Jim Novak Songwriter

1300 Weeks

On Friday, February 25, 2022, Songwriters Open Mic passes 1300 weeks of broadcasts on the Community Television Network. Each “week” on CTN begins with a Friday-evening broadcast, followed by at least three additional re-broadcasts over the week. Broadcasts are live-streamed over the internet, and the schedule is at https://www.a2gov.org/departments/communications/ctn/whats-on/Pages/default.aspx#A2TV. 25 years ago, the broadcasts were scheduled only once a week and available only to cable tv subscribers in Ann Arbor. To extend our reach, the programs were also broadcast on the public-access station in Grand Rapids, where they are still broadcast weekly, and on another network that once served 9 counties in northern lower Michigan.

200 of the Songwriters Open Mic 30-minute shows from recent years are archived on a YouTube channel, at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9NEc1wuphx3tiaBQwvcoXA/videos

The live open mic where these episodes are videotaped started in February of 1996 at Oz’s Music Store in Ann Arbor. Until COVID and social-distancing concerns hit, the store’s cozy performance space served as home, except for a short stint at a local book store and occasional on-the-road video-tapings at songwriter events around Michigan — Traverse City, Cheboygan, Mackinac Island, Battle Creek, Harbor Springs, and other locations. Oz’s Music Store continues to serve musicians and students on Packard Road.

Our open-mic performances and the videotaping switched to Zoom by April of 2020. The difficulties of doing live music over Zoom were overcome fairly quickly by a handful of motivated and tech-savvy performers. The videotaping continues, and un-edited tapes are immediately shared with the performers via DropBox. In this Zoom era, the frequency of our open mic has shifted to weekly events, on Tuesday evenings, and now the performers are not only locals, a few of whom go back to early days of Songwriters Open Mic, but also songwriters from a couple dozen states, 5 countries, and 3 continents.

As many have noted over the past 22 months, what is unfortunately lost due to “physical distancing” can be countered by efforts toward virtual connectedness. At Week 1300, it feels good to appreciate the vital community that Songwriters Open Mic is and has been for so long, and to acknowledge the community within Community Television Network, broadcasting the programs for more than 25 years.

Jim Novak, host and producer, Songwriters Open Mic
jimnovakmusic@gmail.com

The episode broadcast during Week 1300 is on the YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzDDBqcO-7k&t=1594s Recorded over Zoom, it includes 3 songs by John Peiffer from Maryland, and one each by Carolyn Cott from Pennsylvania, and Jim Eddy from Michigan. Jim Novak closes with a song called “Open Mic Music.”

Bedrooms, Basements and Zooming

The 20th Zoom session of our first-Tuesday Songwriters Open Mic is 11/2/2021. SOM began in 1996, so at this point we’re right around 300 monthly get-togethers to play original music. Most of the pre-Covid / in-person meetings were at Oz’s Music Store in Ann Arbor, which was (and is) a terrific space. But after a year and a half of Zooming from bedrooms or basements, I see several good things to appreciate despite the physical isolation, the shortcomings of not being in the same room with an attentive audience of close listeners.

The first consolation: success in a collaborative effort to master the technology. We learned together, over time, how to convey live music pretty well over the internet. We experimented with variations of microphones and DAWs and computer connections, and made cheat sheets for managing the audio settings. We progressed from “it’s better than nothing” to “it’s pretty darn good.”

Also, Zoom widened the circle of performers. Over these 20 months we’ve enjoyed songwriters from coast to coast in the US, plus England and Australia.

And about the community aspect: For many years, the “regulars” of the open mic at Oz’s Music set a committed standard not only for earnest and unflagging efforts at writing and playing, but also for the endearing quality of personal interaction. The post-performance discussion at Songwriters Open Mic has had two primary features: supportive feedback about the songs, and idiosyncratic digressions into amusing rabbit holes of popular-music history. Newcomers often noted these qualities and felt both welcomed and intrigued. I had some concern about whether any of this would carry over to the Zoom world, but learned quickly that all was well. The positive vibe of engaged, knowledgeable and capable amateur musicians definitely prevails, month after month, despite the tech apparatus and spatial distance.

