Episodes

  • Kylie Rothfield on writing process, craft, what she learned from Alicia Keys about singing and stage fright
    Sep 23 2024

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    In this episode, I talk with singer/songwriter Kylie Rothfield.

    She shares what she learned about singing and stage fright from Alicia Keys. We talk about what she learned from writing with some of the best writers in Nashville, song craft, process and so much more. This was a good one!

    Pre save Kylie's single coming out Sept. 27th here:

    https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/kylierothfield/never-loved-somebody?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=Email+&utm_source=SendGrid


    https://www.instagram.com/kylierothfield/


    When one hears Kylie Rothfield‘s voice, there is no denying the timeless, raw sense of emotion in her delivery. Crafting songs that combine elements of soul, blues and pop, Kylie’s music is unique, honest, and expressive. Although her vocal ability is undeniable, she is also an accomplished self-taught guitarist, sponsored by Epiphone guitars and fully capable of supporting her captivating live show as a solo acoustic performer or with a full band. It’s no wonder she caught the ears of Alicia Keys, who described her as “a blossoming, powerful flower with so much heart, so much talent, so much emotion and vocal power”.


    In July of 2015, Kylie signed a publishing deal with Terrorbird Media and Elephant Lady Records/Kyle Andrews. Together, they had 5 placements on national television in their first year together (NBC, E!, ABC, MTV).


    In September of 2016, Kylie was selected to be on The Voice (NBC). She was chosen by Alicia Keys, who coached her throughout the season, and carried her through to the Top 20 Live Shows in November. Her performance of "Hound Dog" in the knockout rounds garnered attention by many media outlets and was called the "dark-horse breakout performance of the season". Guest advisor Faith Hill said “Kylie absolutely blew me away. She interprets songs like a true artist and she could sing ANYTHING”

    She has over 1 million combined streams on Spotify & Apple Music from recent independent releases and was recently featured on NBC's Songland S2 (06/08/2020), working with Ester Dean, Ryan Tedder, and Shane McAnally to pitch a song she wrote to Tony and Grammy-winning artist Ben Platt.



    Most recently, in 2024 Kylie signed a management deal with Arianna Soto and a record deal with new label, DVG Records. She is currently in the process of recording a full-length album that is set to be released in spring 2025.

    Become a podcast member:
    Join the "What's in a Song" membership community:
    https://buymeacoffee.com/scarlet.keys



    Mixed by Peter Sykes: https://www.petersykesmusic.com/

    Otto Gross: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMnxx19QD-vxD4wnYGTn3Jw

    Scarlet's website:

    https://www.scarletkeys.com

    Scarlet's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarletkeysofficial/

    To purchase Scarlet Keys' book "The Craft of Songwriting:

    https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Songwriting-Music-Meaning-Emotion/dp/0876391927/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PP55NU6E9ST6&keywords=the+craft+of+songwriting&qid=1659573139&sprefix=the+craft+of+songwritin%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1



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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Songs with a message, writing from your life with Michael McDermott
    Sep 8 2024

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    In this episode, singer/songwriter Michael McDermott talks about writing process, writing from your life and shares new songs off his two new albums dropping Sept 13th.

    Join the "What's in a Song" membership community:
    https://buymeacoffee.com/scarlet.keys


    https://michael-mcdermott.com/home

    Mixed by Peter Sykes: https://www.petersykesmusic.com/

    Otto Gross: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMnxx19QD-vxD4wnYGTn3Jw



    Scarlet's website:

    https://www.scarletkeys.com

    Scarlet's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarletkeysofficial/

    To purchase Scarlet Keys' book "The Craft of Songwriting:

    https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Songwriting-Music-Meaning-Emotion/dp/0876391927/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PP55NU6E9ST6&keywords=the+craft+of+songwriting&qid=1659573139&sprefix=the+craft+of+songwritin%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1



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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • What does AI mean for songwriters with award winning songwriter and Berklee Professor Ben Camp
    Aug 26 2024

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    Today I have Berklee Professor Ben Camp on the show discussing AI
    We talk about where it is now and what it means for songwriters in the future. We talk ethics, creativity, originality, works that are derivative and Ben takes a song we wrote together years ago and puts it through AI to demonstrate some of the current possibilities AI offers creatives.


