On Wednesday, March 25, 2009 from 10:00am-5:00pm, a very special seminar focusing on songwriting and publishing will be held at “The Foundry.” If you are a songwriter, this is an excellent time to learn from the pros! After a dinner break, we’ll come back and listen to some of the attendees share their songs LIVE! Check out what will be covered! This seminar is only $49.95 Per Person and limited to 100 people. To register, go to our REGISTRATION PAGE. Make sure to select “It’s All About The Song Seminar.”
Session 1
Robert Sterling
Robert Sterling is a Dove Award winning songwriter, arranger, and record producer. His songs have been recorded by a variety of Christian artists, notably including Point of Grace, Gold City and Sandi Patti. His tunes have worked their way to the top of the Christian pop, Southern Gospel, and inspirational radio charts. Among Robert’s record producing credits are the certified gold albums, “Point of Grace,” and “The Whole Truth,” and “24,” by Point of Grace, and the Grammy-nominated recording, “Love Will,” by the Talleys. His extensive body of choral compositions and arrangements can be found in the catalogs of Word Music, Alfred Music, Shawnee Press, Lorenz Music and LifeWay Music. Robert is a five-time winner of the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Award and the author of the book, Jesus’ Chairs: A Guide to Christian Songwriting. For five years he headed the songwriting faculty for the Academy of Gospel Music Arts. In 1997, Robert served as the chairman of the Coalition for the Protection of America’s Gospel Music Heritage, lobbying and testifying before Congress on behalf of Christian songwriters. In addition to his work as a writer, arranger and orchestrator, Robert has also served as an adjunct professor of Music Publishing at Belmont University in Nashville, and is on the advisory board of Baylor University’s Center for Christian Music Studies. A 1977 cum laude graduate of Baylor University’s School of Music, Robert currently resides in Brentwood, Tennessee with his wife, Cindy. They have two sons, Matthew and Aaron, who have grown up and moved far away from home. Matthew lives in New York City, working as a video/film editor and comedy writer. Aaron is a much-in-demand studio drummer working in Los Angeles.
Topics Covered:
• Writing Is Re-writing
• Four Great Songs and What Makes Them Great
Session 2
Lowell Alexander
Lowell Alexander has been a professional songwriter for twenty years. He has served as staff writer for Sony, EMI and Acuff Rose Publishing and is a long time voting member of NARAS (Grammy) and ASCAP. With ten # 1 songs to his credit, he has been published over 400 times with artists such as Amy Grant, Art Garfunkel, Glen Campbell, Point Of Grace, Sandi Patty, 4-Him, Steve Green, Donny Osmond, Selah and dozens of others. Lowell has a bachelor of arts from Georgia State University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Topics:
• The technicalities of lyric and music writing
• The life of a professional songwriter
Session 3
Regi Stone
Regi Stone is a nationally acclaimed songwriter, founder of Experience Worship, owner of Belden Street Music and Playground Recording and serves as worship leader at Christ Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Although Regi’s music company produces more than 100 songs each year it was only six years ago that his first song was published. Since then, his songs have been recorded more than 100 times by artists and publishing companies including CeCe Winans, Sandy Patti, Word Music, LifeWay and others. In 2007, his collection of worship songs “God is in This Place” was nominated for a Dove Award. With 5 songs in the top 2,000 songs for CCLI, Regi understands his calling as a songwriter to the church. His desire as a songwriter is to write songs that help the church truly experience worship.
Topics:
• Using a simple pattern helps
• 10 Secrets of Successful Songwriting
Session 4
Randy Cox
Randy has been one of Christian music’s greatest influencers. Over a 30 year span, he pioneered two of the most prolific publishing companies in Christian Music (MeadowGreen), published songs on over 100 MILLION records, and won 12 Dove Awards in 8 categories, including several awards for song of the year and songwriter of the year. Randy was the publisher responsible for finding dozens of then-unknown songwriters and launching their writing careers, including Gary Chapman, Michael W. Smith, Rich Mullins, Geron Davis, and Lowell Alexander. Currently, Randy is the publisher of Worship Today, a musical subscription service of Belden Street Music & Worship Resources, that provides original worship music for church choirs. He and his wife, Gloria live in Nashville, TN. where they spoil their 5 grandchildren as much as they possibly can.
Topics Covered:
• Uncovering the mysteries of publishing.
• Do you need a publisher?
• What’s ASCAP or BMI and why should you care?