by Andrew Hughes
We’re happy to report that SAMI’s Song Harvest Retreat was an amazing success! Our retreat from the previous year showed the demand within our community for an event dedicated to songwriting, and we took some important lessons with us as we planned our recent outing. Now that the dust has settled, we’d like to celebrate with a brief recap.
Our main venue was the Whittaker Inn in West Lafayette, where we gathered together on Saturday, October 31st. Helpers began arriving before 9am, bringing in guitars, equipment, and strange objects to inspire our attendees. Among them were busts of Plato and Socrates, a book of North American birds, and a Super Famicom game. Dr. Tom Petry inspired us all by bringing a number of his paintings to accompany some photographs brought by Joe Peters and taken by Terry Lyons.
All this led perfectly to our first lecture of the day, led by Joe Peters. His focus, naturally, was on sources of inspiration, which in his mind can be almost anything: “life, movies, conversations, photographs, poetry, travel, nature, books,” and more. Joe was speaking to a diverse group that morning, with individuals as young as 12 and others past 60. He spoke to musicians and songwriters at all levels of expertise, and their participation throughout the day showed us that they had varying interpretations of the information and advice they heard. Sharing these interpretations reminded us of how many angles you can approach songwriting from. It also showed us where a writer can go with a song, as our second instructor Sam Bennett showed us in the afternoon.
But first, it was time to break out! We gave our writers the space to work alone or in groups, but we made sure everyone who wanted to collaborate did. Our songwriters took this time to bounce ideas off each other, ask and answer questions, and simply be together. Many were working together for the first time, and some managed to produce fully fledged songs. Congratulations to them!
After giving the group some time to be outside together, or alone, in the lovely grounds of the Whittaker, it was time for lunch. While everyone enjoyed the taco bar, we were blessed by a special performance crossing multiple mediums. Joe Peters and Linda Hicks performed a set while Rena Brouwer painted a watercolor on the spot inspired directly by the music. She only had twenty minutes to paint a complete landscape, which was being projected to a television for everyone to watch. We appreciate Rena joining us and sharing her talents!
After lunch, SAMI President and Co-Founder Scott Greeson offered a presentation on the power of verbs in songwriting. He received help and inspiration from Andrew Hughes and Vickie Maris in this effort, in which he aimed to show how common events can be approached from uncommon angles. To offer one example, instead of simply saying “the man walked into the room”, we can instead say “the man stumbled into the room”, to characterize the individual and give life to the situation we’re describing.
The events of the afternoon continued in a similar form to those of the morning, except Dr. Sam Bennett stepped up to offer a lecture on the Forces of Destination. He encouraged us to think not only about who we are writing for, but what forces drive us to the finish line. Some of us write primarily for ourselves without any conception of an audience, while others are incredibly conscious of how every lyric is interpreted. It became clear to us how much power a song has when we think of the role it plays in the writer’s life; the song can help us through a difficult time, or it can continue teaching us about ourselves long after it’s been written or recorded.
Once again, our writers broke out to continue the work they started in the morning. This was the time where those songs begun in the morning took the shape of complete songs. Others took the time to rehearse for our performance the following day. Still more enjoyed the opportunity to be together. It was exciting to hear the songs that took shape from writers as diverse as Gabbie Bush (co-writing with Kelsey Patton), Becka Johnson, and Lee Anna Atwell. Thank you all for opening yourselves up and sharing the results! It’s vulnerable sharing a song for the first time, and we appreciate all of our attendees for suspending judgment.
The author’s main takeaway from the afternoon was written hastily on his phone and preserved for this moment: “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” That’s how we improve! Joe pointed out how uncompetitive our group was, which gave everyone space to bring ideas without fear of the pernicious inner-critic that keeps us stuck. We’re proud to offer a space like this to our songwriters, whether it be during our monthly songwriting meetings, or at special events like these that only occur once a year.
By that point we had just about wrapped up for the day, but the event wasn’t over! We concluded with an afternoon concert at the Purdue Railyard the next day. Some songwriters accompanied themselves, and others brought accompaniment with them, whether it was trumpet, accordion, harmonica, or a bass guitar. We closed with an emotional performance of Scott Greeson’s song “Riverside”, which you can see in full below! Please enjoy the photos courtesy of Scott Greeson, Vickie Maris, and Andrew Hughes.
Now that our event has concluded, and thanksgiving approaches, SAMI is thinking about gratitude! We’re grateful to our instructors, Joe Peters and Sam Bennett, our helpers, and all of our attendees. We are also thankful for the generous donors who made it possible for us to be at the Whittaker Inn and enjoy their coffee, cookies, and a delicious taco bar. Finally, we thank Greg Deason and David Beering for making the Railyard available to us, where we had an excellent time singing and playing together.