So, it’s another first-Tuesday, and SOM is online once again, open to all, to participate or listen, a virtual get-together. The Zoom meeting ID and Passcode change each month. Songwriters can get the monthly sign-on info and reserve a performing slot by writing me directly or by using the MeetUp app, which is https://www.meetup.com/Ozs-Music-Songwriters-Open-Mic/

Here’s a link to a lightly edited 30-minute selection of songs, from three of the regulars, mostly from August’s first-Tuesday open mic:

Jim
JimNovakMusic@gmail.com

Michael Peter Smith was such an outstanding teacher of songwriting — intense yet light-hearted, it seemed to me. In recognition of what would have been his 80th birthday today, here in two 30-minute videos is his lecture-demonstration called “Writing Songs for Shows,” recorded with permission at Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters, in 2016. Michael talked about his creative process, with examples from musicals he had written including the Tony-award-winning Grapes of Wrath, Moby Dick, and The Snow Queen. The links for these 2 episodes with Michael are https://youtu.be/w_Rc2ZWbrqA (part one) and https://youtu.be/wJGesRzW5gY(part two). These videos were broadcast on my long-running public-access tv program, Songwriters Open Mic. There are over two hundred half-hour programs on the Youtube Channel for “Songwriters Open Mic Ann Arbor.” Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters is an annual event held in November at Harbor Springs, Michigan, by springfed (dot) org.

Here is a run-down of each episode:
Part One—
2:30 writing for shows as “a way to write songs”.
6:50 About The Snow Queen
10:50 the genesis of the song Love Letter on a Fish
16:45 how to be more prolific
21:10 performance, Love Letter on a Fish
25:00 extraordinary rhymes and “the amount of labor”

Part Two —
2:30 Aaron Copland’s remarks about writing music to prose
5:00 Opal Whiteley; performance of Brown Leaves
8:00 Melville, arranging phrases
10:30 performance, Macey and He’s Stark Dead
13:00 John Prine quote on fixing things
15:00 when comments from other people won’t do you any good
17:30 how to record yourself and listen back, as a “third person”
19:30 two performances from the Staff Concert: Accokeek, and The Dutchman.

The youtube channel Megaprojects recently put up an excellent video on The Civilian Conservation Corps. I was prompted to get my song about the “CCC Boys” out there as well, and here’s the new link: https://youtu.be/qKXTuysUMfw

The lyrics are here:

“CCC Boys” (Song for the Civilian Conservation Corps)

by Jim Novak

The forests of the Garden were lumbered and left to burn,
Farmland and stream heading for trouble as the Century turned.
The market crashed in ’29, there was no work for many,
A dust cloud settling down on this once-proud Land of Plenty.

There were hobo boys in jungles, and teens out on the street,
Young men on the farm: even there they couldn’t make ends meet.
So when FDR was elected, right away he made a plan,
He said “Let’s put those boys to work, and let’s restore our Land.”

Here’s to the CCC, planting trees and more,
Cheers to the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps.

A quarter-million enrollees in just a few months’ time,
From ’33 to ’42, there were three million point five,
All in Roosevelt’s Tree Army, Soil Soldiers, CCC….
They restored the woods, restored their lives, that’s their history.

With axe and hoe and shovel, they leaned into their task;
Fire trails, riverbanks, campsites — all that they were asked;

California to Maine, Skyline Drive to Yellowstone,
They made 30 bucks a months, and all but 5 went home.

3 billion seedlings with mattock, axe, and maul,
Their message was “Think Ahead,” and what they did’ll outlive us all.

So, here’s to the CCC, planting trees and more,
Cheers to the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps.

My Dad was a CCC Boy, as he so liked to be called,
Went from home near Pittsburgh to Virginia’s Front Roy-alle.
The he got a job in Detroit, then he served in World War Two,
Said, After being in the C’s, there was no work he could not do.

I met those CCC Boys at reunions at Higgins Lake,
They’ve slowed a step but still quick of mind, w/ a firm, firm hand to shake.
To a man they’ve got great stories, and it’s not just trees they grew:
They grew themselves –they want that choice for the next generation too.

