Workshop
JUL 15-19: Our 20th Year of Workshopping!
Join us in Toronto for a fun, exciting, and rewarding week of songwriting, taking a look inside hit songs, performing, and re-writing your songs with professional mentors.
We’ve been doing this every year since 2005, and it just keeps getting better. We will spend a week together, day and night, focused on songwriting, as we:
- Look at what makes great songs work so well
- Write new songs with step-by-step writing and co-writing
- Work YOUR songs with our professional mentors, to make you a better songwriter
- Share the songs you’ve finished and the ones that you’re still working on, in a safe and friendly space
- Join a fabulous community of songwriters who will become your friends and collaborators
- Detour briefly into important non-songwriting music business topics on Industry Day
Location – Hugh’s Room Live
We’re pretty thrilled to be partnering with Hugh’s Room Live, as we have many times in the past. This time, our entire program will be taking place at the new Hugh’s Room Live location at 296 BROADVIEW AVENUE in Toronto.
Evening performance events (Tuesday and Wednesday) will be at Toronto live venues (to be announced), and our end-of-week showcase (Thursday) will be on the main stage at Hugh’s Room Live with our all-star house band.
Your Mentors
Along with our intrepid SongStudio team (Blair Packham and Allister Bradley), you will work with our team of songwriting mentors who are sure to elevate your songwriting.
*** Our mentors’ summer touring schedules typically prevent us from publicly confirming their participation until closer to the workshop, so stand by as we announce this year’s mentors. ***
CHECK OUT THE LIST of this year’s mentors and past mentors and prepare to be amazed!
Schedule: Monday July 15 – Friday July 19, 2024
** All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (Toronto). **
** Schedule is subject to change. Check back to see updates. **
Monday, July 15
| 9:30 – 10:00am | Arrival and Mingling |
| 10:00 – 11:15am | Welcome to SongStudio |
| 11:15 – 11:30am | BREAK / Sign-up for Afternoon Workshopping |
| 11:30am – 12:45pm | Writing Together part 1 |
| 12:45 – 2:00pm | LUNCH BREAK (enjoy local restaurants or bring your own lunch) |
| 2:00 – 5:00pm | Song Workshops Small groups, each with a workshop leader. Participants each perform a song and seek suggestions from the mentor. TODAY’S MENTORS INCLUDE: To Be Announced |
| 5:00 – 7:00pm | DINNER BREAK (enjoy local restaurants or bring your own dinner) |
| 7:00 – 8:15pm | Keynote Address With our guest keynote speaker Mary Gauthier |
| 8:15 – 8:30pm | BREAK |
| 8:30 – 10:00pm | Breaking The Ice Let’s get to know one another |
Tuesday, July 16
| 9:30 – 10:00am | Arrival and Mingling |
| 10:00 – 11:15am | What’s Going On In That Song? We’ll take apart a great song and see how its parts all fit together to make it awesome |
| 11:15 – 11:30am | BREAK / Sign-up for Afternoon Workshopping |
| 11:30am – 12:45pm | Writing Together part 2 |
| 12:45 – 2:00pm | LUNCH BREAK (enjoy local restaurants or bring your own lunch) |
| 2:00 – 5:00pm | Song Workshops Small groups, each with a workshop leader. Participants each perform a song and seek suggestions from the mentor. TODAY’S MENTORS INCLUDE: To Be Announced |
| 5:00 – 7:00pm | DINNER BREAK (enjoy local restaurants or bring your own dinner) |
| 7:00 – 10:00pm | Open Mic C’est What?, 67 Front St. East, Toronto |
Wednesday, July 17
| 9:30 – 10:00am | Arrival and Mingling |
| 10:00 – 11:15am | What’s Going On In That Song? We’ll take apart a great song and see how its parts all fit together to make it awesome |
| 11:15 – 11:30am | BREAK / Sign-up for Afternoon Workshopping |
| 11:30am – 12:45pm | Writing Together part 3 |
| 12:45 – 2:00pm | LUNCH BREAK (enjoy local restaurants or bring your own lunch) |
| 2:00 – 5:00pm | Song Workshops Small groups, each with a workshop leader. Participants each perform a song and seek suggestions from the mentor. TODAY’S MENTORS INCLUDE: Andy Stochansky John Fellner (more To Be Announced) |
| 5:00 – 7:00pm | DINNER BREAK (enjoy local restaurants or bring your own dinner) |
| 7:00 – 10:00pm | Open Mic C’est What?, 67 Front St. East, Toronto |
Thursday, July 18
| 9:30 – 10:00am | Arrival and Mingling |
| 10:00 – 11:15am | What’s Going On In That Song? We’ll take apart a great song and see how its parts all fit together to make it awesome. With Special Guest Brent Bodrug. |
| 11:15 – 11:30am | BREAK / Sign-up for Afternoon Workshopping |
| 11:30am – 12:45pm | Writing Together part 4 |
| 12:45 – 2:00pm | LUNCH BREAK (enjoy local restaurants or bring your own lunch) |
| 2:00 – 5:00pm | Song Workshops Small groups, each with a workshop leader. Participants each perform a song and seek suggestions from the mentor. TODAY’S MENTORS INCLUDE: Andy Stochansky John Fellner (more To Be Announced) |
| 5:00 – 7:00pm | DINNER BREAK (enjoy local restaurants or bring your own dinner) |
| 7:00 – 10:00pm | SHOWCASE NIGHT With a rockin’ all-star house band to accompany our songwriters |
Friday, July 19
| 9:30 – 10:00am | Arrival and Mingling |
| 10:00 – 11:15am | Let’s Hear What You’ve Written Songs you’ve written or re-written this week. Perform live or play a recording. |
| 11:15 – 11:30am | BREAK |
| 11:30am – 12:45pm | Industry Day Guest Interview Because it’s not always just about the songwriting. Guest to be announced. |
| 12:45 – 2:00pm | LUNCH BREAK (enjoy local restaurants or bring your own lunch) |
| 2:00 – 4:30pm | Demo Derby Pitch a song (live or pre-recorded) to our panel of industry experts, and hear what they have to say about your song and the music market. TODAY’S DEMO DERBY PANELISTS INCLUDE: Andrea England (More to be announced) |
| 4:30 – 5:00pm | Group Photo & Farewell Address |
Registration Price
C$699 (+tax) for the full-week program, if registered by April 30th.
C$899 (+tax) for the full-week program, if registered after April 30th.
(SongStudio alumni receive a 10% discount off the full price.)
** Registration does not include travel, accommodation or meals. **
2 COMMENTS
I have decided to come back for the 20th. This is 5 days instead of 7 and I don’t see any co-writing projects listed – not sure if I will miss it, or if it is in the timetable after all, or if I am relieved that it is not offered this year. Also, I am wondering about accommodations – I have stayed at the dorm in the past. This will be my last gasp – I am sure of that.
Hi Catherine,
We’re definitely doing more writing, though we haven’t fully landed on whether there will be a full-scale co-writing exercise. As for accommodations, we’re working on recommendations but don’t have anything firm yet. Our last dorm experience was not a good one, but we’ll see if the facility is back to what we were used to.
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