Post The Picture

Episode #57: Post The Picture     (Song at 6.58) Where does a song come from? It's a bit like how long is a piece of string… For me, my songwriting (and my painting) comes from a combination of what is happening in the moment around me - and within - and memories. My lyrics lead me across time, like a time traveller. How does that feel? It makes me feel free - free to express whatever I'm feeling. When you're writing a song it doesn't feel like you're doing it alone. There some sort of cool cosmic agreement going on, a meeting of energies ...that's one way of trying to explain inspiration. So you tune into something…it’s like theatre sports, or arranging songs with your band. You can't block other people's energies /input. The creative flow just stops. So you just ‘play’ with the ideas that flow. When I wrote this song - song # 324 - I was well along my creative path. I was on the road a lot. I worked 3 nights a week at a resort as a piano man. Come Sunday afternoon, I was off in my van, free as the breeze. And I had my ears open. And my heart... I could've played my cards a little more guardedly, looking back. Yep, my heart was open at this point, as it was pretty much broken, but I was hopeful that a relationship that hadn't even really been allowed to start might somehow come to light.... What I gained personally by putting myself out there - and vulnerable - was personal growth. I think the true artists path and the path of work on the self is completely intertwined. After all these years I still absolutely love just letting my hands play on the keys with a bit of feeling.... And like a trout nibbling at the end of a hopefully cast fishing line, there's an answer - more often than not - and were in business. That's how it feels to be a songwriter. This week I'll take you from a winter's evening in central New Zealand where the newspaper selling man’s call floated across the city square. I'll we’ll go to a camping ground next to a stream, in the warm summer of the North. I'll explain how a feeling became a painting instead of a letter, which in turn became a song, then turned into another working painting and then became another finished painting (which will become part of a music video). You can view a painting on this weeks blog at www.petepascoe.wordpress.com Entertainment and information - that's what's on offer here again this week. I hope you enjoy the episode. Don't forget you can sign up to my email list at [email protected] ...eventually I'll have ebooks and video courses on how to write songs ... In the meantime there's a stack of music (13 albums) and art waiting for you online. Thanks for stopping by today. Enjoy the show.