Songwriters’ News March 2026

By Mike Rudquist
 
Note: Please Note: Going forward, all online Zoom events will use the same Zoom link.  Here is a member-only link to our "Member Event Access" page which has the Zoom link:

https://mnsongwriters.org/activities/member-event-access/

Also Note:  All monthly MAS online meetings will be held within the same time frame of 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.  (This does not include the Minnesota Homebrew Radio Show.  See the event listing below for times.)

Monthly Mixer with Doug Millaway – Wednesday, March 4, 6:30 – 8:30

This meeting allows for all types of topics to be explored and discussed as it relates to songwriting – the writing process, production, inspiration, the music business – all topics related to the craft, production and business of songwriting. This is a moderated open discussion, and participants are encouraged to share their personal experiences and expertise.

Online Round Robin Song Share with Paul Nye
Wednesday, March 11 6:30 – 8:30 pm

This is a laid-back, come as you are type get together with fellow songwriters to share your songs in a take turns fashion either performing live via zoom or with a recorded version of your songs. Just for fun and just to get together and play. Even if you want to just join in to listen, this is the place for you!

Minnesota Homebrew Radio Show with Carl Unbehaun
Thursdays all month – March 5, 12, 19, 26

Every Thursday evening from 6 to 7 pm, fellow MAS member and radio DJ Carl Unbehaun offers music written and/or performed by Minnesota musicians on his Minnesota Homebrew Radio Show. Radio station KSRQ in Thief River Falls (90.1 FM) streams Carl’s show via the Internet. On the FIRST Thursday of the month, Carl dedicates his entire show to music written by members of the Minnesota Association of Songwriters!

To submit your songs to Carl’s MAS-dedicated show or to have it played on any Thursday night, contact Carl at minnesotahomebrew@gmail.com.

To listen to Minnesota Homebrew on your devices, click here:  https://mnsongwriters.org/activities/radio-airplay/.

Monthly Online Song Review Session Hosted by Doug Millaway
Wednesday, March 25 – 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

This is our general information and song review meeting. You are welcome to play an original song in any phase of its development or completion for purposes of potentially improving it based on feedback received.

Please refrain from submitting songs you do not intend to change from feedback given. You’re welcome to share those in our Round Robin Song session above. Our review sessions are one of the best opportunities to help you learn and improve your craft. Giving feedback on other writers’ songs, and listening to others doing the same, is a great teaching tool.

You may submit your song’s audio and-or lyrics only for review up to the time of the review session. Please note, we are limited in the songs we can fit in, so you’ll want to watch for the email announcement to submit them and get it in early. Please do not submit songs prior to the announcement to avoid missing out.

We will play an MP3 of your song directly in the room. While MP3s played digitally in the room are generally easier for people to hear, they are not required for feedback. We’ll also accept lyrics only.

Find more detail, go to our Song Review Meeting page on our website: https://mnsongwriters.org/activities/meetings.

You can check out all MAS events on our website calendar.

 

In Person Workshop with Rachel Dunlap

Please join us on Saturday afternoon, March 28th, from 2-4pm to work on some writing exercises from the Pat Pattison book, “Writing Better Lyrics,” and the Andrea Stolpe book, “Popular Lyric Writing.” Sharpen your lyrical skills and generate song ideas by working on sensory descriptions and other techniques. If you want to connect with other songwriters in person and have some writing practice, then this workshop is for you. Hosted by Rachel Dunlap. 

Rachel will be hosting a similar workshop on April 25th. Summer schedule TBA.

*Location* this workshop will be held at the Roseville Library in the board room on the 2nd floor, NW corner. Members of another local songwriting group, M.A.C.S. (MN Association of Christian Songwriters) will also be invited.

Rachel Dunlap is an MAS member, drummer and songwriter. She plays the drums locally with the band Smooth Sensations and her solo music can be found on SoundCloud under the name Dunrap. Rachel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Minnesota. 

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There’s A Song I Wish I Hadn’t Written (Not Every Song You Write Deserves a Stage)
By Paul Nye
MAS President

Here’s a question for you:
Ever written a song you kind of wish you hadn’t?

If you’ve been writing long enough, you probably have one. Or five. Or, if you’re like me and closing in on over a thousand songs, maybe a few dozen, likely more.. Some of mine are easy to explain. Songs about past girlfriends that seemed like a great idea at the time. They were honest. They were emotional. They were probably necessary for me to write. They were not, however, necessary to record.

There’s a difference.

When you’re young (or just wounded), songwriting can double as therapy. And that’s fine. In fact, it’s healthy. But not every therapeutic moment needs a melody and a microphone. Some songs should remain in the journal where they were born.

Then there’s another category — the song you still like… but it complicates things. Years ago, I wrote a song called “Laid.” My wife refuses to listen to it. She detests the title. And honestly? I get that. The song uses double entendres of sexual imagery and strongly suggests the subject is having sex — until the final verse, when the listener realizes the subject has died and is being “laid” in the ground. If the listener goes back and reviews the lyric, it becomes clear that I (the writer) as talking about the guy dying. I wrote it because I detest the word and the cultural cliché behind it. Sex permeates nearly every aspect of our culture — advertising, music, business,politics, even religion. It’s everywhere. And yet, there are only two inevitabilities in life: we are all here because two people had sex, and we are all going to die. The point of the song wasn’t shock value. It was a question: What are you living for?