Here’s to the CCC, planting trees and more,
Cheers to the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Learning on the job, they leaned into their task;
They called it the College of Callouses — & did all they were asked;

California to Maine, Skyline Drive to Yellowstone,
They made 30 bucks a months, and all but 5 went home.

3 billion seedlings with mattock, axe, and maul,
Their message was “Think Ahead,” and what they did’ll outlive us all.

Here’s to the CCC, planting trees and more,
Cheers to the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps

That’s my song for the CCC Boys, you can sing it in a national park,
Sing it in a state forest, on a morning hike or at dark,
Sing it once, in gratitude for the men of my father’s age,
And sing it twice for the youngsters, to be inspired by History’s page.

Here’s to the CCC, planting trees and more,
Cheers to the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps

Here’s a list of 65 performers from Songwriters Open Mic, and where to find them on my YouTube channel (Search YouTube for “Songwriters Open Mic Ann Arbor”). When you are at the Channel in search of a particular performer, click on the thumbnail with the four-digit Episode Number associated with the name in the Directory below. Or search by the performer’s name and the Episode number. When you open a 30-minute video program, you’ll see a description of the contents of the episode including a list of the performers in order of appearance.

Alec Wiener, Episodes # 1100, 1101, 1102, 1123,1136
Alex Whipple, Episodes # 1141, 1142
Andres Hernandez, Episodes # 1071,1140, 1141, 1142
Annie Bacon, Episode # 1129
Ashley Schuliger, #1073, 1077
Austin Dubois, # 1092, 1095
Bernadette Quist, # 1131
Brian Lampkin, # 1092, 1093, 1097
Bryan Elum, #1055
Charlie King, # 1109
Craig Lemieux, # 1085
Dan Bilich, # 1071, 1074, 1085
Dan Boyd, #1055
Dan Meloni, # 1072, 1075, 1079, 1094
Don Lee, # 1121, 1131, 1136
Duel at Dawn, # 1106
Ed Dupas, # 1110
Erik Harp, # 1144
Ethan Rogers, #1121
Folk Y’All, # 1104
Greg Maxwell, # 1083
ilyAIMY, # 1097
Jack Richards, # 1146
Jeanne Mackay, # 1109
Jeremy Morse, # 1095
Jerry Mack, # 1087, 1101, 1102, 1119, 1124, 1127, 1135, 1146
Jim Bouldin, #1071, 1135, 1145
Jim Eddy, # 1071, 1073, 1074, 1075, 1078, 1079, 1103, 1100,1098, 1094,1093, 1092, 1090, 1089,1088, 1083, 1119,1122, 1138, 1123, 1124, 1127, 1132, 1133, 1134, 1135, 1136, 1137
Jim Novak, # 1120, 1122, 1123, 1124, 1127, 1131, 1132, 1136, 1134, 1137, 1142, 1144, 1145, 1146
Joe Kidd, # 1106
Jonas, # 1131
Julia Furlong, #1120
Kat Renae, # 1092
Kelsey Detering, # 1129
Kevin Brown, # 1128, 1147
LaRon Williams, # 1109
Laura Baris, #1120
Laurie White, # 1109
Lily Talmers, # 1084
Linden Thoburn, # 1096, 1093, 1092, 1130, 1141, 1142
Marlo Mudd, #1121
Mary Ann Kirt, # 1078, 1075, 1074,1073, 1079, 1096, 1094, 1091, 1084, 1083, 1120, 1122, 1138,1139, 1123, 1124, 1129, 1133, 1136
Michael Joseph, # 1083, 1138, 1139
Milan Seth, # 1128
Mike Carter, # 1130, 1147
Nick, # 1125
Oliver de Peralta, # 1077
One Dangerous Mind, # 1104
Paul Epstein, # 1077, 1075, 1074, 1073, 1080, 1082, 1081, 1102, 1100, 1095, 1094, 1090, 1089, 108, 1087, 1119, 1138, 1139,1123,1125, 1132,1133,1136,1140, 1143
Phil Daker, #1100, 1103
Phil McMillion, # 1099
Richard Daddy Love, # 1055
Rod Johnson, # 1076, 1080, 1082, 1081, 1103, 1101, 1099, 1095, 1086, 1083, 1138,1139,1123,1133,1134,1141
Sal Schmittou, # 1074, 1077
Sarah Robinson, # 1081
Sean Kagalis, # 1105
Sheila Burke, # 1106
Sherry and Leslie, #1119
Stuart Benbow, # 1105
Stuart Fensom, # 1104
Steve Trosin, # 1110
Tim Reahard, # 1073, 1071, 1080, 1082, 1081, 1103, 1102, 1100, 1098, 1095, 1089, 1088, 1086, 1083, 1119, 1122, 1139, 1124, 1127, 1132, 1137,1146
Tommy Badfinger, # 1092, 1093
Wolf B. Reuter, # 1076

