One way to stay true to your songwriting is to put in on your schedule! Would love for you to come join this special March 5-Day Songwriting Challenge, it's a small commitment of time with a powerful ability to allow you to create a song from start to finish in just a few days. Register Here on my website for the Songwriting Challenge, yay!
Let’s talk about the Essentialism of Our Songwriting and then get to actually writing songs!!
Music is healing, we know this on a cellular level
How is your songwriting going? Are you doing it?
It’s easy not to do our songwriting, but is it? It’s not easy or easeful in our life when we skip our creative processes. So much reward in our adult life to checking off our to-do list but our songwriting is so essential. We come to the dinner table each night more ALIVE and full of feeling, when we’ve said yes to our creativity, touched based with our emotions and feelings, this is HUGE.
At the fork in the road, choosing whether I make a phone call I need OR do I sit at my songwriting. Perhaps it’s not so black or white…
So much more bits of inspiration on my Songwriting Newsletter, just click this link here to sign up for that weekly cheer in your inbox!
Take good care, yours in songwriting,
Anne
Songwriting doesn’t have to be hard. What a good reminder! One of my mentors was saying that editing is perfectionism! That really hit me as being so true.
On today's episode, you'll hear me dive into songwriting with WAY less editing and less overthinking. It can involve more play and experimentation and having fun.
I know you want to be writing more and I think you'll find these tips will help you do that!
Wanting to join the February 19th Online Song Circle? Come meet some new songwriters (we are a very sweet and supportive community, a safe place!) and share one of YOUR new songs! I'd love to hear it. Register Here, it's free.
You can always head to my website, www.annesibley.com to find out about more songwriting opportunities and support!
Listening to songwriter Pharis Romero is like sitting in the most beautiful kitchen with warm sun streaming in the windows and a cup of your favorite tea. What a treat to get a deep dive into her songwriting process. She has created a beautiful life with her husband, together known as “Pharis & Jason Romero” and you will want to add their albums to your playlists!
Their latest record Tell ‘Em You Were Gold was released on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in June 2022. I hope you’ll read all about them, their lives are fascinating and their music and the banjos they build are exquisite.
The two recordings we play on the podcast today are songs that Pharis wrote: Souvenir, the title track from their most recent album and A Wanderer I’ll Stay.
“I love the part of my brain that wants to turn things into songs! And it gets better, the more I do it…” says Pharis.
Visit Pharis’ Website: https://www.pharisandjason.com/home
Follow Pharis & Jason Romero on IG: pharisandjason
Check Out their Incredible Banjos: https://www.romerobanjos.com/
Enjoy reading these beautiful lyrics to Pharis Romero’s song “A Wanderer I’ll Stay” which we play in the second half of the podcast:
Oh why wait for summer when there's time to waste right here
There's an aching deep inside says
There's no time, honey there's no time
Oh I was born to wander, and a wanderer I'll stay
Though it grieves my poor old mother
There's no time, honey there's no time
There's no time, there's no time
Why do girls go steady, when their hearts are not inclinеd
And I believe thеy just aren't ready
For the road, honey for the road
Boys are fixed on numbers, how many and what kind
In this game we're all pieces
On the board, honey on the board
On the board, on the board
Some will take a hammer, and nail their bodies down
In a loving home forever
In town, oh honey, in town
One morning I might wake up and take the day in hand
I'll use the nails and hammer
Build a home, honey build a home
So many episodes all to inspire and support your songwriting plus check out Anne's songwriting groups and coaching at www.annesibley.com
Think of the last time you were songwriting and the words and/or music just felt like a delivery with little effort on your part, has that happened for you? That is flow state. It's available to all of us and it is a powerful conduit for bringing our songs from our heart to life. On today's episode, I explain what it feels like to write a song from this space, to practice it, and trust that it is always available to you.
Try this whimsical Exercise to experience flow state (I read it aloud at the end of the Podcast):
Picture a beautiful stream. You don’t have to do anything to make that water flow. Sit down next to that stream, close your eyes, and now imagine that the stream is music and words floating by. Beautiful melodies of all kinds. Powerful lyrics of every shape and form. Take a beautiful cup and dip into that water to scoop out a cup for yourself. Imagine pouring it onto a blank page. As soon as you do, this music and the lyrics come to life, they swirl around you. You hear the notes, the melody and the words form verses and a chorus, and the chord progression is written in front of you. This song is a gift for you now. Anytime you want to write another song, just come back to this stream. It is never ending, always running with a beautiful current, and it always wanting you to come visit. Don’t be too busy to visit the stream. It flows for you and wants to express itself through your voice and through your fingers in the way that your heart can feel its healing powers.
