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The Nugget Newspaper
Sisters, Oregon
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The contents of the on-line edition of The Nugget represent a selection among the stories that appear in the weekly print edition.

Sisters academy inspires songwriters
By Torri Barco

Three nationally acclaimed singer-songwriters inspired eager songwriters to write truth from their heart during the three days leading up to the Sisters Folk Festival.

In only its second year in Sisters, the Americana Song Academy retreat totaled 25 students. Attendance cost $300 and included sleeping accommodations and food.

"I learned how to write from the heart in a way that shows not just what I feel, but so it means something to the listener," said Willie Carmichael, a 46-year-old guitar player and songwriter from Bend. "People don't care if a singer says 'I'm so happy‚ or 'I'm so in love.' We don't care about that; we care how it makes us feel. They (at the academy) were really good about that."

Due to B&B Fire closures, the retreat was moved to Cascadia Ranch from Camp Caldera, where it was held last year, said Brad Tisdel, director of the academy.

Eight of the students were local, while others came from Texas, California, Idaho and Washington, Tisdel said.

Joseph Leavell, a 61-year-old guitar player from Dallas, Texas, said he came because he was following one of the instructors, Christine Kane.

"I had heard her at the Rocky Mountain Festival and Song School and I looked on the internet to see where she was going next," Leavell said. "Sisters looked like a beautiful place and I had heard about the Sisters Folk Festival before."

Instructors included Kane, hit songwriter Steve Seskin and Johnsmith. All have had marked success in their field.

"You could ask any question you wanted," Willie Carmichael said. "That is hugely valuable because people like Christine Kane would spend a half an hour with me. That would be like you sitting down with a reporter from The New York Times. That 30 minutes alone was worth $300 right there for a guy like me."

The instructors' easy-going affability prevented amateur musicians from feeling too intimidated, said Monica Ossield, 15, of Sisters, who attended the retreat with three other high school students.

Ossield said she learned to play guitar fingerstyle at the retreat. She also said she learned a new level of appreciation for performers at the Sisters Folk Festival.

"I appreciate the music more now knowing how much work it takes to write songs and how much they put feeling into it," she said.

Classes covered songwriting, perspectives on musicianship, audience engagement, tuning methods and the anatomy of the guitar.

"There was an emphasis on finding that place inside yourself where the truth lies and letting that become the song," said Patrick Lombardi, a 49-year-old builder and professional folk music performer in Sisters. "If I'm writing a song and I have a phrase, I have to ask: How true is that phrase? If it is not true, I need to get rid of it. It's all about the truth. Every good song has an element of truth in it."

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