There are now over 400 original songs on the YouTube Channel (“Songwriters Open Mic Ann Arbor”). At 16 months old, there are 80 “SOM” videos (30 minutes each) available there, including recent and not-so-recent performances. (NOTE: There is a separate Directory of uploaded videos for performers taped at the Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016.)

Jimnovakmusic(at)gmail(dot)com

UPDATED DIRECTORY: “SONGWRITERS OPEN MIC” PERFORMERS ON THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Here’s a list of more than 50 performers from Songwriters Open Mic, and where to find them on my Youtube channel (Search for “Songwriters Open Mic Ann Arbor”). When you are at the Channel in search of a particular performer, click on the thumbnail with the four-digit Episode Number associated with the name in the Directory below. When you open a 30-minute video program, you’ll see a description of the contents of the episode including a list of the performers in order of appearance.

Alec Wiener, Episodes # 1100, 1101, 1102
Andres Hernandez, Episode # 1071
Ashley Schuliger, #1073, 1077
Austin Dubois, # 1092, 1095
Brian Lampkin, # 1092, 1093, 1097
Bryan Elum, #1055
Charlie King, # 1109
Craig Lemieux, # 1085
Dan Bilich, # 1071, 1074, 1085
Dan Boyd, #1055
Dan Meloni, # 1072, 1075, 1079, 1094
Don Lee, # 1121
Duel at Dawn, # 1106
Ed Dupas, # 1110
Ethan Rogers, #1121
Folk Y’All, # 1104
Greg Maxwell, # 1083
ilyAIMY, # 1097
Jeanne Mackay, # 1109
Jeremy Morse, # 1095
Jerry Mack, # 1087, 1101, 1102, 1119
Jim Bouldin, #1071
Jim Eddy, # 1071, 1073, 1074, 1075, 1078, 1079, 1103, 1100,1098, 1094,1093, 1092, 1090, 1089,1088, 1083, 1119,1122
Jim Novak
Joe Kidd, # 1106
Julia Furlong, #1120
Kat Renae, # 1092
LaRon Williams, # 1109
Laura Baris, #1120
Laurie White, # 1109
Lily Talmers, # 1084
Linden Thoburn, # 1096, 1093, 1092
Marlo Mudd, #1121
Mary Ann Kirt, # 1078, 1075, 1074,1073, 1079, 1096, 1094, 1091, 1084, 1083, 1120, 1122
Michael Joseph, # 1083
Oliver de Peralta, # 1077
One Dangerous Mind, # 1104
Paul Epstein, # 1077, 1075, 1074, 1073, 1080, 1082, 1081, 1102, 1100, 1095, 1094, 1090, 1089, 108, 1087, 1119
Phil Daker, #1100, 1103
Phil McMillion, # 1099
Richard Daddy Love, # 1055
Rod Johnson, # 1076, 1080, 1082, 1081, 1103, 1101, 1099, 1095, 1086, 1083
Sal Schmittou, # 1074, 1077
Sarah Robinson, # 1081
Sean Kagalis, # 1105
Sheila Burke, # 1106
Sherry and Leslie, #1119
Stuart Benbow, # 1105
Stuart Fensom, # 1104
Steve Trosin, # 1110
Tim Reahard, # 1073, 1071, 1080, 1082, 1081, 1103, 1102, 1100, 1098, 1095, 1089, 1088, 1086, 1083, 1119, 1122
Tommy Badfinger, # 1092, 1093
Wolf B. Reuter, # 1076
The YouTube Channel is 10 months old, and there are over 50 “SOM” videos (30 minutes each) there, including recent and not-so-recent performances. (NOTE: There is a separate Directory of uploaded videos for performers taped at the Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016.)
Jimnovakmusic(at)gmail(dot)com 10/13/18

TWO POLITICAL PARODY SONGS ON SOUNDCLOUD

My latest is “It’s My Party,” written in August 2018, and I’ve also uploaded “The Wreck of the Ryan-McConnell,” from the summer of 2017. Many thanks to Lesley Gore and Gordon Lightfoot, whose classic songs provided an outlet for my wonkish outrage. Below are the Soundcloud links and a copy of the each lyric.

