Art | Nature | Creativity
“The greatest songwriters are seldom songwriters alone. Some are creative polymaths while others synthesize elements from an array of forms into a wider songwriting vision. Kathy Muir is more than a songwriter.”
🎤 The Borderline Q&A: Your Questions Answered I received so many thoughtful questions about The Borderline that I decided to create this video entitled The Borderline Q&A, which dives deeper into its themes. From the inspiration behind the song to the powerful visuals that bring it to life, this video explores the creative journey behind […]
A winter morning. Yesterday’s arrival of our first morning frost inspired this simple 60-second piece.
An afternoon with visual artists Joseph Dermody and Jeanine Jackson chatting about art and performing old and new material.
So What Makes a Canyon? Since writing Found Me a Canyon a few months ago and performing it live in Edinburgh, I’ve been asked what the song means. This is one of the few songs that came to me based on blurting out, during a nascent chorus, ‘I found me a valley then I found me a […]
Coffee and Creativity I’m sitting in Artisan Roast, my favourite cafe in Bruntsfield this early Friday morning. I’m listening to a piece entitled Stepping Stones and Fireflies I created a few weeks ago but hadn’t found time to work on until now. If you’re interested in the creative process, this is how it can start. […]
Diamond in the Rough As part of a 2-hour show at Edinburgh’s Stramash on 30 July, 2018, I’m including four covers. For some reason, the lyrics weren’t sticking in my head. So I thought I’d slow it down and record a rough diamond. This is what I came up with and, I have to say, […]
Folk Music Then and Now I was raised on folk music. Still performed today, many of these songs date as far back as the 17th century, or indeed earlier. These songs often relate tales of love and war. The creative process of The Letter reminded me of what Fiona Richie and Doug Orr described as […]
Departure or reinvention? I was reading an article recently about which artists have been successful at reinvention. The article went on to say that these artists recognized the need to reinvent themselves in the pursuit of obtaining a long lasting career in the music industry. I’m sure you’ll have a few artists which come to mind. […]
The Creative Process – The process for producing Lo-fi EP ‘2+2’ was thanks in large part to constantly listening to a lot of indie folk artists, especially Joshua James. His use of high reverb helped set the tone for writing when, one day, I discovered by chance a sound that set the wheels in motion […]
Soundcloud – a bedrock of inspiration. I was listening to my favorite playlist on Soundcloud. Entitled Brotherly Love – because my brother got me into ambient music – the playlist contains nearly 100 tracks. Anyways, I was on my teeny balcony watching the sun set over the horizon when this song came on. For whatever reason, […]
