Our friend Tom Edminster told us long ago about Pacifica singer/songwriter Nomi Harper. Since then we have posted notices of her gigs but have never caught her until just this past week when she performed at A Grape in the Fog.
Unfortunately, the place was full and people were chatting so loudly that we couldn't hear Nomi. But no matter. We have her CD. Then we had a brainstorm: Why not ask Nomi to talk a bit about what's involved in singing and songwriting. Here are some of her thoughts:
"It's important to know what you want to say in such a way that you can present a visual picture of it; it's about showing, not saying, what you want your listener to hear. It's about condensing your thoughts and rhyming, and rhythm, and creating emotion in the music. I work hard on lyrics; to me the lyrics have to be strong. But the music needs to be equally strong. It's about evoking emotions in people and being able to create something a person can relate to. Yes, there are many aspects needed to create a good song. It's about movement in the music. There is a lot to it. I very much edit what I write to condense my thoughts into the fewest possible words in my songwriting."
A beautiful and inspiring post and a beautiful and inspiring life by the sound of it...Songwriting .
Posted by: MusicianWorking | August 18, 2013 at 07:57 AM