The Song Journal

Miscellaneous news and writing by Bob Franke, mostly about songs as a portable art form, and the process of creating them and enabling them to do their work in the world.

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Location: Peabody, Massachusetts, United States

from www.bobfranke.com: Bob Franke began his career as a singer-songwriter in 1965 while a student at the University of Michigan. Upon graduation in 1969 with an A.B. in English Literature, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has since made New England his home. Bob has appeared in concert at coffeehouses, colleges, festivals, bars, streets, homes and churches in 33 states, four Canadian provinces and England.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Puget Sound Guitar Workshop

I've been having such a great time teaching here at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop. People around here have been fine-tuning a community of support designed to increase musical skills and at the same time open hearts for more than 25 years. It might be possible to come here and be alienated, but you have to work hard at it. This particular week for me personally has been full of old friends and former students. I like to think I'm a more generous and wiser person now than when I first started teaching here about 15 or so years ago, largely because of the experiences I've had here. For a number of years it seemed as if I would learn an important lesson about myself, and then either just before or just after, I'd pick up the explanatory manual of the personality growth in some bookstore.

I miss Joan Sherman this week, and I don't care who knows that. But it occurs to me that when I want to remind myself of the love of God and try to open myself to it, I go to church. When the love of God wants to encounter me directly, it quite often sends me to the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop.

2 Comments:

Blogger Matthew said...

I took your songwriting course two different years. Thank you very much. It was a great growth experience both times.
Unfortunately, the last time I was at PSGW was last summer in week three and it had become a parody of itself. Maybe because it was week three, I don't know, I have never gone week three. The transformative experience many of us have had was spoken about at every announcement session until it took on the weight of an expectation...if you were not having a epiphanous experience, well, what's the matter with you? No opportunity was missed to mention what a great and spiritual experience you should be having. I actually left a day early...something I would not have believed I would ever do. Again, maybe it was because it was the final week and the crew was tired and more or less going through the motions...you can't go home again.

9:32 PM  
Blogger Bob Franke said...

Point well taken, Matthew. All I try to provide are the tools to write a meaningful song. There's healing in the songs and the process sometimes, but I'm not in control of that, and there's certainly nothing wrong with the folks for whom that doesn't happen.

12:54 AM  

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