Try recording the previous paragraph by speaking it into a Voice Memo. Give it a title so you can listen to it whenever you need to be reminded of flow state. Now find a quiet spot and take a few deep breaths until you feel calm. Be intentional about having positive thoughts. Listen to the recording (more than once if you need to).
Now open your eyes slowly with a soft focus and write about your experience during this exercise / meditation. What song are you willing to receive in this flow state? Write down any images, lyrics, and/or music that came to you.
Use it to write a song, work on a current song, or just to experience flow state regularly so you can return to this calm and grounding space when you want to be creative.
I love hearing from songwriters, reach out through my website or social media.
Songwriting Courses, One-on-One coaching, Songwriting Groups, and more! www.annesibley.com
I am glad you are here! I hope you are inspired to ease off the break a little and roll into the next step with your songwriting after listening to today's episode. Always a good idea to have your journal nearby to answer some of these reflective questions like what are the next steps for your songwriting? Are you really comfortable staying where you are or might there be some much better rewards taking that next step?
**8-Week Songwriting Course that I run is online and I have space for one more songwriter to join us on this journey! Check it out at my website: www.annesibley.com
I sent this out today in my songwriting newsletter (and thanks for tuning in to the podcast!!)
What if today you took the next step in your songwriting?
If you have been staying in your comfort zone, I get it. I’ve been there. It’s comfortable. Actually, if you really looked at it, is it really all that comfortable? To not write the song, or sign up for the group, or share a song? Does that feel good?
Here’s my experience of not taking the next step: I feel heavy, and a low-level annoyance. I might get annoyed at kids leaving their dishes all over the kitchen. I feel tired, uninspired, and I’m just going through motions. Bored, maybe sorry for myself.
Here’s my experience when I DO take the next step (even the smallest next step like leaving the kitchen dirty and working on my new song):
I lose track of time. I feel alive. I have a bounce in my step. I remember I’ve been wanting to thank a friend for something and I text her. I head off to my next thing humming my new song. I smile at the next person I see and ask them how their day is going.
Does this resonate?
Try this exercise: SONGWRITING & YOUR COMFORT ZONE
What is the next step I want to be taking in my songwriting? Write a few sentences off the top of your head, the steps might surprise you.
Imagine you take one of these steps, are you more or less comfortable than you are now?
Ask a different question now, not about comfort but like this: How might I feel if I take that next step? What would I gain? What might I lose?
What is the reward(s) I get for staying in my comfort zone? (Basically you are finding out WHY you don’t take the next steps when you answer this one).
Now question that last answer, are they truly rewards?
Welcome home to your truth, I promise that taking the next step has rewards beyond what you can even imagine. Allow yourself to take it.
Yours in Songwriting,
Anne
Just wrapped up a 5-Day Online Songwriting Challenge with ten beautiful people writing songs from their heart. While one of the biggest takeaways that I heard was inviting a sense of play which I invited them to do from day one, I don't think you can do this without really getting to know your inner critic. So today we deep dive into just HOW to quiet the inner critic by working to catch what it is saying and putting it to the side in order to let your song flow through you.
**8-Week Songwriting Course Online is underway with space for one more songwriter!!** Might be the ONLY course for this year other than spaces available for one-on-one songwriting coaching with me.
At the end, I hit another important one: don't write for your audience. Hands down you will write a more authentic song (that I'm sure you future audience WILL connect with) if you are not thinking about them while writing.
I couldn't remember Elizabeth Gilbert's name while recording (I just asked Siri to help me out)...but she's the one that wrote the book Big Magic (very fun and creative read!) and talked about quieting the inner critics and not letting them drive the bus!
Walk away from this episode inspired for 2025, giving yourself permission to write your songs and experience the many rewards of this craft. What your heart has to say really matters! There are so many dreams that we can have as songwriters: songs help us heal, help us process, they can be a comfort and a companion. Maybe you dream of being really truthful in your songs.
Reveal yourself to yourself through your songwriting. Actively engaging in your songwriting, turning down the “party pooper” thoughts
Our songs can teach us, show us, and lead the way forward. The rewards of songwriting are immeasurable!
Believe in creativity, then experience it (actively engage in it) and test it, try it, then we build that muscle for more songwriting.
So much more in this episode, thanks for being here!!
8-WEEK SONGWRITING COURSE - this might be the only New Group Course running in 2025 and it starts on Sunday evenings on January 5th, head to annesibley.com/work-with-me to read and register, I look forward to meeting you. This is for at-home songwriters looking for a caring environment to support and grow their songwriting.
You can subscribe to the podcast, I'm releasing a new episode weekly!
Take care,
Anne
Want to write more?
