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Scott Alarik

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Roots of Songwriting Workshop

“One day we’ll all find out that all of our songs was just little notes in one great big fog.” - Woody Guthrie

Since Revival was released, I’ve started hosting musical workshops much like the ones Nathan Warren does in the novel. On Thursday, March 14, 5:45 PM, I’ll present The Roots of Songwriting at Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 42 Brattle St., in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA. (http://www.ccae.org/ , 617-547-6789).

It’s a two-hour history of how professional songwriting emerged from traditional folk music, from broadside ballads to madrigals, parlor music to Tin Pan Alley, the birth of country music and blues, through the ‘60s folk revival to the singer-songwriters of today. I’ll use live and archival recorded music, stories, and lore to show how the modern pop song is a direct descendent of the oldest folk ballads, work songs, laments, lullabies, and love songs.

Some of the tidbits:

I hope some of you can join us for this two-hour excursion. I’ll explore those and other folk mysteries, looking at what the greatest songs can teach us about life, love – and songwriting.

Check out this link for the different workshops I offer. If you have any ideas for how I could present them in your area, please contact me directly at scalarik@aol.com.

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, March 26, 2013 at 7pm, E. Gloucester, MA

Songs and Stories from Revival: A Folk Music Novel

Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street, E. Gloucester, MA
phone: 978-559-1712
www: gloucesterwriters.org/

The Gloucester Writers Center welcomes Scott Alarik for an evening of songs, stories, and discussion about writing his award-winning folk music novel, Revival. Refreshments will be served and all are welcome. Seating is limited, however. Please RSVP by calling 978-559-1712

Thursday, April 11, 2013 at 8pm, Cambridge, MA

Discovering Folk Music, music and discussion workshop

Cambridge Center for Adult Education
42 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA USA
phone: (617) 547-6789
Price: $46.00
www: ccae.org

What does the term folk music mean today? What connects the blues guitarist to the Irish fiddler, the urban songwriter to the Cajun band, the folk-rocker to the cowboy singer? How were folk songs used in the lives of ordinary people, from work to romance, politics, birth, death, and the changing seasons? What secrets are hidden in our best-loved songs? And how did all this become the folk music we know today? Alarik guides us on a vibrant journey down the tributaries of tradition, to reveal how they shaped our modern music.