I’m back from my songwriting retreat in the Peak District, where I spent a week in a converted barn in the countryside with a group of musicians and our facilitator, Murray Webster, who arranged daily activities and masterminded the whole thing.

There was a lot of talent in that one living space! Guitar chords rang out, piano melodies took shape, and voices harmonized. We had an eclectic mix of genres, instruments, and areas of expertise as well as experience levels. 

Each morning, we were given a brief to work on for the day, with a short introduction to the theory behind it. These mostly took collaborative forms. One day, each of us wrote a title, lyrics to someone else’s title, and music for someone else’s lyrics. Another day, we worked in trios to create a minor key tune. 

We performed our pieces in the late afternoon and had songshares in the evenings, going around the circle and performing songs we’d written. We cooked and cleaned together, took country walks, nighttime walks to a pond full of toads, and outings to nearby villages. 

The saddest part of the retreat was when one participant had to leave on the first day due to a pet’s death. She was a harpist and had brought a stunning instrument with her, only to pack it up and drive back to Glasgow in her malfunctioning truck.

While not perfect, on the whole, the group was surprisingly harmonious – kind of like our tunes. It helped that we all wanted to be there. 

I wrote a lot and got some useful pointers on my rudimentary guitar playing. I also decided to let go of a project I’d been certain I would do for the past few years. At least in the iteration I had in mind, it was no longer the right thing at the right time. 

I’m now collaborating on some songs with one of the other participants. And I found a second-hand alto saxophone in a local shop, a beautiful instrument with a black body and flower design. It’s an instrument I used to play but had never owned. Stay tuned – it may show up on a track at some point!   

In other news, the draft recording of my short radio drama is done, featuring original music and an eclectic mix of accents, and one of my short stories was accepted for an illustrated folklore anthology coming out in the autumn. I can’t wait to share both of these with you!