#1) Reflect
#2) Celebrate
#3) Receive
It’s a great time of year to take the time to reflect on what you DO want to see with your songwriting in 2025, can you take time today to imagine your year of songwriting? In today’s episode, I dive into three things to focus on to increase your songwriting in 2025.
When we are reflecting we are truly tapping into our heart spaces and listening to our truth. The more we listen, the more our heart will speak.
When we take the time to celebrate, from every little thing to every big thing, our lives will be uplifted and our creativity will be more plentiful. You may experience your life in general being uplifted!
Learning how to be in a receiving mode is a huge mood booster and life enhancer. I talk in today’s podcast on how to start by just feeling what it feels like in the body to receive.
All three of these will create space and permission for writing more songs. Our heart will have so much room to play a larger role in our lives! Writing from the heart is healing and results in authentic songs that you and others will find very meaningful.
*For more songwriting tools and inspiration, join my 5-Day Songwriting Challenge - it’s Free and Online starting January 1st but sign up now at www.annesibley.com
My popular and supportive 8-Week Songwriting Online Course is live calls every week and starts January 5th!!!! Still a few spaces left, read and register at https://www.annesibley.com/work-with-me
Why am I talking about self-trust? Because it helps with songwriting!
No one knows better than YOU about you. Gosh, I wish I had learned this earlier. Not just in songwriting but in life. But let’s look at what this thought and belief….”No one knows better than you about you” can do for our songwriting: It can build self-trust and reduce your self-criticism.
When you trust yourself more while songwriting, you don’t interrupt the flow of creativity coming through you. You don’t comment (as much!), block, resist, criticize, judge…as much. Imagine if a song was coming to you, the melody and the lyrics, and your brain was silent other than the song…can you feel what this feels like? You can let your song flow while building a trusting relationship with yourself.
How do you build self-trust?
TRY THIS EXERCISE BELOW:
Answer the following questions with a few sentences:
What is it I most often judge about my songs? Why?
Whose voice do I use when criticizing my songs?
What would happen if I stopped grading and checking my songwriting?
What was happening the last time I wrote a song or song lyrics that I really liked? Was I wondering what others would think?
What is the payoff for criticizing my songs?(It might be that you won’t get teased or criticized by others so you are editing, checking, reigning yourself in before they have the opportunity to).
What would it feel like to write a song without wondering what others would think?
Try these positive affirmations instead:
What I have to say matters.
It is healthy for me to hear what my heart has to say.
I commit to quieting my inner critic.
I commit to questioning my inner critic.
I commit to calming my inner critic with kindness so we can work together.
No one knows better than me what is in my heart.
No one can say what I need to say.
I am whole.
I can be trusted.
I support you! Thanks for tuning in to the Podcast
Xoxo
Anne
8-WEEK ONLINE SONGWRITING COURSE - Your Transformational Experience of 2025
Free Songwriting Challenge starts January 1st, New Year - New Song - online just register ahead
Hey! Welcome!
Still time to join the December Songwriting Challenge just sign up at www.annesibley.com and share a song live on Zoom on Dec 11th
Online Songwriting Community starts up January 6th, come open your heart to your songwriting : ) 8-Week Online Songwriting Course information here aka Your Transformational Experience of 2025!
Now for today's episode!
Anne’s Top 10 Tips for Writing A Bridge
www.annesibley.com
On Today's episode I dive into my nerdy obsession with words and offer ways to improve your lyric writing by playing around with words! These shorter episodes always offer an exercise and a takeaway to inspire your own songwriting.
*Join the Free Songwriting Challenge and write a song this holiday season! These zoom calls are a quick and highly inspiring way to start AND finish a new song in a sweet community. Hope you'll come join us, it doesn't take much time and I think it'll put a spring in your step this holiday season. Click Here to Register for the Songwriting Challenge.
**8-Week Songwriting Course still has some available spots but is filling up, reach out to me (Anne Sibley) via my website! www.annesibley.com
Thanks for tuning in, every Monday I will release a new Podcast!
I created this exercise for my 5-Day Songwriting Challenge folks and I thought you might enjoy trying it.
(If you are looking for more information on my Online Songwriting Course that starts Jan 2025, just head to MY WEBSITE LINK HERE)
Getting To The Heart Of Your Song - Writing Exercise
Look at a song that you are working on and then journal on each one of these questions, take a few minutes at a time to fully answer them:
Now you might go back to your answers and circle any words or phrases that really pop out.
You might use the actual words or phrases in your song or they might just help you really tune in to the heart of your song and what it is trying to say so you can move forward with it.
Allow these questions to give you guidance to continue with your song.
