Songwriting from the Center Workshop with Bob Franke November 24, 2012

WORKSHOP ALSO OFFERED ON NOV. 25 - 1PM-4PM

"Bob Franke writes the kind of songs that will still be sung a hundred years from now." - Christine Lavin, songwriter
Song is a powerful and often under-utilized medium of transformation. Bob Franke's songwriting workshops have inspired songwriters all across the United States to tap more deeply into this power and take responsibility for it as artists. The workshops involve individual writing assignments and the formation of a working songwriters' group as a model experience to be taken back into the students' home communities. Bob provides a safe environment that supports risk-taking, and pays attention to the needs of both the songwriter and the songwriter's audience. By the end of the workshop, many new songs will have been written, and many new insights gained into the possibilities of this ancient yet contemporary art form.
Bob Franke (rhymes with "Yankee") is among the most prolific and important folk songwriters to emerge since the commercial revival of the 1960s. Peruse the stars who have recorded Franke's songs, and you find singers renowned as champions of the very best songwriters: Peter, Paul and Mary, June Tabor, Kathy Mattea, Tony Rice, Martin Simpson, John McCutcheon, Sally Rogers, Garnet Rogers, Claudia Schmidt, and David Wilcox. When ABC's Nightline asked Alison Krauss to name her favorite songs, she cited Franke's "Hard Love," calling it "probably my favorite tune," and saying Franke was her hero and "main inspiration." Bob's songwriting fame has continued to spread around the world, resulting in an invitation early in 2012 to perform his songs in Moscow with the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin.
Bob's desire to make music that joins the fabric of people's real lives also sparked the creation of his popular "Songwriting From the Center" seminar, in which he teaches everyone how to turn their own day-to-days into the stuff of song. Throughout a continually productive career spanning over 40 years, Bob has remained not only a popular concert headliner, but also a beloved teacher of songwriting, always in demand at music camps, festivals, and weekend workshops. As with his songs, his goal is to help people see their own lives reflected in music.