Joni Mitchell on composing in alternate tunings, 1996

"If you’re only working off what you know, then you can’t grow. It’s only through error that discovery is made, and in order to discover you have to set up some sort of situation with a random element, a strange attractor, using contemporary physics terms. The more I can surprise myself, the more I’ll stay in this business, and the twiddling of the notes is one way to keep the pilgrimage going. You’re constantly pulling the rug out from under yourself, so you don’t get a chance to settle into any kind of formula."

From the book Rock Troubadours.

Spins: Beth Nielsen Chapman, Hymns

Sad to say, but worthy and even great CDs can languish in the teetering stacks of CDs received by just about every music journalist. So it is with this 2004 CD, which finally made it into my player and...wow. Absolutely gorgeous choral arrangements, backed by lovely classical guitar and strings. Sung almost entirely in Latin. I wasn't raised Catholic, as she was, but this music carried me away today and helped raise my spirits in a tough week in my extended family. Thank you, Beth.

More on Beth Nielsen Chapman at her site.

JPR music on MySpace

JPR's original songs can now be streamed at www.myspace.com/jeffreypepperrodgers.

Kids and songwriting

Feeling jaded about contemporary song craft? Visit the site of the music-education organization Little Kids Rock and listen to a few tracks (or watch videos) written and recorded by kids who participate in their school programs. Pure, straight-shot expression--a reminder of why we make music.

Listen to my All Things Considered profile of the music teacher/comedian/opera singer known as Songflower Man at the NPR site.

Janis Ian on writing "At Seventeen," 1997

“I was literally at the kitchen table at my mom’s, and I just started playing that [melody]. I had been listening to a lot of Joao Gilberto, and I’ve always loved Brazilian music--I don’t know why. I was reading an article at the same time, and the article opened up with something like, ‘I learned the truth at 18.’ It was about a girl who had gone through prom week and had learned how valueless it was. And it just started. It took a long time to write--it was a three-month song."

From an Acoustic Guitar interview. More about Janis Ian, whose latest album is Folk Is the New Black, at her site.