet also a bit mythic. The imagery and the careful use of language is stunning and more evocative of classical poetry than most contemporary Americana peers” – Craig Havighurst, author & host of Nashville’s “Music City Roots”. Baltimore born, NYC bred and Nashville based, Amy Speace has been making critical waves since Judy Collins discovered her in 2006, releasing “Songs For Bright Street” on Collins’ own Wildflower Records. A logical protégé to classic singers like Collins and Baez, Amy’s brand of folk comes with a bit of grit and soul.

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Instructors

Jayme Stone

Jayme Stone is a musician, composer, instigator, producer and educator. On any given day, you might find him in his studio reworking a little-known hymn learned from a field recording, producing a session with musicians from Bamako or New York, creating experimental soundscapes, or tucking his kids in on time so he can get back to writing the next verse of a new song.

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Instructors

Melody Walker

Known for her Rockygrass and Telluride winning band Front Country, Melody has gone on to make a name for herself in Nashville as a songwriter, writing with acts like Sierra Ferrell, Della Mae, Sarah Potenza and most notably, Molly Tuttle for her GRAMMY-winning album Crooked Tree. Her songwriting tips and protest songs have gained her a large TikTok following, and she is an outspoken advocate online and off. Melody is building a mostly off-the-road existence now, hosting East Nashville’s premiere Americana & Roots songwriter round Writers’ Kitchen every Tuesday night, and hanging with her demanding tuxedo cat, Jonesy.

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