My Soundcloud User ID is https://soundcloud.com/user-698601894

It’s My Party:

The Wreck of the Ryan-McConnell:

IT’S MY PARTY
(1963, By Wiener, Gould and Gluck; additional words by Jim Novak, 2018; jimnovakmusic@gmail.com)

In The New Yorker magazine, August 16, 2018: “Trump’s Grip on the Republican Party Just Got Even Tighter,” by John Cassidy.

It’s my Party and I’ll lie if I want to, lie if I want to, lie if I want to
You would lie too if you knew what I knew.

Nobody knows where the GOP’s gone, but Republicans get I’m the King
They wear my red MAGA hats, and kiss my ass and my ring.

GOP voters are solid for me, never a peep or a doubt
Congress’ oversight, man what a joke, minority Dems got no clout!

It’s my Party and I’ll lie if I want to lie if I want to, lie if I want to
You would lie too if you knew what I knew.

Working class white people voted for me, they still think I’m on their side,
Health care, tax breaks, all that I pledged, they just don’t get that I lied!

GOP candidates, best get this straight: Russia’s my friend, not the Press,
White supremacists, go ‘head and hate: you domestic terrorists (“fine people”).

It’s my Party and I’ll act like I want to, distract if I want to, change facts if I
want to, You would lie too if you knew what I knew

OK so what if I break a few norms, and I’m shameless about getting laid,
I bully with morning tweet storms , and shit on the CIA!

I punish enemies, Payback is sweet, and Emoluments are no prob,
Money laundering, shadowy deals, I’m like the Boss of this Mob!

It’s my Party, I’ll collude if I want to, talk crude if I want to, screw you if I want to,
You’d cover up too, if you knew what I knew.

Subpoena my records, I’ll just dance away, & call the whole thing Fake News
Mueller’s Witch Hunt, & my D.O.J. (are) G-Men I love to abuse!

Vlad, the Russkies and Porn Movie Stars, I pick my friends from the Best,
Swamp Pirates Scott, Paul and Chris, DC’s our Treasure Chest!

It’s my Party and I’ll troll if I want to, control who I want to, burn coal if I want to,
You would lie too if you knew what I knew

Tax cheating, campaign laws, who gives a crap, I conspire with friends to make fraud,
So unfair now to come after me, but Fox News treats me like God!

Casual racism, dog whistles too, then I claim Whites are oppressed,
Evangelicals boy they love me: my greed and adulteries are blessed!

It’s my Party and I’ll lie if I want to, lie if I want to, lie if I want to
You would lie too if you knew what I knew.

RECITATIVE:

I’ll end regulations and Roe versus Wade, stoke resentment against immigrants;
More court justices, more nutty tweets — You really want Mike Pence??!!

“Resistance” is futile, my voters don’t care I’m disruptive, unstable, bizarre,
“Unhinged” and orange, I swear, they tell me, We love how you are!

It’s my Party and I’ll lie if I want to, lie if I want to, lie if I want to
You would lie too if you knew what I knew.

The Wreck of the Ryan-McConnell (Lyric by Jim Novak, jimnovakmusic@gmail.com; from the song by Gordon Lightfoot)

From Politico, July 28, 2017: “At a closed-door conference meeting with House Republicans hours after Sen. John McCain scuttled perhaps the last best hope of repealing Obamacare, Ryan read an excerpt from ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,’ a song about sailors drowning in a 1975 shipwreck. He likened the tune to what he deemed the Senate’s tragic failure to repeal Obamacare.”

