Songwriters’ News October 2025

Songwriters’ News – Volume V, Issue 10

Meeting Dates

• Monthly Mixer & Round Robin with Doug Millaway – Thursday, October 2, 2025, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

• Minnesota Homebrew Radio Show with Carl Unbehaun –Thursdays all month – October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30

• Songwriting Workshop with Kent Blazy- Tuesday, October 7, 7-9 p.m.

• Monthly Online Song Review Session Hosted by Doug Millaway – Wednesday, October 22 – 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

President's Message

Who Makes Your Music Compelling?
By Paul Nye, MAS President

Every songwriter I know wrestles with the same question: what makes someone stop, listen, and lean into our music? In a world full of noise, why would a listener choose your song?

For those of us working as independent musicians, that question gets even more complicated. We don’t have the luxury of labels, managers, or a payroll staff of 200 people (like Jon Bon Jovi reportedly has—at a million dollars a month!). We don’t have a team of publicists, booking agents, or tour managers making sure the machine keeps running. Major artists—Paul Simon, James Taylor, Jason Isbell, Taylor Swift, et al—can afford to delegate. For us, it’s a different story.

We wear all the hats. We write the songs, arrange them, record them, produce them, and somehow get them mastered. Some of those things we can hire out, but many of us are doing it ourselves. Then comes the performing. If you’re playing live, you’re not only the artist—you’re the booking agent, the sound tech, the
travel agent, the social media manager, the poster designer, the roadie, and the marketer. You might even be the one updating a newsletter, handling professional memberships, or keeping track of gear. And don’t forget juggling all the platforms where you have to be if you want to be seen or heard. It’s exhausting. I once read that the Dixie Chicks claimed, after all their overhead was paid, they were each making about $35–40,000 a year at one point. I don’t know if that’s entirely accurate, but it shows how expensive this business can be—even at the top levels.

So why do we keep at it? Because at the center of all this hustle is the song. That’s the core of who we are. No matter how much time we spend on logistics, marketing, or tech headaches, we return to the one thing only we can create: our music.

And that brings us back to the first question: what makes it compelling? It’s not the polish of a $10,000 video or the cleverness of a campaign. It’s the heart inside the song. Listeners know when a lyric is lived-in, when a melody tells the truth, whena performance carries weight because it’s real.

That’s something money can’t buy, and no manager or label can manufacture. It’s the one advantage we, as independent songwriters, have over anyone else:authenticity.

So in the middle of all the hats you wear, don’t lose sight of the one that matters most. Keep writing. Keep chasing what’s true. That’s what makes people stop, listen, and stay.

Editor's Note

By Mary Kealy-Falk

I’d like to give a big thank you to all the MAS members who contributed content to this month’s newsletter. You’ll hear from Paul Nye, Greg Connor, Tony Wendersdorf, Doug Millaway and Brad Dunse with personal takes on “What makes a compelling song”, Nashville Tuning, Technology changes and challenges for a songwriter, Singer-Songwriters, now and before, and bringing life and emotion into the characters of your song.  Check out Richard Schletty’s column for everything you need to know about our great website.  And thanks to new member Michael Kopperman for letting us know about his new project call “Nobody from Nowhere” in the “Putting it Out There” Column.   There is such a breadth and depth of knowledge, experience and talent within our MAS organization.  It is awesome and awe inspiring!  Every one of us plays an important role in making MAS the kind of songwriting center that it is.  So if you’re new to MAS, or a seasoned member of MAS , a big thank you goes out to all of you for making MAS a vibrant, and creative songwriting organization!

Webmaster Report

By Richard Schletty

Guide to Membership Features
Our Membership Features page is located at https://mnsongwriters.org/features. Here are the important things to know: Note that new members are automatically subscribed to our MailChimp newsletter (for event notifications). 

New members are also added to our Google Groups email list which allows you to receive and send messages to MAS members. Zoom meeting links are sent to you via the Google Groups email list. 

To log in:
Go to https://mnsongwriters.org/login (Note "Log In" link in top menu bar of the website)
username: your email address or username
password: the password you chose when you signed up (do a password reset if you forgot it)

Monthly Online Song Reviews
Please note: With this meeting and all other online meetings, an account with Zoom is not required to participate. A person can connect to a Zoom meeting via desktop computer, tablet, smartphone, or telephone (audio only). We will send to you, via email, the links and telephone numbers that will allow you to enter the online meeting directly from your personal device. Important! We recommend that you log in with your MAS membership credentials before filling out the form. This will allow you to edit your own submission, after it is uploaded, on this page: Song Reviews

Note these sections under the Members menu:

Artist Profiles – https://mnsongwriters.org/members
Go to Members > My Profile. Click on "Edit" to add or edit info. For most of the fields of information, you have the option of not showing a particular item to the public (as well as to other MAS members). Just click on "This field can be seen by" for an item you want to hide.

MAS Members Music Gallery – https://mnsongwriters.org/music-gallery
Post audio MP3 files of your own albums and singles.

Groups – https://mnsongwriters.org/groups

When you are logged in, under the Members main menu you will see submenu items for Notifications, Messages and Member Activity. You can send and accept Friendship requests and see recent member activity.

Be sure to check our Events Calendar at https://mnsongwriters.org/events. You can use the Subscribe link at the bottom of the calendar to have MAS events show up automatically on your personal calendar.

Also check out our social media feeds for Facebook and YouTube. 

