L to R: Craig Higgins Jnr (Mutado Pintado), Ardie Collins (Cooper 365), Danni Nicholls, Orlando Seal (The Swell), Melissa James, Sue Brearley, Stu Rook (Lux Lisbon), Sarah Bleach (Velocette), Swami Baracus, Nayfe Slusjan (Chailo Sim), Tom Robinson, Vincent Burke.
Click image to zoom

Just enjoyed another Immersion Songwriting weekend at Bore Place House near Sevenoaks in Kent. We base these annual events on the inspired Frustrated Songwriters Handbook by Karl Coryat and Nicholas Dobson.

A dozen musicians get together in a remote location – without mobile signal or internet – with the goal of writing 20 songs in 24 hours. Nobobdy manages it, ever – but you have a lot of fun trying and the results are always suprising.

The highest score to date was achieved by Dan Whitehouse a few years ago, who managed fifteen songs by staying up all night on the Saturday and literally not sleeping the whole weekend. I’d strongly recommend the Coryat & Dobson book for all blocked writers – while for further free tips and suggestions see the video of my own 2011 workshop for BBC Introducing.