2008
tutors:
Previous tutors:
 As
a producer and songwriter, Andy's style has evolved through
his work with artists as diverse as Alison Krauss, Roger Cook
(Blue Mink) and Hugh Cornwell (Stranglers). As a Nashville
house songwriter for Warner bros, he has published some 200+
songs, including movie soundtracks (American Pie 2) and TV
music (Friends, Heroes). His US solo album Sundays
and Birthdays was
released in 2003 to widespread acclaim from fans, critics and
musicians alike. Andy is the course leader for Bath Spa University's Master's
degree in songwriting - the first and only MA of its kind
in the world.
Instrument: Epiphone J200 'John Lennon' acoustic guitar
Favourite songwriter: Lucinda Williams
Favourite song: Don't Get Me Wrong (Chrissie Hynde)
Songwriting tip: "Write about what you know about."
Joe Bennett
 Head of Music at Bath Spa University, and Director of the Songwriting Festival. Joe is the UK’s most prolific writer on the electric guitar, with 40 books and more than 300 articles in print. His books include The A-Z of the Guitar and the Easy To Bluff guitar series, plus songbooks about The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon.
As music
editor of Total Guitar magazine, Joe wrote and produced over
50 original tracks for the cover CD. He has written for Music
For The Millennium, PowerOn, Future Music, Classic
CD, and Music Tech. In 2004 he received a National
Teaching Fellowship Award in recognition of his work as a teacher
of popular music and songwriting.
Instrument: Pink Paisley Fender Telecaster
Favourite songwriters: Lennon/McCartney, Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus
Favourite song: You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
Songwriting tip: "Make sure you know what your song is about."
Davey Ray Moor
 Davey Ray Moor came to international attention as the songwriter for torch-song troubadours Cousteau, whose two gold-selling albums have been compared to David Bowie, Nick Cave and Burt Bacharach. He also runs his own music production company, Moonshine Music, which has produced recordings for some of the world's largest clients including Bacardi, Nintendo and Pepsi. You might have heard his TV music recently on the UK's 'Supernannny' and 'Neighbours from Hell'. He's too modest to tell you more - here's what the press say;
Moor's songs are genuinely lovely creations... their greatest gift is in the melodies, oozing haunted disaffection and melodrama underpinned by a sizzling sense of glamour... The Independent
Sincere songwriting and catchy melodies... Beautifully crafted with the timeless feel of songwriters like Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello and Leonard Cohen. Billboard, USA
He provides the songs of distinction that every lovelorn vocalist needs, but doesn't always have. The Guardian
Like sobbing in front of Chet Baker and Nick Drake and finding your tears have turned into rhinestones. Time Out
The melodies float from heaven to hell like Burt Bacharach standards. Silky without being slick, even when sorrowful like boulevardier Jacques Brel. Rolling Stone, USA
Instruments: Flugelhorn, wonky pianos, Baby Taylor acoustic guitar
Favourite song: Ruby's Arms by Tom Waits
Favourite songwriter: Leonard Cohen
Songwriting tip: "If it feels REAL GOOD to sing, great voices will sing it."
Lucy Ray
 Lucy’s twenty-year career as a singer-songwriter has mixed folk and country influences with contemporary storytelling to create unique English acoustic pop songs. An outstanding fingerstyle guitarist with a mastery of altered tunings, Lucy’s songs have echoes of Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, Ricky Lee Jones and Beth Orton. Her debut album When I Grow Up was released by Cycle records in 1996. Since then she has released three further albums, the most recent being 2005’s High Ground. Live shows have included Radio 2 ‘In Session’, Ronnie Scott’s and the Phoenix Festival; she has performed with Nick Harper, Hank Wangford and Phranc.
During
her performances Lucy loves to talk about the way the songs were
written, giving audiences a unique insight into her creative
process. She now teaches songwriting at Bath Spa University.
Lucy will be on hand throughout
the 2008 festival to help students individually with their own
writing.
”Lucy Ray transcends contemporary acoustic styles… one of the most confident debuts of the year” Country Music International
Instruments: Kinkade Kingsdown Acoustic, Gibson ES 335 Cherry Custom
Songwriters: Mike Skinner/The Streets, Simon and Garfunkel
Favourite song: ("Do I have to choose ONE?") The Circle Game (Joni Mitchell)
Songwriting Tip: Don’t be afraid to throw out the rulebook
Iain Archer
 Iain Archer received his Ivor Novello award in 2005 as co-writer
of Snow Patrol's international hit Run.
A professional songwriter since 1995, he has released four solo
albums, and also features on the Snow Patrol side project Reindeer
Section. Iain loves working with new songwriters, and has
run workshops for the British Academy and Performing Right Society.
His fourth album Magnetic
North was released in 2006 to international critical acclaim,
with the single Everything
I've Got achieving iTunes' single of the week in early 2007.