Follow us at Facebook
Subscribe to us at YouTube
 
Richard Schletty
Schletty Design • schlettydesign.com
Schletty Sound • schlettysound.com
rschletty@schletty.com
cell 612-562-7324

Putting It Out There

Michael Kopperman

Hello. I'm a new MAS member but a longtime songwriter. My new project is called Nobody from Nowhere and our new record has just come out. It's a nine song concept- less concept album. It features some of my amazing singer/songwriter friends including Nikki Lemire and Jill Conzemius. It's available on Bandcamp and all the streaming services. Four of the nine songs were inspired by prompts from the Singer/Songwriter Songwriting Challenge Facebook group. It also has some fantastic guitar playing from Burning Blue Rain wonder kid Louis Stanoch. I'm very appreciative of any efforts by MAS members to listen, comment or review!

https://nobody-from-nowhere.bandcamp.com/album/nobody-from-nowhere

Guitar Players … Spice Up Your Creativity … Nashville Tuning

By Greg Connor

Sometimes we get in a rut where everything we write starts to sound similar.  It's the same old tricks on every new song.  Maybe it's time to try a whole different sound.  The expensive way to do that is by buying a new instrument, a baritone guitar for example.  The cheap way is stringing one of your guitars with the high strings from a 12 string set.  

Most of you know this technique is called "Nashville Tuning".  If you are not familiar with Nashville Tuning just try searching YouTube.  You'll find plenty of examples.  I keep a parlor guitar tuned this way and I'm always amazed at the difference it makes in approaching whatever I'm working on.  Try it, and while you're at it, try drop D and other alternate tunings with those high strings. 

How Tech Can You Get?

By Tony Wentersdorf

In reading numerous articles on songwriting and music making, there’s one topic that I’ve rarely seen mentioned in print or in songwriting workshops and classes. It is the conjunction of songwriting, song arranging, and performing with the rapidly increasing pace of technology that is increasingly defining how songs are written, arranged, and played. I still have many of my old vinyl record albums, as well as cassette tapes, and CDs which I love to listen to.

However, I’m having increasing difficulty in keeping up with the rapidly changing pace of computer and online technology. In fact, this has often gotten in the way of my writing songs more effectively, arranging them, or listening to them. Not too long ago, I could still rely on purchasing a CD of my favorite performer or band. Now, with almost everything being streamed, and with so many new ways of recording music, I am often at a loss. I
wonder if any of my songwriting friends feel the same way?

It’s not that I don’t admire many of the MAS songwriters who are able to arrange and record their songs with such sophisticated technology that they often sound as if they’ve been produced in a professional studio. But I wonder where that leaves the rest of us who haven’t kept up with the new technology? This doesn’t mean that I don’t want to keep up, but I often find the learning process itself overwhelming and daunting. Yes, I must admit to
being an old Luddite!

I realize that the music business like every other is changing with ever increasing rapidity. There are a multitude of new applications like band-in-the-box, Spotify, and I-tunes. I know I can’t stop progress! I also don’t want to sound like the old codger who kept on riding his horse and buggy long after cars were de rigeur.

So, what’s to be done? As I stated earlier, I don’t have any easy answers, but a lot of questions. I believe that it is important to bring up this concern, so that we who are less technologically adept aren’t left in the dust. Maybe workshops like music technology for dummies would be helpful, or working with a younger singer-songwriter who’s grown up with the new technology and for whom using it comes naturally. I am certainly open to any suggestions and help. I look forward to expandingmy musical horizons and learning new skills.

Tony Wentersdorf
Copyright 2025

Singer-Songwriters Carry The Torch Of Folk

By Doug Millaway

When you listen to a new singer-songwriter track today, you might not immediately think of the protest songs and coffeehouse folk circles of the 50s and 60s. But scratch the surface, and you’ll see that modern artists are still pulling from the same well—just with new colors splashed onto the canvas.

Back in the day, artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Phil Ochs used their guitars and voices as megaphones for storytelling—whether it was about love, injustice, or the struggles of everyday people. That emphasis on honesty and connection hasn’t gone anywhere. Today, singer-songwriters like Brandi Carlile, Hozier, Phoebe Bridgers, and Jason Isbell keep the tradition alive by writing songs that feel raw, personal, and deeply human. At its core, the genre is still about one person speaking truth through song.

Of course, things aren’t exactly the same. The folk revival thrived on stripped-down arrangements—an acoustic guitar, a harmonica, maybe a banjo if things got fancy. Fast forward to now, and you’ll find singer-songwriters blending their words with indie rock textures, lush synths, or even hip-hop beats. The canvas has expanded.
Subject matter has shifted, too. While the 60s were all about civil rights, antiwar protests, and political movements, today’s writers often mix social issues with more personal themes: mental health, identity, messy relationships, the climate crisis. The protest spirit is still there—it just might arrive wrapped in metaphor or dressed up in production tricks that Dylan never dreamed of.

What ties the two eras together is the sense of purpose. Whether it’s Anaïs Mitchell weaving myth into modern parables with Hadestown, or Jason Isbell tackling addiction and resilience, today’s singer-songwriters are carrying forward that folk DNA. They’re just less boxed in by genre lines—able to dip into Americana, indie pop, electronic, or whatever else helps the story land.

At the end of the day, singer-songwriters then and now are in the same business: writing songs that matter. Whether the audience is in a Greenwich Village basement in 1963 or streaming on Spotify in 2025, the goal is the same—authentic storytelling that connects.