Henry Tudor, Lost at Sea

As mentioned in a previous post, I'm in a songwriting group called the DIAMC. We take it in turns to set a monthly prompt and then we get together online to share our work. There are no rules governing how closely the brief is to be followed, and it's always interesting to hear how different members have interpreted the task.

This month's theme was Displacement - to take a fictional or historical event and move it to another location. I decided to displace Henry VIII - completely, so I could write an alternative history of the six wives he never had.

We are the Drunks in a Midnight Choir

Last year, during one of the lockdowns I signed up for a block of online songwriting classes through Bird of A Wire, run by Findlay Napier and Boo Hewerdine. 

The tutors set us tasks to complete for homework each week over the 8-week course, sometimes individually and other times paired with another member of the group. It was an intense but really rewarding time and we all emerged as better songwriters by the end of the block. 

Most of us kept in touch afterwards and we're still writing together regularly after 19 months. It's an amazingly supportive and friendly group. Being graduates of Bird on a Wire, we naturally call ourselves the Drunks in a Midnight Choir or DIAMC.

A few of us have album projects on the go (more about mine soon) and doubt we would be doing any of this without the encouragement from the other members. It has been life changing.

Fin and Boo are running some weekend songwriting workshops in 2023 and I highly recommend them to anyone who wants to write better songs.

But most of all, whatever your pursuit, I'd urge you to find your tribe, connect with like minded people and support each other.  Magic can happen.