    Ben Camp has taught songwriting to over 2,000 students at Berklee College of Music, and is a gold record awarded writer and producer. Ben's songs have amassed over 100 million streams, appeared in film and TV on networks like MTV, CBS, NBC, and more. They have written singles for Brice Fox, Tiesto, Victoria Justice, Sam Feldt, and others. Ben has been following the developments in AI for over a decade, and you can find their interviews about AI + Music on NPR, Al Jazeera, and others.

    https://www.bencamp.com/

    To support this podcast or to join our Membership: https://buymeacoffee.com/scarlet.keys

    Mixed by Peter Sykes: https://www.petersykesmusic.com/

    Otto Gross: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMnxx19QD-vxD4wnYGTn3Jw


    Scarlet's website:

    https://www.scarletkeys.com

    Scarlet's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarletkeysofficial/

    To purchase Scarlet Keys' book "The Craft of Songwriting:

    https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Songwriting-Music-Meaning-Emotion/dp/0876391927/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PP55NU6E9ST6&keywords=the+craft+of+songwriting&qid=1659573139&sprefix=the+craft+of+songwritin%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1



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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Creating metaphors with Pat Pattison
    Aug 5 2024

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    In this episode, Pat Pattison, author of "Writing Better Lyrics" walks us through step by step of how to find metaphors. This is the exercise I gave to writer Madi Diaz that she talked about in the previous episode.

    Pat talks about the difference between simile and metaphor for songwriters, passing metaphors and central metaphors and takes us through a song by Eli and Fur and Gillian Welch.

    https://www.patpattison.com/

    Mixed by Peter Sykes: https://www.petersykesmusic.com/

    Otto Gross: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMnxx19QD-vxD4wnYGTn3Jw


    Scarlet's website:

    https://www.scarletkeys.com

    Scarlet's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarletkeysofficial/

    To purchase Scarlet Keys' book "The Craft of Songwriting:

    https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Songwriting-Music-Meaning-Emotion/dp/0876391927/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PP55NU6E9ST6&keywords=the+craft+of+songwriting&qid=1659573139&sprefix=the+craft+of+songwritin%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1



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    54 mins
  • Madi Diaz on writing process, and the magic of co-writing
    Jul 25 2024

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    My guest today is one of my former students singer/songwriter Madi Diaz


    Madi grew up in Pennsylvania where she was homes schooled by her mother and took piano lessons from her father at the age of 5.


    After high school, Madi was accepted to Berklee College of Music and met her first collaborator Kyle Ryan which led to her recording her first record skin and bones in Hawaii.


    Later, Madi went on to tour with the civil ward and Landon Pig. She was featured in Paste magazine as on of teh top ten buzziest acts at SXSW and had songs featrured in ABC family’s Pretty little liars, Drop dead Diva, Army Wives, had her song “The End of the Day” featured on the television series Nashville performed by Connie Britton and Charles Esten.


    Since then she had gone on to record several albums, was a guest on Last Call with Carson Daly, and went on to tour with Harry Styles band playing guitar and singing back up vocals and supported Kacey Musgraves on the UK and European legs of her Deeper Well World Tour.


    Madi has released 6 studio albums and 4 EP’s


    Today we will talk about so many things that are helpful for songwriters from the biz to inspiration to writing to a prompt for a film placement and listen to a few songs off of her most recent album “Weird Faith”. A case for co-writing and preparing to write.

    https://madidiaz.com/

    To support this podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/scarlet.keys

    Mixed by Peter Sykes: https://www.petersykesmusic.com/


    Scarlet's website:

    https://www.scarletkeys.com

    Scarlet's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarletkeysofficial/

    To purchase Scarlet Keys' book "The Craft of Songwriting:

    https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Songwriting-Music-Meaning-Emotion/dp/0876391927/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PP55NU6E9ST6&keywords=the+craft+of+songwriting&qid=1659573139&sprefix=the+craft+of+songwritin%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1



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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • What we can learn from Billy Eilish and Bonnie Raitt about great melodies
    Jul 9 2024

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    In this minisode, I talk about writing melody and thinking of melody as the song's tone of voice.

