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MPR's Songs from Scratch is back: local musicians invited to participate in songwriting experiment
P.O.S., Jeremy Messersmith and Best Friends Forever to write original music based on lyrics by Adam Levy of the Honeydogs
Public invited to submit original songs to vie for play on The Local Show
July 8, 2008
WHAT: Songs from Scratch participants P.O.S., Adam Levy, Best Friends Forever and Jeremy Messersmith perform and discuss the craft of songwriting in this year's installment of the popular MPR series, which will air on MPR News and The Current
WHEN: Series airs July 21–26 on KNOW and The Current. MPR hosts a free, live event featuring all the Songs from Scratch artists (P.O.S., Jeremy Messersmith, Best Friends Forever and Adam Levy) Saturday, July 26, 2008, 7–8:30 p.m.
WHERE: The UBS Forum at Minnesota Public Radio, 480 Cedar Street, St. Paul
TICKETS: This event is free, but reservations are required. Visit www.mpr.org and click on the Shortcuts menu to sign up.
Minnesota Public Radio's Songs from Scratch is back with a new lyricist, a new source of inspiration and three fresh songwriters/musicians who will take part this year's experiment.
Songs from Scratch is a multimedia project that interweaves audio, photography and video, as well as user-generated content. Adam Levy of the Honeydogs will serve as songwriting guide. He chose a source of inspiration for his lyrics and the artists' songs: the story from "The Wizard of Oz."
Levy has written four lines, which must be incorporated into songs submitted by three local musical acts—P.O.S., Jeremy Messersmith and Best Friends Forever—who have accepted the challenge. They will have two weeks to complete the lyrics, create their own melodies and record a brand new song.
Throughout the creative process, the songwriters' progress will be tracked through features stories on MPR's All Things Considered (3–6:30 p.m. weekdays on MPR News stations statewide) daily from July 21–25. The series will also be featured on 89.3 The Current that same week during Steve Seel's program between noon and 2 p.m. Songs from Scratch will also be featured on www.mpr.org, including profiles of the artists and videos of them performing their new songs.
In addition, members of the general public are invited to submit their own creations in .mp3 format and video, which will be featured on www.mpr.org. Listeners are welcome to comment on and rate the songs, some of which will be featured on The Local Show on Sunday, July 27 at 5 p.m. on 89.3 The Current.
Join The Local Show host and arts reporter Chris Roberts for an event on Saturday, July 26, 7–8:30 p.m. at The UBS Forum at Minnesota Public Radio with Levy and the three participating musical groups for a discussion on the craft of songwriting. To reserve free seats, visit www.mpr.org and click on Songs from Scratch in the shortcuts menu.
Songs from Scratch: the rules
Listeners are invited to write a song inspired by "The Wizard of Oz" using Adam Levy's four lines of lyrics. Everything else—the rest of the words, the instrumentation, the melody—should be created from scratch. In order to be considered for broadcast on The Local Show, submissions are due Monday, July 21. Details can be found on www.mpr.org. Otherwise, submissions will be accepted through Thurdsay, July 31.
Songs from Scratch: background
You know a good song when you hear it. What you probably don't know is what went into creating that song. Songs from Scratch chronicles the songwriting process to find out what transforms a vague idea into a full-fledged tune.
We gave three local musicians—Best Friends Forever, P.O.S., and Jeremy Messersmith—two weeks to write a song. We assigned them a theme ("The Wizard of Oz") and a set of lyrics (penned by Honeydogs' front man Adam Levy) to increase the difficulty level.
Songs from Scratch documents their techniques and inspirations, as well as their challenges, to get a first-hand look at how a song comes to life.
For more information, visit www.mpr.org and choose Songs from Scratch from the shortcuts menu.
Minnesota Public Radio® operates a 37-station radio network serving virtually all of Minnesota and parts of surrounding states and produces programming for radio, Internet and face-to-face audiences. Programs produced by Minnesota Public Radio's parent company, American Public Media,™ reach more than 15 million listeners nationwide each week. Of those, nearly 800,000 listen regionally, in Minnesota and surrounding states. A complete list of stations, programs and additional services can be obtained at www.mpr.org.
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Source: Data are copyright Arbitron, Inc., Nationwide and PSA data. Arbitron data are estimates only. Spring 2007/Fall 2007 average
Press Contacts:
Jennifer Haugh
Minnesota Public Radio
651-290-1369
jhaugh@mpr.org
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