Master class
Local musician learns about songwriting from a pro Sonja Puzic, Windsor Star
Published: Monday, September 24, 2007
Lush, green hills in the English countryside. Cows grazing peacefully under blue skies. A cosy house nestled among trees, without television or Internet.
It's not the kind of environment that comes to mind when one thinks of
British rock star Ray Davies, founder of The Kinks and one of the best-known musicians of his generation.
But every year for about a week,
Davies embarks on a creative retreat with a handful of people eager to soak up his talent and wisdom, away from city distractions. He teaches a songwriting course for the London-based Arvon Foundation, which gives aspiring and established writers a chance to hone their skills in various disciplines, from poetry to script writing, and learn from the pros.
This summer, the lone Canadian in a group of 16 people who took
Davies' course was Windsor's Dominic Carlone, whose local band, The Tyres, lists The Kinks as one of their main influences, along with The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.
For Carlone, 29, meeting one of his idols was a "life-altering" experience.
"It's really difficult to put it in words," he said of spending time with
Davies and taking on songwriting challenges under his direction.
"I've been listening to him since I was a kid, so your emotions go up and down. There were times when he was just a regular guy and then it would hit you."
Carlone said the course, held in a country house in the community of Sheepwash in southwestern England, was "intense" and required the students to write songs on a daily basis and later perform them for the group.
Davies, along with co-tutor Marion Wells, encouraged the students to take in their surroundings and draw inspiration from them.
"When you're surrounded by nature and trees, you can't help but write about that," Carlone said. "It made me write songs that I normally wouldn't have."
Carlone said he was amazed by the talent and skills he encountered in the house.
"We were all in awe of each other," he said. "We'd have these big jam sessions and everyone was so good."
But the biggest surprise, Carlone said, was
Davies' hands-on and down-to-earth approach to teaching.
"He doesn't have to do this, but he was right there, every day and slept in a room across the hall," he said. "I thought he'd fly in for a couple of hours and let an assistant do the rest. But he was so selfless. He wants to say yes to everybody and I almost felt like he was stretching himself too thin.
"That's not the image we have of celebrities, being so giving."
Since the demise of The Kinks in the mid-1990s,
Davies, 63, has embarked on a critically acclaimed solo career. His solo album, Other People's Lives, was released in January to great reviews.
Carlone said his brief time with
Davies taught him many lessons and gave him more confidence for future songwriting endeavours.
"I learned that I can write and churn out songs quickly," he said. "When you're only given a day to write a song, you don't have much time to dwell on it. You just do it."
Carlone and his bandmates, Damien Zakoor and Ken Jean, will work on some of the songs he wrote in Sheepwash to see how they can be incorporated into their music.
The Tyres have not released a full album yet, but are working on one now and picking up gigs as they come along.
"I would recommend
Davies' course to anyone," Carlone said. "It was just perfect."
For more information about the Arvon Foundation and booking one of the various courses it offers, visit
www.arvonfoundation.org. Check out The Tyres at
www.myspace.com/thetyres.
spuzic@thestar.canwest.com or call 519-255-5777, ext. 576.
© The Windsor Star 2007