by: Tracy Rzepka
In the basement of his Jamestown house, surrounded by his own recording studio, Dennis Drew sat down at the keyboard ready to give a sample of his music.
"This song I wrote about 15, 16 years ago, and it's a song about a friend of mine. Actually, every word is true," the 10,000 Maniacs keyboardist and songwriter said before beginning.
"Every word is true," quietly repeated musician Jeff Erickson, who sat nearby with the lyrics on a music stand and his guitar hoisted up on his knee.
And so began their performance, followed by a short explanation of the song and a segue into a different song that stemmed from the first when Drew brought it to the band.
Such will be the atmosphere when Drew hosts the Community Songwriter's Circle at the Sarita Hopkins Weeks Reception Hall at Jamestown Community College's Arts and Sciences Center with Erickson aiding him. Joined each night by different musicians from local groups such as Zeta Cauliflower and The Homewreckers, the free workshop series will meet for about an hour at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, March 14, 21 and 28.
The two emphasized the workshop is a free exchange of ideas regarding songwriting. Participants are invited to tell stories about their songs and perform them or even read poetry. Drew said it is not songwriting 101, where he will tell others how to write songs, and the workshop is not about criticizing but encouraging others.
"I think it's geared toward people who are fans of songs, as opposed to fans of bands, who can identify songs," Drew said, explaining it is aimed at aspiring writers, song writers or writers who may not have musical ability.
"When you're with like-minded people - people who are trying to write, people who are trying to express themselves - that kind of support is a very positive thing and can help in your own creative process," he said. "That's the bottom line - finding people who are trying to do a similar thing. It's not that much different writing a song lyric or poem and it's another step to writing short stories or novels. But it's all the use of language in trying to communicate an idea."
"It (the workshop) might inspire someone to work that much harder, and they might get some insight into the craft of writing," Erickson said.
The idea for the Community Songwriter's Circle stems from similar songwriting circles hosted in cities across the country and Drew's attempts to embark on a "quasi-solo career." With the majority of his experience in writing the music for the Maniacs, Drew said he really didn't focus much on writing lyrics. It was not until 1993 that he acquired his own sound recording equipment and began focusing on song writing.
"After Rob (Buck) died last year, I wanted to do something on my own a little bit," Drew reflected on the impact of his fellow bandmate. "You realize how dependent you are on the people you work with for so long."
After meeting Erickson, the two began working together, sometimes collaborating on a song, sometimes writing on their own. Both shared their songs, recorded them and shared insights.
"That's a great venue for expressing yourself, just with your friends, taking turns playing songs," Drew said.
Bruce Peterson, member of The Homewreckers who will participate in the workshop, said he was involved with a similar event at Mad Murdock's last November with Drew. The relaxed setting focused on the playing of acoustic songs, but did not include much discussion.
Drew said he had formulated the idea for a songwriter's circle previous to the concert, and realized the venue of a bar would not work for the project.
He approached James Colby, Community Cultural Center director at JCC, with the proposition of playing their music in a coffee-house style setting. But he had some reservations.
"I was afraid just to play for an hour. I've never done these songs in public, and I didn't know if it would be that interesting," Drew said.
From there, Colby and Drew developed it into a songwriting circle so that others could learn from each other about writing lyrics.
Peterson said an event such as this may give musicians more motivation to perform some of their own music.
"It's realizing there are ears that like to hear real stuff, not the run-of-the-mill top 40 stuff," Peterson said. "It's more interesting especially for musicians interested in music."
Drew said songwriting cannot take place in a vacuum. That is, a musician cannot lock himself or herself into a room and emerge a genius.
"It's a social medium. It's hard to hear yourself sometimes. If you write a lot of songs, they sound different to you because you know the inner aspects of them, the tiny workings," Drew said. "But to someone else they might sound exactly the same. Sometimes you need another perspective."
Drew and Erickson explained that by listening to how other people play and to their story behind a song, a musician expands upon his or her style and improves it.
"The more you learn, you can tailor it to your style," Erickson said.
"People think they have a style, but they don't really develop it until they learn more. Jeff's style has gotten 100 percent better," Drew said about his time of working with Erickson.
Those interested in attending the workshop, which Drew hopes to continue in the future, should bring their song materials and guitar. Sound equipment, such as keyboards, will be available.
To end the series, a concert will be held at 7 p.m. April 26 at the college's Scharmann Theatre. A performance by the MIGHTY WALLOP!, Drew's newly-formed band including Erickson, Steve Gustafson and Ryan Seekings, is planned for half of the show. The other half will feature artists participating in the songwriter's circle.
Concert tickets are $2 for JCC/FSA individuals and $4 for the general public.