Support Us
Categories
Musings

Song Factory

From Alix Adair

mic live song factory

In an effort to provide young musicians the opportunity to write, record, and release their own tracks; Blueprint100, in association with D&G Council and DGU, created the Song Factory. Running over the course of two months, participants were taken through various aspects of the music industry from songwriting to graphic advertising. Workshops ran every Wednesday from the 14th of a June to the 5th of July, with time to record until the 2nd of August when the final workshop was held.

song factory workshop

During these workshops those involved were able to work with poet Hugh McMillan; singer-songwriter Jamie McClennan; graphic designer Sam Sparrow; and producer and owner of Lovers Lane Studios Grant Christian Henderson. They worked in groups to create 3 songs overall, paying ample attention to both music and lyrics, and then – after a tour of the studios – were funded to record these songs.

song factory workshops
Song Factory Workshops

The final workshop focused on publicising your music, so as well as being taken through some basic graphic design participants were talked through an interview in preparation for a slot on the Thursday Night Showcase on Alive radio the following night. Here they talked about how they found the course and either played their track or performed their song live. All recorded tracks will be regularly featured on the show from this point onward.

Song Factory Recording
Song Factory
Song Factory

The response to Song Factory has been truly touching, with the involved Blueprint members receiving messages of thanks from many of those involved, and the songs created will be worthy additions to Dumfries and Galloway’s ever-growing music scene.

All photographs credited to Kirstin McEwan Photography.

Skip to content