I’m doing original songs on my Thursday online show, and I was thinking about songwriting this morning. I don’t write songs on a regular basis although I’ve had periods in my life where I’ve done a lot of writing. Songwriting doesn’t have one established path. Some writers have a lot of musical or literary training, and some are completely intuitive. My favorite writing that I have done and that I’ve heard from others has been the songs that came “all-at-once” from inspiration or even from a dream. I’ve listened to or read interviews with many great songwriters from Paul McCartney to Sting to Rodgers and Hammerstein, and even though they all say that you have to really work at it, they also say that there is a certain element of mystery and magic that really makes them hear great songs. Many times they say how they just captured a song as it moved through their consciousness. I love that! Of course there are also songs that writers work over for months or years until they are proud of them. In my experience these songs never feel “of-a-piece” or flow without rough spots. That’s my complaint with many commercial songs. They feel contrived and without spirit. But that’s the great thing about songwriting - there are all kinds of songs and all kinds of approaches, and they are all there to listen to and appreciate in one way or another. So here’s to songwriting and creative pursuits. May we all cherish them and try our hand at them too.
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What have I been up to?
I did have one senior facility cancel for COVID last week. This has been such a hard time on these folks. The rest of the homes were very enjoyable, and I love getting to make their day a little better (hopefully) for everyone I get to play for.
My Thursday show doing love songs was great fun! We did songs from all over the board, and the support that this group gives to each other is phenomenal. It was a joy!
My Sunday show doing favorites against the Super Bowl went better than I expected. I never know if I should do a show on Super Bowl Sunday, but my group of folks is so loyal and so enjoy each other’s company that they want to get together even if they have a second screen going with the game.
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What am I up to this week?
I have 10 senior facilities scheduled for this week. I’m looking forward to them - especially today when I get to do more love songs for Valentine’s Day.
My Thursday online show 7-8:30 mountain time will be featuring my own original songs as I wrote about above. I’m so blessed to have an audience that wants to hear what I’ve written. I don’t have anything new since the last original show I’ve done, but I still may have some surprises up my sleeve.
My Sunday online show 7-8:30 mountain time will be the favorites and requests that we always enjoy. If you have anything you’d like to hear please let me know and I’ll try to work them in. These are aways so worthwhile.
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That’s it for this week. I hope you’re having a sweet Valentine’s Day, and I hope to see you either online or in person soon.
Best always,
Tom
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Who: Tom Munch
What: playing and singing an online concert of original songs
Where: facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts
When: Thursday, February 17, 7-8:30 pm mountain time
Who: Tom Munch
What: playing and singing an online concert of favorites and requests
Where: facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts
When: Sunday, February 20, 7-8:30 pm mountain time