Iain's songs are poignant, personal and conversational,
with soaring memorable choruses and heartfelt vocals.
"uplifting and artfully crafted music... influences that
range from Neil Young to the Velvet Underground and My Bloody
Valentine"
XFM
Instruments: Teen solace came in the form of a Black Telecaster
Songwriters: Bright Eyes, Flaming Lips
Songwriting tip: Sometimes I look for metaphors and allegories
and exciting ways of relating... and then again sometimes
the mundane can be far more striking than anything that can be
conjured up. The secret is letting it happen.
Boo Hewerdine (bio by Nick Hornby)
 A friend came round one evening in 1983 or 1984 with a new single
by a local band (we were all living in Cambridge at the time)
which he liked and wanted to play me. I wouldn't have minded,
but I knew the lead singer in the band-a guy called Boo-with
whom he worked with in a record shop, and I felt that the potential
for embarrassment and awkwardness was enormous. The record was
sure to be crap (when did friends, or friends of friends, ever
make anything but crap records?), and yet I would feel obliged
to say something positive to Boo next time I saw him, and he'd
know I was being insincere, and...
But the record was terrific, a slinky, spacey, dance-pop thing
called "Money and Time" that was both catchy and literate,
and there was no need for insincerity. The band, The Great Divide,
broke up after a couple of singles, but I started taking a serious
interest in Boo Hewerdine's career: I saw him supporting the
Roaring Boys; I saw him at an almost empty Marquee (in a band
then named Georgia Peach) supporting the Roaring Boys; after
I moved to London, I saw Georgia Peach's next incarnation, The
Bible, as often as I could-at first in Student Union concert
halls (back then, Deacon Blue were the perennial Bible support
act), as support at the Town & Country Club and finally,
as the band started to take off, headlining there.
By that stage, my tangential personal connection with the gawky
lead singer was no longer an issue - I was a fan of The Bible
(the band), pure and simple.
In fact, if you liked pop music with guitars, verses, choruses
and lyrics, pop music that recognized the primacy of the song
and the endless gut-wrenching potential of the right chord change,
it was hard not to be a Bible fan. Their two albums, Walking
The Ghost Back Home (1986) and Eureka (1988) are minor classics,
chock full of tunes that everyone, not just the chosen few, should
have spent their summers whistling.
For many years Boo had been writing with
and for other artists... something he considers a complete separate
endeavour. “I don’t think of myself in that world
at all,” he explains. “It’s just I quite enjoy
the Brill Building aspect. I enjoy it because it’s not
what I do.” Amongst the many artists he has written for
in this way are Natalie Imbruglia, Mel C and Alex Parks.
He also writes and performs with Eddi Reader,
composing songs for her under her instructions: “Writing
for Eddi, I’m
forced to write from a woman’s point of view a lot of the
time. She sets me homework!"
Instruments: Custom Alister
Atkin acoustic; Gibson J200
Songwriters: Jimmy Webb, Gibb bros, John Lennon
Fovourite song: Wichita Lineman – "Who
would have thought that a song about a telephone engineer could
be so moving?"
Cecilia Sylvan
 Cecilia (formerly Cecilia le Poer Power) began her career as
a professional singer whilst at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama
(London) and Leeds University. She has worked across genres including
pop, jazz and folk. Her international career as a vocal soloist
has included The Barbican Hall (London), The Bimhaus (Amsterdam),
The Folkest Festival (Italy & Slovenia), The Glastonbury
Festival and the 606 Jazz Club (London). She has worked with
an array of distinguished musicians including guitarist Maartin
Allcock (Fairport Convention) and multi-million selling producer/writer
Russ Ballard. Cecilia is also an internationally published songwriter.
Throughout her career, Cecilia has been a passionate educator.
She is currently a vocal, performance and songwriting tutor
at Bath Spa University. She was formerly a vocal coach at the
world-renowned Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London.
Instruments: voice & piano
Songwriter: Kate Bush
Song: Moments of Pleasure
Tip: Trust your musical instincts and use them!
Previous Tutors
Midge
Ure
 In
a songwriting career spanning more than 30 years, Midge has
received Ivor Novello, Grammy and British Academy awards along
with a flotilla of gold and platinum records. By the time his
solo single If
I Was went to number 1 in 1985 he had already crammed
several musical lifetimes into a 10 year professional career
including Slik, The Rich Kids, Thin Lizzy, Visage, and Ultravox.
In 1984 he wrote with Bob Geldof the what was at the time the
best-selling single in UK history – Band Aid’s Do
They Know It’s Christmas?.
Midge is still to this day a Band
Aid Trustee, and was the organiser of the Band
Aid 20 version of the song in 2004.
Midge
is perhaps best know for his innovative work with Ultravox.
Combining breakthrough synthesiser programming with energetic
rock guitar and soaring melodies, the band produced a string
of hits in the early 1980s, including Reap
the Wild Wind, Dancing
With Tears in My Eyes, Love's
Great Adventure and 1981's timeless Vienna.
