Gen X Sings (Baby boomers beware.)

Songs We Wrote With 5 minutes/Songs We Wrote With 5 years

The Song As A Means To Greater Social Justice (I do this
performance/talk in high schools.  It works because it’s true.)

"Hard Hitting Songs For Hard Hit People" (Inspired by the Seeger quote, these could include union songs, workers' songs, or, songs related to our current economic crisis.)

The Songwriters' 3 Laws Of The Universe (3 songs based on 3
rules or lessons learned.)

Appropriate Misappropriation (Pleeeeze, let's end the academic argument about 'misappropriation of voice' - if I wrote only about myself, I'd have 6 songs finished.)

Prime Minister Obama (Haw!  This should leave a mark at any 2009 Canadian Folk Festival.  The gist: why Canada's only real politicians
today are the artists and songwriters.)

'Do You Sing Any Happy Songs?' (We songwriters yearn for
the day we are afforded the right to reply candidly to the audience on this one.)

We Hate It When Our Friends Write Great Songs (This would require some planning: 2 songwriters familiar with each others' work swap interpretations of the others' songs - can't imagine it not working if the songwriters' agree to it with advance notice.)

“Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better” (Beckett's quote related to the creative process and, perhaps, more comically, how a songwriter must know many things about many things.  How do we do that?  We fail at as many things as we can.)

Why Folk Is A 4 Letter Word (Sorry for the bland title but sometimes you just have to finish the task and see what they say next year…We
all have our own ideas as to what 'folk music' means and for whom and by whom it is sung.  This should offend and inspire any thinking festival audience.)

A Stranger Came To Town (Why there is only 1 true narrative song to write and rewrite.)

Sing Me A Canadian Song (Or, It’s Only 7 Hours To The Next Gig) (For Canadian songwriters unafraid to write with local detail and unfeigned accent.)

Unsung Canadian Heroes and Martyrs (Every Canadian
songwriter has 3 tunes related to this.)

Redemption Songs (I stole this from the Edmonton Folk Festival; thank you, Terry.  The redemptive character in song and/or the regenerative power of memory and song.)

Eco-Songs (The ecologically conscientious songwriter, their songs, and their hypocrisies.)

Home Sickness And The Canadian Immigrant Song (If we're
Canadian, we sing them.)

English-Speaking, Heterosexual, White Males Sing (ADs:
I triple-dog dare you.  Yeah, and as if this would fly.  But seriously, I would love to see this as an alternative - if not, a slam at - the tired, PC, and cliché folk festival staples: 'women and song...etc...'  I remember Lynn Miles telling me, ‘yeah, it's amazing how far we gals have come - we can write music now!’)

“If I Had A Rocket Launcher” (The pros and cons of protest, polemic, and prayer.)