A COMMUNITY song writing project took place at Smythesdale last week with locals invited to help craft a tune about the town.<\/p>\n
The initiative was hosted by songwriter Amie Brulee in the first of four community song writing projects in as many locations.<\/p>\n
Brulee grew up in Smythesdale, and said it was \u201creally fun\u201d to dive into the history and character of her hometown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like little country towns because people are really connected to their community and you get such a variety of people here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had lots of stories from people who grew up here and others from 40 years or more. Some of those stories are personal, others are about how the town\u2019s changed and evolved.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always looking for what\u2019s real. To write a song about a place and not talk to the people seems fake to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brulee visited Smythesdale prior to the group session, and gathered information on it by taking photos and speaking with shopkeepers to help prepare for the writing process.<\/p>\n
She aims to record the song and return to the town to perform it.<\/p>\n
Though still in development, Brulee said the song will likely be a bluegrass piece, with room for double bass, ukulele and guitar instrumentation.<\/p>\n
Four people attended the session, including Smythesdale Arts and Music Fiesta organiser Barry Wemyss, who said he finds it engaging to see the writing process in action.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like listening to the words that people have written, what the songs are about, usually something real from their experiences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the community will be interested and intrigued to hear the outcome of what we\u2019re on about today.<\/p>\n
\u201cA work like this keeps the town alive, reinvigorates it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A COMMUNITY song writing project took place at Smythesdale last week with locals invited to help craft a tune about the town. The initiative was hosted by songwriter Amie Brulee in the first of four community song writing projects in as many locations. Brulee grew up in Smythesdale, and said it was \u201creally fun\u201d to […]<\/p>\n