1.
The law was signed in Obama’s time,
For health-care reform and expansion.
Affordable care with a free-market share,
It helps 24 million and then some…

A Conservative thing but Dems gave it wing,
No one was ever Death-Paneled.
Republican jerks said the law’d never work,
With their lawsuits and bills to dismantle!
2.
The Law of the Land the GOP could not stand,
Voting 50-plus times to repeal it.
Folks were so scared, the GOP did not care,
They’d take your coverage and steal it…

Medicaid and markets, for all the insured,
The goal was for all to be healthy.
The cost wouldn’t bust us, it’s pure social justice,
But the Right wanted more for the wealthy!
3.
Trump was elected, Hillary rejected,
Republicans took over Congress.
The House bill in May got Paul Ryan’s OK,
It was callous enough to astonish…

Costs out of pocket were sure to sky-rocket
For those who were poorer and older,
Mandates were gone and the tax breaks were strong
But if you’re not rich you’re cold-shouldered!
4.
The Senate’s bill was a similar pill,
As 13 old men worked in secret.
McConnell was nasty, but couldn’t get it passed, he
Had Trump’s help but he is a nit-wit…

Calls and e-mails on a massive scale,
At Town Halls, alarms were sounded.
Til McCain’s thumb went down and the GOP drowned,
And the Ryan-McConnell was grounded!

5.
If they can’t dislodge it, won’t Trump sabotage it,
By dropping the insurer payments,
Discouraging consumers, fomenting false rumors,
And kill it with all such betrayments…

The coverage to be lost and the premiums’ cost
And subsidies they’d just as soon kill,
There’s no compromise, there’s still blood in their eyes,
Where’s the Wreck of the Ryan-McConnell?

6.
With things so unsettling, some people are betting
That Ryan-McConnell ain’t over.
Til a mid-term election and mid-course correction,
One day, the Dem’s will take over…

Then we might mend it rather than end it,
And do as the law was intended.
Good folks should be able to make markets stable,
And Ryan-McConnell upended!
7.
And let’s say one prayer for single-payer,
For fair-minded ways of wealth-sharing.
We’re all common stock, so let’s sit down and talk
Not Repeal-Replace, but Repairing!

The law that was signed in Obama’s time
For health care reform and expansion,
It’s affordable care with a free-market share,
It helps 24 million and then some!

DIRECTORY: “SONGWRITERS OPEN MIC” PERFORMERS ON THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Here’s a list of nearly 50 performers from Songwriters Open Mic, and where to find them on my Youtube channel, officially called “Songwriters Open Mic Ann Arbor.” When you are at the Channel in search of a particular performer, click on the thumbnail with the four-digit Episode Number associated with the name in the Directory below. When you open a 30-minute video program, you’ll see a description of the contents of the episode including a list of the performers in order of appearance.
Alec Wiener, Episodes # 1100, 1101, 1102
Andres Hernandez, Episode # 1071
Ashley Schuliger, #1073, 1077
Austin Dubois, # 1092, 1095
Brian Lampkin, # 1092, 1093, 1097
Bryan Elum, #1055
Charlie King, # 1109
Craig Lemieux, # 1085
Dan Bilich, # 1071, 1074, 1085
Dan Boyd, #1055
Dan Meloni, # 1072, 1075, 1079, 1094
Duel at Dawn, # 1106
Ed Dupas, # 1110
Folk Y’All, # 1104
Greg Maxwell, # 1083
ilyAIMY, # 1097
Jeanne Mackay, # 1109
Jeremy Morse, # 1095
Jerry Mack, # 1087, 1101, 1102
Jim Bouldin, #1071
Jim Eddy, # 1071, 1073, 1074, 1075, 1078, 1079, 1103, 1100,1098, 1094,1093, 1092, 1090, 1089,1088, 1083
Jim Novak, # 1078, 1072, 1071, 1080, 1103, 1101, 1094, 1093, 1092, 1083
Joe Kidd, # 1106
Kat Renae, # 1092
LaRon Williams, # 1109
Laurie White, # 1109
Lily Talmers, # 1084
Linden Thoburn, # 1096, 1093, 1092
Mary Ann Kirt, # 1078, 1075, 1074,1073, 1079, 1096, 1094, 1091, 1084, 1083
Michael Joseph, # 1083
Oliver de Peralta, # 1077
One Dangerous Mind, # 1104
Paul Epstein, # 1077, 1075, 1074, 1073, 1080, 1082, 1081, 1102, 1100, 1095, 1094, 1090, 1089, 108, 1087
Phil Daker, #1100, 1103
Phil McMillion, # 1099
Richard Daddy Love, # 1055
Rod Johnson, # 1076, 1080, 1082, 1081, 1103, 1101, 1099, 1095, 1086, 1083
Sal Schmittou, # 1074, 1077
Sarah Robinson, # 1081
Sean Kagalis, # 1105
Sheila Burke, # 1106
Stuart Benbow, # 1105
Stuart Fensom, # 1104
Steve Trosin, # 1110
Tim Reahard, # 1073, 1071, 1080, 1082, 1081, 1103, 1102, 1100, 1098, 1095, 1089, 1088, 1086, 1083
Tommy Badfinger, # 1092, 1093
Wolf B. Reuter, # 1076
So far, the Channel is 8 months old, and there are about 40 “SOM” videos (30 minutes each) on the Channel, including recent and not-so-recent performances. Later this summer, I’ll add videos that are newly edited and others from the archives, at the rate of about two per week. (NOTE: There is a separate Directory for performers taped at the Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters, in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016.)
jimnovakmusic(at)gmail(dot)com

