Songcrafting Seminar

At the seminar you'll have the opportunity to connect with other songwriters and learn from some of the best and brightest folks in the music biz. It's a great weekend of music, learning, and fun, where we celebrate the sacred act of writing songs. You will hopefully leave more inspired about your creativity than ever before! I will be sharing all the secrets of songwriting I know!

The cost of this years Song Crafting Seminar is $695 regular price and $625 for members of ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, NSAI, NETN, WCS, SongU, TSAI and Songtown.

This includes two full days of instruction as well as an intimate Friday night concert with Steve Seskin, Sinclair, Shanna in a Dress, Daphne Gayle and Tiffany Gassett. There’s also a Saturday night concert featuring Steve Seskin, Allen Shamblin, Emily Shackleton and Seth Glier.

The Friday and Saturday shows will be at 9 pm at the Bluebird cafe and this year, admission is included. All proceeds from that night go to support Alive Hospice of Greater TN. We will ensure our seminar participants have tickets. For extra tickets, please inquire with Tiffany.

Participants are encouraged to send in one song for Steve to listen to. Of the songs submitted, several will be chosen to be critiqued during the seminar with an emphasis on what we can all learn from the process. One of these writers will be chosen to perform as a guest artist during the Friday night concert and one during the Saturday night show. To submit your song, please send a lyric as well as an mp3 of the song to Steve at seskinmusic@gmail.com. If you submit a song but don’t want to be considered for performing on Friday or Saturday, please let us know with your submission.

Hour long one-on-one sessions with Steve will be available during the day on Friday, January 26th and Monday, January 29th. The cost for an hour is $135. During the hour Steve can take an in depth look at two or three songs. These sessions are only available to seminar participants. These sessions will run from approx 9 am till 5 pm each day.

For more information or to arrange a one-on-one session with Steve, contact Tiffany at tgassett@gmail.com

This unique and intimate gathering features two full days of lectures, workshops, critiques and inspirational talks as well as two performances, that will totally change the way you look at songwriting. I have prepared several new talks for this years seminar. See my course descriptions, to learn more about possible topics to be covered.

Workshops run from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Saturday and Sunday at the Bluebird Cafe, with a break for lunch from noon to 1pm. (There are numerous restaurants nearby.) The Bluebird is set up with a nice sound system and has natural light streaming in during the day.

Our special guests this year include Grammy winning songwriter Allen Shamblin and Emily Shackelton who is an award winning writer as well as an incredible artist in her own right.

Allen Shamblin grew up in Huffman Texas and soon after graduating from Sam Houston State University he made his way to Nashville to see if the songwriter world would welcome him. They did indeed!

For over three decades, he has been one of Nashville’s most beloved and respected singer - songwriters. His song “ I Can’t Make You Love Me If You Don’t “was recorded by Bonnie Raitt as well as Prince, George Michael and hundreds of other artists. “ The House That Built Me ” was recorded by Miranda Lambert and won the Grammy for her rendition of it. Here’s Allen performing it at a concert in Texas with Steve Seskin. His first hit was recorded by Randy Travis. “He Walked on Water” is a stunning tribute to his great grandfather and remains one of his best story songs. His songs have been recorded by well over a hundred artists including Keith Urban “Where the Blacktop Ends”, Toby Keith “ We Were In Love”, Reba “ Cactus In a Coffee Can “ Wynonna “ You Can’t Go Home Again “ Mike Reid “ Walk on Faith “ John Michael Montgomery “ Life’s a Dance “ Mark Wills “ Don’t Laugh At Me “ and many other artists of note. His songs are like little movies that cover an amazing amount of ground effortlessly. He is the ultimate example of a few chords and the truth. His attention to detail is matched only by his willingness to work hard, re-writing songs till every note and every word feels right. We are so pleased to have him join us this weekend. Here’s Allen singing “So Long Alice”.

Emily Shackelton is a singer/songwriter from Biwabik, Minnesota. After studying at Berklee College of Music, during which time she won the BMI John Lennon Songwriting Competition, Emily moved to Nashville, where she wrote for Liz Rose Music/Warner-Chappell. She now writes for BMG Music. Her songs have been recorded by Reba McEntire, Jennifer Nettles, Sara Evans, Jana Kramer, Mickey Guyton, David Cook, Carly Pearce and many more. Several songs Emily has co-written have been featured on tv shows like American Idol and ABC's Nashville. Emily also enjoys performing around the country, with notable performances on Garrison Keilor's A Prairie Home Companion, The Bluebird Cafe, and The Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium. Her album Late Bloomer is available on iTunes. In the last few years she has written a string of hits recorded by Carly Pearce “What He Didn’t Do” , “ Careless “ and “ Every Little Thing “. She also penned “Why Baby Why “ by Mickey Guyton and “ Summer “ by Cassadee Pope as well as “ Dream Big “ by David Cook. As far as I’m concerned, no one sings her songs better than her. Here’s Emily singing “Why Baby Why “ and here’s a version of “ What He Didn’t Do “ with Carly Pearce at the Bluebird Cafe.

Both Allen and Emily posses what I think is the key to being a great writer. They are passionate about what they do and although they have had great success in the music industry, they have attained that by keeping their integrity and staying true to their artistry. They both know how to serve each song they write, something I always admire in a writer.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email Tiffany. After you sign up, please email Tiffany with your contact info, phone, address and the email address you check most often. She will contact you with anything else you need to know. We will also send out a lodging list for those of you coming in from out of town.