Arts & Draughts

After a two-year hiatus, a monthly event known as the Grand Strand Songwriter Circle is back. The events will be starting up again at 8:00 pm on Monday, January 16, at the Sound Hole in Myrtle Beach. For those of you unfamiliar about the exactly what these songwriter circles are, they go a little something like this:

Songwriters get a topic/theme/idea and have about a month to write up a song about the topic. Then the songwriters get together and share their songs – finished and unfinished -and talk about the process of what it took to write. After everyone has played their song, the group, collectively, decides on what the next topic will be and then we will all get together in another month and do it all again.

Not only is it an assignment that challenges a songwriters skill, but hearing the other’s songs, and the process behind them allows for collaboration and an exchange of fresh ideas and approaches to songwriting.

The January circle’s topic is Revolution!. So come out and play a song, share a poem of do a musical number – or just come and get an inside look at the process of songwriting from many different angles.

The event, again is on January 16, 2012 at 8:00 pm at the Sound Hole in Downtown Myrtle Beach. Hope to see you there!

On the second Saturday of each month, Railroad Junction in Florence, SC hosts a Songwriters in the Round at 4:00 pm. Each event features three singer-songwriters who will perform their favorite compositions, as well as share the stories behind the songs they wrote in a unique, collaborative atmosphere.

The third event of the series will feature three Hartville based singer-songwriters: Dylan Sneed, Sarah Harelson, and Rachel Riner.

For an idea of past events, here is the video from the December event:

Second Saturday Songwriter Circle – December 10, 2011 from Brian Roessler on Vimeo.

Welcome to the page! I hope you like the new design, new name, and new direction the site is taking.  Gone are the album reviews.  Gone are the concert recaps.  Gone is posting for the sake of posting.  All those posts have been erased.

This site is going to focus on songwriters and artists.  Specifically in the region near the  Grand Strand section of South Carolina.  The plan is to post about 6-8 entries each month using three formats.

One will be about news and events happening in songwriting and arts in the area.

The second will be some tricks of the trade for songwriters and artists.  It may be me, a friend in the field, or something that I come across and link to.

The last, and the one that I’m most looking forward to, will be highlights of sit-down talks with area songwriters, artists and those who support the scene here.  Not so much an interview, I will be sitting with songwriters over a drink – coffee, water, beer, bourbon, or whatever and just shoot the breeze.  Talk some shop, but mostly try to get behind what it is that makes the person tick.

The entries should start as soon as I finish up a bit more housekeeping with the site.  If you like what you see, I hope you subscribe to the RSS feed!

I hope you join me for the ride.  Thanks for stopping by.

Brian