Is there a purpose greater than yourself? Or are you just riding cultural currents — ups, downs, noise, distraction — until the final curtain? The song even got airplay. But that doesn’t automatically mean it was a good song or even a wise choice to write. I’ve often asked myself if it was necessary. Or even worth the mild relational tension it created. That’s the part we don’t talk about enough as songwriters. We have creative freedom. But we also have responsibility — to our audience, to our relationships, and to the people who will live with our songs long after we’ve moved on from the emotion that inspired them. 

Out of a thousand-plus songs (over the course of my lifetime), there are more than a few I’ve asked myself, “Why did I write this? What was its purpose?”
Some were therapy.
Some were reaction.
Some were experiments.
Some were simply me trying to be clever.
All of them taught me something.

But here’s the question I’ll leave with you:
What do you do with those songs?
Do you archive them?
Rewrite them?
Release them anyway?
Or let them remain part of your apprenticeship?
Not every song deserves a stage.
But every song can shape the songwriter.
And maybe that’s enough.
— Paul

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By Mary Kealy-Falk

Well, it’s two days before the end of February and it’s 39 degrees outside.  I’m going to take that as a sign that the bulk of winter snow, cold and icy roads is coming to an end – maybe not a finale just yet.  But a sign that we really can look forward to some pleasant spring weather very soon.  But as you will see in this month’s newsletter, it hasn’t stopped anyone from moving forward full tilt with lots of exciting happenings in their music and songwriting worlds.  Our MAS members are writing songs galore, putting on concerts, releasing albums, and hosting open mikes.  We also have member- written articles giving us insight into songs to write and songs to pass on and an intro into the world of AI as a songwriting tool. So take a look through the newsletter, enjoy,  and then go outside.  My weather widget just went up to 
40 degrees!   

Events and Happenings you are participating in or something you have accomplished and want everyone to know about.

Rebecca Aadland

A lot is happening. My band and I will be performing at Crooners Main Stage on Thursday, April 9th! Tickets are on sale. Selling out the Icehouse in Minneapolis on September 28th was incredible. At Crooners, we will also be celebrating the single release of my song titled, God Stuff, plus its accompanying video and the world premiere of that work, directed by Eli Gardiner. I am honored that Tommy Barbarella, who used to play for Prince, will be joining the band again on keys. My Crooners show in 2023 also sold out, so I encourage folks to get tickets now. I LOVE it when MAS members are in the audience to support original music. Many of the details of the event can be pulled from the Crooners announcement. Here is the link to the Crooners gig:
 

https://www.croonersmn.com/event/rebecca-aadland-her-all-star-band/

I have written two brand new songs and am currently back in the studio with Kevin Bowe to bring those songs to life. One is titled, I’m Gettin’ Old. We are close to completing my third album. So, a big album release concert is in my future. 

Here is a link to my EPK for more information:

https://rebeccaaadland.com/music/epk/

Best,
Rebecca Aadland
952-926-7500

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Tom Peschges

I have recently completed a full 10 song album, "Born At The End Of The Line"   I had a lot of fun (and spent a LOT of money) recording it, now the challenge of trying to get the word out and sell a few!  

MAS member Tom Peschges is proud to announce the upcoming release of his new Album ‘Born At The End Of The Line', comprising 10 original songs.  About half of the songs were co-written with award-winning veteran songwriter, Tim Stafford.  Tom is a storyteller in the style of his songwriting heroes like Guy Clark, Shawn Camp, John Prine, and many others.   The first single, Red Wing Station, is out on all the streaming platforms.   A second single, “Ten O’clock Town” will drop on March 5th.  The entire album will be available for streaming on April 9th, but you don’t have to wait.  The entire album is available now, on Toms website; redwingstation.com  

 

Tom Peschges   Singer / Songwriter
Tompeschgesmusic.com
The Double Down Daredevils
tompeschges@gmail.com
612-232-5292

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Don  Strong 

Every Monday 630 to 8:30 PM with special guest performers starting the program. Sign-ups for open mic starts at 6:15 PM in person. Great food, great beverages and awesome music hosted by Don Strong for the Songwriter Circle Twin Cities.

Hi everyone,
Come join us for our weekly Wednesday open mic 
at People’s Organic Café in Southdale/Edina. 
Come enjoy great food, beverages, and awesome tunes. We have a grand piano available on-site, but feel free to bring your guitar or ukulele to share a couple of covers or original songs.
Musicians and listeners alike are all welcome!

 

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AI and The Real Me
By Doug Millaway

There's a lot of chatter on using AI in today's music production. Despite my advanced age (74), I am somewhat of an early adopter of many technological advances. For the past two years, I have been actively exploring how to ETHICALLY integrate the use of artificial intelligence in music creation.

My main takeaway is that it sucks as a songwriter, but excels as a production assistant.

Many people have found SUNO to be a platform that has the ability to give you multiple production ideas of your ORIGINAL melodic and lyrical input. To get the best result, you need to look under the hood and learn to use some of the advanced tools.

It is also imperative to understand how to properly use the STYLES feature. Good description of your vocal preference is a must because you can't use artist names to get a result. I have developed a reference sheet of various contemporary artists vocal styles to use when creating the "covers" of my original material. There's nothing wrong with using the description.

Here are three I often use:

To get the best out of any production tool, you have to do your homework. Once I have the style and the vocal performance I like, I find a singer that is capable of getting close to duplicating what I'm after.
Kimberly Korn and I collaborated on a song called Teeth Marks for which I used a reference to a Billie Eilish type vocal performance. Here is the result: https://s.disco.ac/fnidhlyuzkfr

The vocal was replicated by Avery from Musiversal.

Anyway, this is how I roll. I'm always happy to share my experience.
Doug Millaway
Mill Away Publishing
Blind Owl Studio