    Auditioning melodies to make sure we pair the best notes with our most important words and the power of unstable notes in writing great melodies.

    To join my summer songwriting class "Writing Better Melodies" click here:

    https://www.eventbrite.com/e/melody-writing-intensive-tickets-943422099897

    If you sign up before July 15th, you will receive a free copy of my book "The Craft of Songwriting: Music, Meaning and Emotion" or some "What's in a Song" swag.

    Mixed by Peter Sykes: https://www.petersykesmusic.com/

    Otto Gross: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMnxx19QD-vxD4wnYGTn3Jw


    Scarlet's website:

    https://www.scarletkeys.com

    Scarlet's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarletkeysofficial/

    To purchase Scarlet Keys' book "The Craft of Songwriting:

    https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Songwriting-Music-Meaning-Emotion/dp/0876391927/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PP55NU6E9ST6&keywords=the+craft+of+songwriting&qid=1659573139&sprefix=the+craft+of+songwritin%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1



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    22 mins
  • Minisode: Making time for your art and the myth of inspiration
    Jun 12 2024

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    "Inspiration is for Amateurs"

    "Don't be 'a writer' but instead be writing." - Faulkner


    "Just begin and the mind grows heated; continue, and the task will be completed!”

    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe



    To join the "What's in a Song" community membership: https://buymeacoffee.com/scarlet.keys


    Link to song from band Corner Boy "Morning Morning": https://open.spotify.com/track/7wjyEuRd6pYN34BmVkOpa1?si=a25d393f73594a0b
    https://www.cornerboymusic.com/

    Mixed by Peter Sykes: https://www.petersykesmusic.com/

    Otto Gross: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMnxx19QD-vxD4wnYGTn3Jw


    Scarlet's website:

    https://www.scarletkeys.com

    Scarlet's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarletkeysofficial/

    To purchase Scarlet Keys' book "The Craft of Songwriting:

    https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Songwriting-Music-Meaning-Emotion/dp/0876391927/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PP55NU6E9ST6&keywords=the+craft+of+songwriting&qid=1659573139&sprefix=the+craft+of+songwritin%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1



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    17 mins
  • Robert Ellis Orrall on writing with Taylor Swift, and writing process
    May 26 2024

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    In this Episode, Robert Ellis Orrall talks about writing with Taylor Swift. What she was like as a young writer, how he set up the showcase that got her a record deal and shares two songs her wrote with Swift along with an original from his latest record.

    Upcoming workshop: Taylor Swift Master class this Tuesday May 28th: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-songwriting-of-taylor-swift-writing-great-melodies-tickets-907284772177


    Robert Ellis Orrall's website: https://www.robertellisorrall.com/

    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/6WVQlFV93roOY6iTH3sv6E?si=14585dc1403e4a13

    Mixed by Peter Sykes: https://www.petersykesmusic.com/

    Otto Gross: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMnxx19QD-vxD4wnYGTn3Jw

    Scarlet's website:

    https://www.scarletkeys.com

    Scarlet's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarletkeysofficial/


    Scarlet's website:

    https://www.scarletkeys.com

    Scarlet's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarletkeysofficial/

    To purchase Scarlet Keys' book "The Craft of Songwriting:

    https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Songwriting-Music-Meaning-Emotion/dp/0876391927/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PP55NU6E9ST6&keywords=the+craft+of+songwriting&qid=1659573139&sprefix=the+craft+of+songwritin%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1



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    1 hr and 9 mins