We are holding regular get-togethers to discuss, practice and polish our work on a monthly basis. These are not "open-mike" sessions but are a chance to discuss techniques, bounce around ideas for words and/or music and try out new original music on each other. The meetings will be open to anybody interested in original material in any capacity.

The location for these meetings is The Ivanhoe Social Club, 1 Wilfreds Place, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, LE65 2GW. Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of  each month at 8.00pm.

Our next scheduled meeting is on Wednesday 6th October 2010.

COLLABORATION COMPETITION - Wednesday 7th July 2010

A review by Jan Roberts and Ade Smith.

The Ashby Songwriters' Song Collaboration Competition is always one of the highlights of the year. Pairings are picked at random, and two people, who may hardly have spoken to each other beforehand, are given two months to come up with a song together. Amazingly, this competition invariably turns out some staggeringly good songs, and this year was no exception - we were treated to ten brilliant songs, any of which could have come out on top. In a break from tradition, we had set up some amplification for those who wished to use it and so the evening had more of a concert feel about it than normal, and Mike was on form setting the sound for everyone, introducing each performer and generally helping the evening along in his inimitable and light hearted way. Names were drawn out of a 'hat' to decide the order that songs would be presented, and first up were:

MAGGIE AND MARK WINFIELD - Without You.

Mark played keyboard and he and Maggie both sang, the two voices in counterbalance with each other in this very poignant and beautiful love song. Maggie declined the microphone, and her voice was a little quiet, but the emotion still came through. This set the standard for the evening very high indeed.

KEITH THOMPSON AND CHRIS TAYLOR - Plastic Men.

Performed by Chris, this song demonstrated what this competition is all about. Keith, our most senior member, provided the very clever lyrics, and Chris, one of the younger members, gave them a completely contempory treatment. Together they came up with a very clever, witty, and yet serious rant about what we are doing to the planet - the Greens would be proud. Great stuff.

HEATHER SIMM AND KEITH RIDGWAY - Cloud Gazing.

Keith's melody and delivery perfectly captured the mood of Heather's lyric in this delightful song about daydreaming, when all around are busily dashing about, getting on with the daily grind. I realised half way through this song that a great big smile had planted itself on my face. This was my personal favourite.

PAM UNDERHILL AND ROB NASH - It's out of our hands.

A perfect blend of the best of Pam and Rob, this was simple and yet powerful, immaculately performed by them both, with two vocals, guitar and percussion. Almost mesmerising - excellent.

MARK TAYLOR AND ADRIAN SMITH - Tumbleweed.

Mark's lyrics often concern real people, real events, and this one was written from his  mother's perspective, and her feelings about her own father's absence. These two writers were bound to produce a great song together and indeed they did. Mark writes with honesty, Ade delivers with passion. A great song - I had this one coming second.

LIZZIE SIMM AND NEIL ROBERTS - Blue Car Reds.

I think Neil would perhaps admit that he did not rehearse this song to its full potential, but Lizzie's witty lyric about the stages of a person's life as defined by what type of car they own came through and raised many smiles. If, like some people in the room, you don't 'get' the title, try exchanging the colours!

BRIAN CROFTON AND MIKE UNDERHILL - Unbelieving Blues.

A change of pace now with Brian's lyric given a hard-hitting treatment by Mike, whose bluesey rock 'n' roll style fit perfectly. With many of the other entries being rather slow and introspective, this felt rather fresh.

HEATHER NASH AND GRAEME DRAYTON - Appreciate the Wonder.

We've all been guilty at some time of being too focused on our own small problems and issues to step back and look at the world that surrounds and sustains us. This was a charming blend of Heather's lyrics and Graeme's music, passionately performed, that really got the message across and encouraged us all to think.

DAWN JACQUES AND LYNCOLN - Torn in Two.

Unfortunately, Dawn was unable to attend the evening, so a recording of the song was played from CD. Some of the vocals were lost a little in the recording, but the song was well received, with a beautiful melody from Lyncoln's guitar and Dawn's gentle vocal and keyboards. Lovely.

JOHN ORCHARD AND JAN ROBERTS - More Than a Friend.

John's sweet, simple love song was given a beautiful treatment by Jan and the musical combination of acoustic guitar, autoharp and harmonica made this performance (yes, I know we shouldn't judge the performance!) a highlight of the evening for me.

With all the votes eventually counted, the first prize went to Pam & Rob for 'Out of Our Hands' - a surprising winner, perhaps, for a song that is so downbeat and atmospheric, but definitely well deserved for precisely those reasons. Second and third prizes went to John & Jan for 'More Than a Friend', and Maggie & Mark for 'Without You', respectively.