The West Lothian Songwriters' Group
What is the Group for?
The WLSG is a group allowing songwriters from West Lothian and surrounding areas to meet, and to learn more about their craft. We work acoustically, using a wide range of musical styles; these certainly don't stop at the coasts of the British Isles! One of the practical difficulties about song-writing is the issue of obtaining constructive criticism. Our families and friends are not always the best people to do this, as their closeness sometimes makes it difficult to highlight things that don't quite work. The Group provides a supportive setting for the sharing of songs, ideas, words and melodies, and encourages members to seek constructive appraisal of their work. WLSG offers the opportunity for members to bring along their own songs - completed or part-written - to share with the Group. We realise that different people have a range of (musical) needs, and suggest that participants tell other members what sort and level of help they are seeking before demonstrating their song! The Group is not primarily about performing to each other, unlike some other songwriting groups. What we are interested in is the song, rather than the quality of the performance. However, if a member is interested in looking at the arrangement of a song, rather than the content of the song itself, there is bound to be someone with ideas to share! We should assure anyone who is interested in the Group that it is not at all necessary to play an instrument to join in. Some of our members regularly write unaccompanied songs, and we also have members who mainly write lyrics, as opposed to complete songs. In fact, this could be a good way to meet people to work together on songs! How do we do this? Members are expected to bring their own work to meetings. However, we realise that musicians at an early stage of their song-writing careers won't have so much to choose from! Performance of material by songwriters who are not in the Group will be considered valid to demonstrate particular points. We arrange evening and one-off full-day events with visiting tutors, looking at a variety of aspects of songwriting. Some of this may be arranged in partnership with other organisations and groups. For example, members have in the last few years attended workshops run by West Lothian Council, and the Linlithgow Folk Festival. What else do we do? One of the Group's intentions is to encourage members to find ways of performing their own music, or having other people perform it. Possible ways of doing this include: locating and encouraging participation in song-writing competitions and Open Stage events and encouraging participation in them; and running of our own showcase events, perhaps in conjunction with other organisations. We have already run two of our own show cases, as well as running (and joining in!) the Open Stage event at the Linlithgow Folk Festival. We may provide opportunities to record some of the Group's work, using local facilities. How do we carry out all this? We meet monthly; in the group's life-time, we have met in various towns in the area, but are currently happily situated in the Black Bitch Tavern, Linlithgow, one of West Lothian's best folk pubs. How the Group works As a group which hopes to obtain funding to support our activities, we have to be formally constituted, with a small committee. A constitution has now been agreed. Our committee meets occasionally, but we try to do as much as possible of our planning with the whole group. through a short discussion at each meeting. copyright Paul Streater 2001