Jim Novak Songwriter

At a Showcase for VOCAL (“Virginia Organization of Composers and Lyricists”) in March, 2023, there was enough time for 5 songs, several with connections to Michigan, and one from the current project, my set of songs and narratives about the 19th Century American environmentalist and folk hero John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed.  A link to the VOCAL Showcase performance is here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJfTUd2zWRs — and the 5 song titles plus a log of the  approximate starting times are here:

Blue Star in the Window (42:00)

Mastodon Conversation (46:00)

First Class View (52:00)

Maple Sugar Snow (58:00)

River Nearby (1:03:00)

The Virginia Organization of Composers and Lyricists is a not-for-profit serving all of Virginia and headquartered in Richmond.  https://vocalsongwriter.org/

Also performing in the March 2023 VOCAL Showcase were Matthew Costello,  https://costello-music.com/  and Burke Ingraffia, https://burkeingraffia.com/, which made for a wonderful evening of original music.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJfTUd2zWRs

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