Bugle Boy Songwriting Workshop

Dana Cooper and Bugle Boy owner, Lane Gosnay

Last Saturday I decided to attend the Bugle Boy’s Songwriting Workshop, conduced by renowned songwriter/performer Dana Cooper. I have never attended any kind of songwriting classes, or anything else like this, so I didn’t know what to expect. As you know from following this blog, my writing style is more journalistic than expressive. We learned exercises that I can utilize in order to stimulate the “other side” of my brain.

There were only eight of us in the workshop. There was myself, a local pastor, and a local attorney. Others in attendance included a couple of folks who drove here from Houston. Cooper himself resides in Nashville. In addition to the workshop on Saturday afternoon, he was the featured performer there on Saturday night, and he was one of the judges for the venue’s monthly contest, “Sunday Showcase”, on Sunday afternoon.

For those unfamiliar with Bugle Boy, it is a “listening room”. As the term implies, people go there to listen. The sign out front, “Loose lips sink ships”, is a reminder that talking during the songs is not to be tolerated. It is a place where the artists don’t have to compete with a TV blaring a ballgame, a pool table, a bunch of loudmouth patrons, etc. Here they can just sing.

It remains to be seen whether I’ll ever be able to write a song—it’s harder than it looks, but it was an interesting way to spend a hot Saturday afternoon in a nice, cool, cool place.