In just six years the band achieved seven
top ten albums.
Midge
continued to tour throughout the 1990s, supporting top ten
albums The
Gift and Breathe. Like
all of the SWF tutors, he believes that
songwriting lies at the heart of an artist’s success; “it
doesn’t matter how well you perform – without a
great song people won't remember you.”
He now
writes and produces with various artists, both established and
unsigned, at his studio in Bath, where he also works on his own
projects including solo recordings and film music.
Instrument: Crafter
thin-bodied acoustic, Takamine acoustic, Custom Gordon Smith
SG-2
Songwriting tip: "Tell people a story. Provoke an emotion."
Dominic
King
 Dominic
became known as a songwriter as one half of the Bugatti and Musker
partnership, and his songs have sold around 30 million records
to date. Early successes include Modern
Girl by Sheena Easton and My Simple Heart by The
Three Degrees. More recently Music Sounds Better With You was
a hit for Stardust. His songs have also been recorded
by the likes of Chaka Khan, Carly Simon, KC And The Sunshine
Band, Cher, Air Supply, The Babys, Bette Midler and Sister Sledge. Film
credits include Fame, Grease 2 and Shag. Corporate
work and Ads cover BT, Vittel, MFI and Kingsmill.
Dominic
is a judge of the Ivor Novello Awards (for which he
has twice been nominated), and is a committee member of both
the Performing Right Society and the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters.
He also presents songwriting workshops & seminars for BBC
Radio 2's Sold On Song project.
Instruments: Traveller
acoustic guitar, piano
Favourite
Song: ‘Ruby Tuesday’ by The Stones
Songwriting
tip: "Be prolific… write lots of songs."
Chris
Difford
 Chris
Difford has been writing lyrics for over 25 years, most
notably with Squeeze;
Songs like Tempted, Up
the Junction, Cool
for Cats and Black
Coffee in Bed still find steady airplay on UK and US radio.
After 13 albums and many top 20 hits, 29 American tours, 30 UK
tours and various trips around the globe, Chris released his
debut solo album I
Didn't Get Where I Am... in 2002. In June of 2005, Squeeze
released The
Big Squeeze, a compilation of singles and B sides that went
straight into the UK album chart top ten.
During
time away from Squeeze, Chris has written with Elton John, Trilok
Gurtu, Marti Pellow, Lamont Dozier, Willie Mitchell and many
others. In his spare time, Chris organizes writer workshops,
which have been an inspiration to everyone that has attended.
Scripting the lyrics for the film Still
Crazy; this won him an Ivor Novello Award. Most recently,
Chris has been writing with Wet Wet Wet singer Marti Pellow.
Together, Chris and Marti have composed over 150 new songs with
people like Steve Booker, Adam Levy (Norah Jones' guitarist),
Amy Wadge, Jim Watson and many more. Chris is working on various
projects at the moment: a musical with Guy Barker - Jazz Trumpeter
supreme and a live album of acoustic renditions of Squeeze songs.
Instruments: Voice
and TWO Pink Paisley Fender Telecasters
Ann Harrison
A music lawyer, and an expert on any aspect of songwriting relating to publishing and copyright. Ann is the author of Music: The Business, now in its third edition, and will be on hand during the festival to advise songwriters who may have questions about deals, royalties, and A&R etc.
She qualified as a solicitor in 1983 and was a commercial litigation lawyer until 1988 when she switched to work in entertainment law, specialising in music. She worked for a large firm in the West End of London, becoming a partner there in 1991, and head of the music group in 2001 before setting up as a legal consultant when Harrisons opened for business in May 2003. Ann has always preferred working for the creative/entrepreneurial side of the industry, and Harrisons has given her the opportunity to do this.
Over the past 23 years Ann has represented many high-profile artists including The Corrs, Robbie Williams, Moloko, PJ Harvey, Liberty X, Bernard Butler and St Etienne. She has acted on behalf of songwriters, smaller record labels, managers, and independent publishers as well as giving legal advice to A&R executives on their employment contracts and advising clients on joint ventures. Ann's expertise extends to video games, mobile ring-tones, music and the Internet, copyright and trade mark law.
Ann is an advisor to the Welsh Assembly on the creative sector with the aim of establishing a viable commercial music industry in Wales. She is a member of the Steering Group for Bath Spa University's Commercial Music degree course, is an external examiner on the music courses at Buckingham Chilterns University College, and is a regular lecturer on entertainment business and law.
Favourite song: Blue (Joni Mitchell) – for mellow Sundays. And Freebird (Lynyrd Skynrd) – for air guitar Fridays!
Favourite songwriter: PJ Harvey - power, emotion and pain.
Songwriting tip: "write because it’s an itch that has to be scratched - not as a route to quick fame and fortune!"
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