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MakeWork Recipient Launches Yearlong Music Production Project Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The “Song a week by Charles Allison” project is a musical exercise/weekly song diary by multi-instrumentalist and 2009 MakeWork grant recipient Charles Allison. A man not without ambition, Charles has mapped out his most recent project: writing, recording and chronicling a new song every week for a year. This project regularly features collaborators and includes video that accompanies the posted audio track. A new song posts every Friday that was written and recorded during the previous week, and most songs are generally written and recorded within an hour. The curveball is that there are no definitive rules about production, lyrics are mostly extemporaneous and generally recorded in one pass, and songs are recorded in a variety of locations and circumstances, including Charles’s own Spanner Studio.
“I’ve planned and executed three large-scale expeditions (Sea-kayaking the coast of Baja, riding the length of Queensland, Australia, as well as San Diego to Saint Augustine, Florida on my bicycle) and I’m thinking of this as the same sort of endeavor. There is a terminus, which is a year. And there is a cycle, which is a new song once a week with a short story about how we made the song.”
Allison has been developing an audio engineering and songwriting firm in Spanner Studios for over twelve years, and his MakeWork grant has moved him towards creating a marketable identity in this field by helping facilitate this project. When coupled with the discipline and work ethic necessary to become successful in such an endeavor, the future is bright for this entrepreneur.
There have been others, however, who have preceded Charles in the field of regimented song writing/song diaries. From Mozart to Paleo, any good musician knows that good songwriting is not simply an instinctual ability that is bestowed upon an annointed chosen one. Songwriting, like any other skill, is hard work. It is a muscle to be exercised regularly, and Allison understands this. He knows that even though every song won’t be top 40 material, the results of disciplined writing and recording every week will manifest itself in the long-term trajectory of his business. There is also an element of transparency and vulnerability in this project. Creating is an assailable activity, and to do so publicly every week for a year is an admirable undertaking.
“I’ve become way too precious about song production, and this is an exercise, as well as an exorcism.”
Follow Charles on Twitter, and make sure and keep up with his weekly songsmithing. He is currently working on week 3 of 52, and he would love your feedback.
By Michael Kendall, Editorial
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