You can also revisit this journaling while you continue working on your song. Whether you read over what you wrote or even ask the questions again.
It really helped to move forward with our songs after the first inspiration was written.
Yours in Songwriting,
Anne
I will not hate and I will not fear
In our darkest hour, hope lingers here
Lissa Schneckenburger makes music that showcases everything from traditional New England dance tunes, to original songs inspired by her experience as a foster and adoptive parent. It was an incredible joy to spend an hour with her. She performs two live songs for us including her viral a cappella song entitled “Hope Lingers On” plus a moving version of her song "They Sent Me A Picture" written with Mark Erelli.
Lissa sings the medicine we need in this world. She is all about community, communication, and connections with others.
Enjoy today’s episode and check out and follow Lissa and her music, I can’t wait to cross paths with her again!
Visit Lissa’s Website: https://lissafiddle.com/ and you can hear the 4-part Harmony version of "Hope Lingers On"
Follow Lissa on Instagram: lissafiddle
Watch the VIDEO of Hope Lingers On YouTube: https://youtu.be/lv9R60CSQ54
Listen to the Vancouver Youth Choir singing Hope Lingers On: https://youtu.be/b0bmhcvPwTI?si=nYWFDF1DN6HngKqq
Check out all of Lissa’s music & offerings: https://lissafiddle.com/store/
Thanks for listening! Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE and REVIEW the podcast, thanks!
Meet Aaron Davis, the musician’s musician. Not afraid to be ALL the things as an artist and community leader wearing many hats and uplifting so many others. Warning: this episode is packed with recording takeaways for Songwriters, prepare to be inspired!
We talked about ALL the things: how he makes time for his passion projects, the art of simplicity (sounds simple but usually it’s not), and we dug into his extensive recording knowledge and experience and so, so much more.
Aaron’s Website: aarondavismusic.com
His NEW EP is called Medicine Lid
Follow on Instagram: aarondavissongs
Listen/Download high-res audio: https://aarondavisongs.bandcamp.com/
Everything Aaron: https://lnk.bio/aarondavisongs
Takeaways:
“I’m the best of me when I’m with you”
Courtney Hartman's music is like the most beautiful summer day, relaxing and one you want to savor! I find that the trifecta of her voice, guitar playing, and songwriting cause the listener to drop deeper into the present moment.
“No more indulging in useless doubt, I’m only carving the good bits out”
Maybe you didn’t know but you are about to fall in love…in love with Courtney Hartmann and her music. She sings two absolutely beautiful songs on the podcast today from her “Glade” Album. (By the way, the artists perform these songs live for the podcast!)
There’s a warmth and authenticity that will sneak up on you like a superpower! I’ve always had a special place in my heart for her ever since we played alongside one another at festivals. Her outstanding flat picking guitar playing may have first caught my attention but it was also her presence which has only grown over time. She commands with a magical kindness.
Don’t miss deep diving along with us in this episode to follow Courtney from her family band in Colorado through her touring and diplomacy work she did with the band Della Mae while they performed hundreds of days each year. She has also walked The Camino, and we journey with her through the places she has lived. You’ll hear it in her songs.
Takeaways:
“I want to talk to ya…while the moon is talking, too….”
Follow Courtney through her Website: https://www.courtneyhartman.com/
You can sign up for her Newsletter on her website
Watch her gorgeous music videos: Courtney Hartman "Moontalk" (Official Music Video)
Follow on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CourtneyHartman
Instagram: courtneyhartman
Courtney has 24,000 followers on Instagram, go check out her posts!
We are back with a special episode featuring songwriter Johnsmith and more new episodes coming shortly so please "Follow" or Subscribe to the show!
John's beautiful albums that span his forty year career are special soundtracks from his life that have become the accompaniment for so many of his fans lives. One of ten children, John has been singing and making up songs from a young age.
One of my favorite quotes from today's conversation, "Remember that your songs are a gift".
Thank you, John, your songs are gifts to us, an inspiration. We are so fortunate that John tours the country performing, leads trips in Ireland as well as River Trips in the West. He is part of the Kerrville Folk Scene and he has won the hearts of fans and songwriters all over the globe.
Check out John's music, touring and trips on his website: https://johnsmithmusic.com/
In today's mini-episode I share "Three Ways to Become a Conduit for Effortless Songwriting."
Get your Free Songwriting Guide Here: https://www.annesibley.com/events
Want to feel inspired again? Write those songs that are on your heart?
Hint: It’s all about your energy.
Connecting with inspiration, becoming power charged and letting the music pour through you.
Memorize what it feels like to be in a flow state.