Here is a Directory of a dozen thirty-minute videos I edited from the 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016 Lamb’s Retreats for Songwriters. The 24th annual Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters will happen in early November 2018. Sponsored by the non-profit Springfed Arts, the Retreats take place in an idyllic setting in Harbor Springs, Michigan. Visit springfed (dot) org for updated details. There are open mic’s for attendees on Thursday and Friday nights, and staff concerts on Saturday. Each video listed below originally appeared on Community Television Network in Ann Arbor, and Grand Rapids TV, public-access channels. Later this summer, I’ll upload additional videos to the Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9NEc1wuphx3tiaBQwvcoXA?view_as=subscriber

Directory:
Songwriters Open Mic # 1,111 was recorded in November of 2011. Appearing in this episode are John D. Lamb (intro remarks), Kirby (“Til I Pay You Back”) and Dan Hazlett (“Picture of a Heart” and “This Old Carpet”). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_bEO7zUc_I

Songwriters Open Mic # 1112 was recorded in November of 2012. Performing in this episode are Dan Bracken; Dan Hazlett; and Andy Baker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-3f9mRiINQ

Songwriters Open Mic # 1113 was recorded in November of 2014. Performing in this episode are Sigrid Christiansen; Michael Crittenden; and J. Oscar Bittinger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3omKZQ9hnCI

Songwriters Open Mic # 1114 was recorded at Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters in November of 2016. Performing in this episode are Charlie Walmsley; WT Davidson; Ken Bierschbach; and Laura Hood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjFvoCVJGRA

Songwriters Open Mic # 1115 was recorded in 2011. Performing in this episode are Luti; John Finan; Lisa Pappas; and Lauren Crane.

Songwriters Open Mic # 1116 was recorded in 2012. Performing in this episode are Ken Bierschbach, Jim Novak, Scott Cooley, and Tracy Kash. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWNejbUOe4s

Songwriters Open Mic # 1117 was recorded at Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters in November of 2014. Performing in this episode are John Kumjian; Patrick Niemisto; and Christian Olsen.

Songwriters Open Mic # 1118 was recorded at Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters in November of 2016. Performing in this episode are Patrick Harrison, Sandra Kennedy, Rich Marr, Bob Elliott, Tracy Eby, and Jim Novak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dMGeTnEH8Y

Songwriters Open Mic # 1051. Recorded at Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters in 2016. Performers: Joe Peters; Duane Allen Harlick; Gary Browe; Stuart Campbell.

