SongSeeds Guest Speaker
At SongSeeds Online Songwriting Retreats, we believe that sharing practice can both motivate and demystify the songwriting experience.
As part of the new framework for our residential retreats, you can expect 3 music industry faces who will take a deep-dive into their process, answer your questions and set a tailored songwriting challenge for the day. Our guests range from commercial industry to underground and DIY practitioners, all of whom are established, experienced songwriters.
You can check out our previous guests in our Guest Speaker Gallery
We are absolutely thrilled to invite David Scott, John McMustard and Linzi Clark to provide workshops at our May retreat!!
May 2023
//Masterclass from... David Scott
David Scott is leader of one of Scotland’s most enduring music collectives The Pearlfishers. Over 30 years and 9 albums he has established an international critical reputation as an artist steeped in classic songwriting and arranging.
As a broadcaster he created and has anchored BBC Radio Scotland’s long-running Classic Scottish Albums radio feature for over 50 episodes, topping music podcast charts. Latterly he has developed music and arts education at the University of the West of Scotland where he is Head of Arts & Media
//Workshops from...
//Linzi Clark
Linzi Clark is a singer songwriter from Paisley who has been honing her craft from a young age. In 2018 she decided to quit her full-time job and dive headfirst into her songwriting. Showing an unwavering commitment to her craft as well as an emboldened desire to explore new sounds, she headed back to full-time education to take on a Songwriting Masters at UWS. During this time, Linzi launched a series of songwriting workshops called ‘SHE SINGS’ for young women aged 16-25 in Renfrewshire – the very first of its kind in Scotland - which was designed to tackle the gender gap in the music industry and to create a sustainable collective of women who support each other through their music. The project was a huge success, paving the way for a whole new generation of female songwriters in the local area. Linzi then went on to release her debut album 'All I Have Now' soaking up inspiration from the people and places around her, and channelling her experiences into beautifully crafted songs that soar and yearn with love, warmth and curiosity. A record lovingly crafted over lockdown that went on to win her Album of The Year at the Paisley Music Awards and Best Acoustic Act at this year's Scottish Alternative Music Awards.
//John 'Colonel' McMustard
John McMustard is the front man and party starter for Scotlands' ultimate festival band, award winning Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5
who recently released their Scottish Top 10 album The Difficult Number 2. He launched his warmly received debut solo album Sports Mixture during his 10 night Edinburgh Fringe run at the National Museum of Scotland.
John combines a genre hopping mixture of social commentary, nostalgia and humour across all of his various projects.
John recently embarked on theatre project Colonel Mustard and the Big Bad Wolf, bringing modern day Scottish folk tales to life for children and adults alike through song, dance and a good dose of humour. The show ran at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2019. His passion for the environment and rewilding has lead to him writing and performing follow up show Big Wolf - Born To Rewild- a gig theatre show performed outdoors in nature at Vogrie Pogrie Festival and the Govan Wetlands Project.
Whether it's parting a sea of 30 thousand people as part of audience participation classic 'Cross the Road' or showing up to support local causes, John is known for his connection to the community, love of people and tireless energy.
As one half of duo Hunter and McMustard, John performs a variety of songs from folk to comedy, bluegrass to rockabilly. They call their sound, dirty Lowlander untrad. Their first release was a tribute to comedy legend Billy Connolly and to raise funds and awareness for the Friends of the People's Palace and Winter Gardens campaign in Glasgow.