Three ways to have more inspiration:
1) Listen to music that juices you up & touches your emotions
2) Connect with your soul family
3) Write your morning pages
Key Takeaways:
Inspiration is your battery pack for songwriting
Be there for yourself by writing your Morning Pages: show up willing to hear your own truth
when you are in the flow and feeling connected, inspired, grounded
Synchronicities abound when you are the conduit
Let your boat go somewhere !!! Put the wind back in your sails
Give yourself the permission to receive inspiration
Ready to receive support for your songwriting? Experience love for the songs you are writing? Want to write more with less self-criticism? Applications are now available for our Songwriting Membership Group.
Head to my website for songwriting coaching and a free consultation call: www.annesibley.com
Laurie Lewis, in my opinion, is the queen of bluegrass. She is a masterful storyteller, performer, and a special human being. It was an honor and an incredibly lovely experience to be with her; to talk with her, laugh with her, and celebrate her songwriting and musicianship.
In this episode, she sings about the town of “Barstow” while she delves into the background of how she came to write it. Then from her new album, “Trees”, she treats us to a song she wrote during the pandemic when she found out that her friend John Prine, the great songwriter, had passed away.
My own duet with my husband in our earliest years was so inspired by songs like “The Oak and The Laurel”, a song Laurie wrote with her music partner, now suffering with Parkinson’s Disease, who also painted the cover art for her newest album, Trees.
She has sung and played with her influences and some of the greatest musicians of our time. I think you can hear the people and the miles in her songs and in her voice. She is a special soul with whom it was a great pleasure to have the company of this special conversation, thanks for following and listening to the podcast!
Visit the amazing Laurie Lewis on her website:https://laurielewis.com/
Join Laurie on a River Trip: https://www.nwrafting.com/bluegrass
Check out her Tour Dates (scroll down): https://laurielewis.com/
Her New Album Trees:
Her impressive Discography
Follow Laurie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurielewismusic/
Or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurielewismusic/
A Few of the Takeaways:
Laura Wortman and Kagey Parish are The Honey Dewdrops. They seamlessly weave a thoughtfulness into every note, harmony, chord that they play and sing in their soulful duet. They first captured my heart in 2008 with their winning performance on “A Prairie Home Companion” and they have spent decades touring the country and sharing their music with audiences far and wide.
On today's episode, you'll hear the gorgeous studio versions of two of their songs. They sing “Garden” a song inspired by Kagey’s walk by a zen garden with yoga platforms where he found this sanctuary that inspired this song plus a powerful song of theirs with incredible harmonies called “More Than You Should Say”.
The Honey Dewdrops music has been part of the soundtrack of my life as we have been friends since I heard them win on “A Prairie Home Companion”. I was so moved by their singing and their song that I had to pull off the road to listen!
They tell the stories behind their songs on this podcast episode and whether you've heard them before or not, I think you'll be hooked not only to their music but to the genuinely kind and talented human beings that they are. You can check out their tour schedule to see if you can see them perform live near you (go see them!).
Check out their beautiful website: https://www.thehoneydewdrops.com/
Listen to their many great albums on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/42FAfgZpAliDGkyucfGnWM
And on Bandcamp: https://thehoneydewdrops.bandcamp.com/track/more-than-you-should-say
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehoneydewdrops
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehoneydewdrops
Takeaways:
“If we look around, there is always something to be grateful for and some kindness we can give.” - Katy Oberle
Stars and algorithms aligned to connect me with Katy Oberle, a singer-songwriter friend who I like to call a creativity goddess! She uses her love and talents both for mindfulness and music to share her gifts and practices for healing.
Following a career as a therapist, she now runs Katy Oberle Creative where she coaches individuals and businesses in mindfulness practices while deeply nourishing the creative lives of others.
On today’s episode we get grounded with Katy and hear her sweet songs, “Walden” and “Shine” with her beautiful soprano vocals and peace filled lyrics from two of her recent albums. We talk about the meaningfulness of playing music in hospital settings and how music provides connection, kindness and more love in the world. So grateful to Katy for sharing her music and wisdom with us on the podcast.
Katy has a great newsletter, visit Katy and sign up for her newsletter here:
https://www.katyoberlecreative.com/
Follow Katy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katyoberle/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katyoberlecreative
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBd4njDkswQK_CQDQF4kh6w
A few Takeaways:
-Music saves us and helps us makes sense of our lives
-Creativity buffers our hearts against the hard stuff
-So many people need to write songs
-Capture chapters of your life through songwriting
-Songwriting is like scrapbooking, an audio collage of your life!
-The songwriting process can be intuitive and unpredictable
-Just like mindfulness practices, the more you can show up in your songwriting consistently the more like you’ll catch the muse