Songwriters Open Mic # 1048. Recorded at Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters in 2016. Performers: Jack Benedict (“Should Have Stayed Home” and “Different Today”); Dan Hazlett {“Good Day to Wear a Suit” and “Hush”); and Michael Crittenden (“Getting Out of Town” and “Ring in My Pocket.”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkpQmWin358&t=21s

Songwriters Open Mic # 1047. Recorded at Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters 2016. Performers: John D. Lamb; Dennis Kingsbury; and Kirby. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teXkdJCIUXk&t=24s

Songwriters Open Mic # 1107. With Michael Peter Smith. This is part one of two 30-minute episodes featuring a lecture-demonstration on “Writing Songs for Shows,” given by Michael Peter Smith at Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters, in November of 2016. Michael is the Chicago-based performer called “the greatest songwriter in the English language” by Rolling Stone. Here, Michael talks about his creative process, with examples from musicals he’s written including the Tony-award-winning Grapes of Wrath, Moby Dick, and The Snow Queen. This episode was taped with Michael’s gracious permission at Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Rc2ZWbrqA FYI, Michael released a CD called SONGWRITING, in 2018; it’s part memoir and part master class, intended “for people who are just starting to get into songwriting.” Highly recommended, even for more experienced folks.

Songwriters Open Mic # 1108. Part two with Michael Peter Smith. This is part two of two 30-minute episodes featuring a lecture-demonstration on “Writing Songs for Shows,” given by Michael Peter Smith at Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters, in November of 2016. Michael Smith is the Chicago-based performer called “the greatest songwriter in the English language” by Rolling Stone. Here. Michael talks about his creative process, with examples from musicals he has written including the Tony-award-winning The Grapes of Wrath, and Moby Dick, and The Snow Queen. The episode concludes with two songs from the Staff Concert, at the same Songwriters Retreat. FYI, Michael released a CD called SONGWRITING, in 2018; it’s part memoir and part master class. Highly recommended. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJGesRzW5gY

Additional programs taped at Lamb’s Retreats in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016 will be uploaded to the youtube channel (“Songwriters open mic ann arbor”) later this summer. Around 40 programs taped in Ann Arbor, at Oz’s Music Store, are also on the channel, with more to come, uploads every week or so.

My song celebrates Michigan Central Station, the Detroit train station that was once regarded as more beautiful than Grand Central in New York City. Abandoned by Amtrak in 1988, it has recently (mid-2018) been acquired by the Ford Motor Company which will renovate the building to house its “next generation of transportation engineers.” Despite its falling into ruin in the past 30 years, the building is deeply woven into the psyches of three generations of Detroiters. Complete lyrics:

MICHIGAN CENTRAL STATION
(Words and Music by JIM NOVAK)

In Detroit like Ancient Rome, marble pillars inside
Our public palace, office tower, 18 stories high.
The 20th Century picked up steam, the common good a common dream,
Fortune seemed bright ahead, while the Fates unspooled their thread.

The last train – 1988 – left the Station for a different day,
Three generations of us, we let it go to scrap and rust.
Legend is that a Station space has people stories and stories of places,
Common knowledge it retains, what depended on those trains

(And the) Michigan Central Station, grandest in Creation, we’d get on board.
At Michigan Central Station, it’s Detroit to the Nation, and we’d get on board.
To Chicago, Toledo, Windsor and Mackinaw –
Michigan Central Station, grandest in the Nation, we’d get on board.

Vaudeville stars, vacationers, businessmen and kids on dates,
Some were scared, some excited, some were Strangers at our gates.
Imagine that you’ve just arrived and passed through Immigration,
Your first step in the USA was Michigan Central Station!
GI’s off to World War Two, the Greatest Generation,
Sent their kids to College, too, from Michigan Central Station.
All aboard, now Ford’s in charge, engineers for transportation,
Restoration back on track, for Michigan Central Station.

Michigan Central Station, grandest in Creation, on board, time to get on board.
Michigan Central Station, Detroit to the Nation, how we’d get on board.
To Chicago, Toledo, Windsor and Mackinaw –
Michigan Central Station, grandest in the Nation, time to get on board.

In Detroit like ancient Rome, marble pillars inside,
Our public palace, an office tower, 18 stories high.
Buildings built like ancient Rome are glorious as ruins,
But in our dreams is a Station dear to our destinies and doings.

(It’s the) Michigan Central Station, Detroit to the Nation, we’d get on board
To Chicago, Toledo, Windsor and Mackinaw –
Michigan Central Station, grandest in the Nation, get on board.

(2016, 2018)

Soundcloud link: