the AMP Issue 18

"If you pour your life into songs, you want them to be heard. It’s a desire to communicate. A deep desire to communicate inspires songwriting." 
— Bono

This Issue is ALL Recommends. [12 pages, approx 17ish minutes to read and hours to watch]

• RECOMMENDS— TED Talks for Singer Songwriters

TED Talks are a fantastic resource to Inform, Involve and Inspire Singer Songwriters. These talks offer a unique blend of personal storytelling, innovative ideas, and dig down deep insights into various aspects of creativity, music, and the performing arts. 

If you don't know TED— Technology, Entertainment, Design (ted.com)— it's an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". 

Founded in February 1984 as a technology conference, it has been held annually since 1990. TED covers almost all topics—from science to business to global issues—in more than 100 languages. As of 2023, there have been 41,954 TEDx events (run by individuals who undertake to honour the TED principles) and have been held in at least 150 countries. TED has been curated by Chris Anderson, a British-American businessman, through the non-profit TED Foundation since July 2019.

Here are some highlights why Singer Songwriters, and other musical artists, will find TED Talks richly rewarding:

• Diverse Perspectives on Creativity: TED Talks feature speakers from various backgrounds, including renowned musicians, composers, and artists. These talks provide diverse perspectives on creativity, often blending personal stories with broader insights into the creative process.

• Innovative Approaches to Music: Many TED Talks focus on innovative approaches to music-making, offering new techniques, technologies, and ideas that can inspire Singer Songwriters to experiment with their art.

• Inspiration from Success Stories: TED features many successful musicians who share their journeys, struggles, and triumphs. These stories can be incredibly motivating for aspiring and established Singer Songwriters alike.

• Insights into the Music Industry: Some talks delve into the music industry, offering advice on navigating its complexities, from marketing and distribution to audience engagement.

• Global Musical Influences: TED Talks often showcase music from different cultures, providing a rich source of inspiration for artists looking to incorporate diverse sounds and styles into their work.

• Focus on Emotional Connection: Many talks emphasize the emotional power of music and its ability to connect people, resonate with audiences, and express complex emotions— a core aspect of songwriting.

• Community and Collaboration: TED Talks also highlight the importance of community and collaboration in the music industry, offering insights into how working with others can enhance creativity and reach.

By exploring TED Talks you can gain a wealth of knowledge, inspiration, and new ideas to enrich your craft and careers. Whether it's finding a new approach to Songwriting, understanding the latest trends in music technology, or simply seeking a dose of motivation, TED Talks can be an invaluable resource for artists in any stage of their journey.

TED offers an uber-impressive variety— think 'Treasure Trove'— of instructive and entertaining videos for Singer Songwriters. Tap the link— TED For Singer Songwriters— to go to the page that lists them all. Scroll down below to select individual people and their programs that get your attention. 

Tapping on their names takes you to their Speaker's page. Tap to watch goes to their performance. 

____________________

• Megan Washington
Why I live in mortal dread of public speaking— Megan Washington is one of Australia's premier singer/songwriters. And, since childhood, she has had a stutter. In this bold and personal talk, she reveals how she copes with this speech impediment—from avoiding the letter combination “st” to tricking her brain by changing her words at the last minute to, yes, singing the things she has to say rather than speaking them.

Tap to watch: Why I live in mortal dread of public speaking

• Inara George 
Inara George is a singer and songwriter whose pure and lovely tone inhabits several solo records— and has inspired collaborations with legendary songwriters and arrangers. In 2010, George and multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin released Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates, which, if you haven't heard, go hear it, it's amazing. She's also with The Living Sisters, a three-part vocal group.

Tap to watch: Family Tree

• First Aid Kit 
Swedish duo First Aid Kit, comprised of sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg, have been making music together for over a decade. They gained international acclaim while still teenagers for their otherworldly harmonies and timeless songwriting taking multi-genre inspiration from folk, country and the classic singer-songwriters of the '60s and '70s. They have been honored with multiple Swedish Grammys and Music Publishers Association awards. 

Tap to watch: King of the World and Nothing Has to Be True and My Silver Lining

• Emeli Sandé
Her 2012 debut album, Our Version of Events, was the biggest selling album of the year in the UK and the second biggest of 2013. It broke the chart record for the most consecutive weeks inside the UK's Official Albums Chart Top 10, breaking the 50-year record previously held by The Beatles. Sandé has won numerous accolades including four Brit Awards. In 2018 she was awarded an MBE for services to Music. Sandé wrote and cowrote tracks for Alicia Keys, Rihanna and Katy Perry.

Tap to watch: You Are Not Alone and Extraordinary Being and Shine

• Anielle Reid 
Music from Reid's album releases, Ain't Like 'Em and Free, have been featured in various shorts and film festivals including NYC's Katra. Performances include WNYC’s Greene Space, the American Folk Art Museum, City Winery and in other voice projects. Reid's voice and writing are not limited to songs, as she is also the creator of the Magick and Mediums Oracle and podcast of the same name.

Tap to watch: Dead Romance 

• Rhiannon Giddens 
The singer-songwriter is the co-founder of the Grammy-winning string band, Carolina Chocolate Drops, playing banjo and fiddle. Giddens's 2015 Grammy-nominated solo debut, Tomorrow Is My Turn, blends gospel, jazz, blues and country, showcasing her dazzling vocal prowess. In 2016, she received the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Singer of the Year and the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Bluegrass and Banjo.

Tap to watch: Songs that bring history to life

• Nora York
Nora York is an adventurous jazz singer and performance artist whose genre-crossing work defies easy categorization. With a sultry, soulful voice and hypnotic stage presence, York has carved out a territory all her own— call her a "singer-songwriter-truthteller" (the Village Voice did). She brings a witty and literate twist to her performances, and is a member of the faculty at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, New York University.

Tap to watch: What I Want

• Michael Pemberton 
Michael Pemberton has been a working actor and singer-songwriter in New York City for over 20 years. He has appeared in numerous films, television and stage productions from regional theater to Broadway. The Michael Pemberton Band has appeared in many of New York's most storied venues including The Bitter End, Birdland, Joe's Pub and, proudly with his friend and collaborator Sara Ramirez, at Town Hall for Ted Talks Live.

Tap to watch: Rollercoaster On guitar with Sara Ramirez

• Joe Kowan 
Joe is a Boston-based musician and graphic designer who has been struggling with stage fright since he first started writing songs at age 27. Despite his adorably expressed fears, he charms audiences with his own style of quirky folk and acoustic hip-hop. In 2009 he released the gangsta' arts and crafts video for his original song Crafty, and in 2011 he was a finalist in the USA Songwriting Competition.

Tap to watch: How I beat stage fright

• Andrew Bird 
Andrew Bird began to play the violin at age 4, learning to play Bach and Mozart by ear as if they were folk tunes. He has little use for the written note and spins melody and words out of his cumulative experience, mixing elements of many genres without confining itself to any one in particular. His early work was influenced by pre-war jazz and showcased his violin skills. His sound began to evolve in an indie-folk direction after he went solo. Gorgeously rich instrumentation underpinning lyrics of mysterious import.

Tap to watch: A one-man orchestra of the imagination

• Madison McFerrin
Madison McFerrin is a singer-songwriter and producer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her critically acclaimed a cappella EP series, Finding Foundations: Vol. I, led Questlove to dub her sound "soul-appella." After garnering praise as a Pitchfork Rising Artist and making her debut at South by Southwest (SXSW), she mesmerized crowds on her debut US and European tours with a powerful one-woman show. 

Tap to watch: TRY

• Rokia Traore
The Malian singer blends the traditions of her Bamana heritage with a modern singer-songwriter's approach to music-making. "Any goal must have a reason / Any success is  based on a reason /Any failure is based on a goal without a reason." These are the opening words, sung in Bambara, of the song Kenia from Rokia Traoré’s sixth album, Né So (“Home”).  

Tap to watch: M'Bifo

• Dawn Landes
Dawn Landes is a singer-songwriter whose thoughtful music you might have heard if you watch Bored to Death, House, Gossip Girl or The Good Wife. Along with releasing five albums since 2005 (and an EP inspired by yé-yé, ‘60s French pop music), she’s a frequent collaborator with contemporaries such as Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Norah Jones and composer Nico Muhly. She's appeared with the Boston Pops and the NYC Ballet and Lincoln Center’s prestigious American Songbook Series. 

Tap to watch: Dear Heart A song for my hero, the woman who rowed into a hurricane

• Nellie McKay
Playful, quirky, hilarious, endearing: not attributes of your typical political agitator. But singer-songwriter-producer-activist Nellie McKay merits the description. Her music is whimsical, colorful, catchy and as engaging as it is restless. Toying with antique genres and yet undeniably contemporary, it flirts with multiple styles of delivery while maintaining a sharp social conscience.

Tap to watch: Mother of Pearl and If I Had You

• Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Ulvaeus's songs, co-written with his ABBA partner and close friend Benny Andersson, became some of the most famous hits of all time, selling more than 400 million records all over the world. He co-composed the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla and Mamma Mia! and co-produced the films Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Ulvaeus also has been a longstanding tireless advocate for authors' rights. 

Tap to watch: How music streaming transformed songwriting

in partnership with MUBUTV™

• Meklit Hadero 
Meklit Hadero's music is imbued with poetry and multiplicity, from hybridized sounds of Tizita (haunting and nostalgic music) drawing from her Ethiopian heritage, to the annals of jazz, folk songs and rock & roll. Hadero describes her music as emanating from "in-between spaces," and the result is a smoky, evocative world peopled by strong bass, world instruments and her soothing voice. In the Nile Project, she explores the music of the Nile basin together with hip-hop and musical traditions old and new. 

Tap to watch: The unexpected beauty of everyday sounds

• Sophie Hunger 
Her music lures us to a hidden place in the fog where memories visit, enchanting and mournful— a limbo is where the young Swiss singer-songwriter is most comfortable— a crossroads of musical styles and young melancholy settling down to mature. Totally unknown as recently as 2005, a small pressing of Sketches was passed around Zurich literally by hand until critics (and the Two Gentleman label) took note and spread it through Switzerland, Germany and to London. Now she's booked solid for sold-out shows. 

Tap to watch: Songs of Secrets and City Lights

• Eddi Reader 
Scotland-born, she was an '80s pop star in the UK, where her band Fairground Attraction had a #1 hit with the supercatchy Perfect. Now, as a solo artist, her sound has matured; quiet acoustic arrangements and gentle harmonies put her lush voice front and center. TED Music Director Thomas Dolby calls her his favorite singer of all time. Fun fact: The title song on the album, Peacetime, Eddi first learned backstage at her 2003 TED performance.

Tap to watch: What You've Got

Tap to watch: Kiteflyer's Hill

• Hrishikesh Hirway 
Musician, songwriter and music producer, Hirway's recorded several albums under the name The One AM Radio and has composed original music for Netflix, ESPN, the NBA and the Sydney Opera House. He helped launch Google's first original podcast. He also serves the Library of Congress as an advisor on digital strategy.

Tap to watch: What you discover when you really listen

• Vusi Mahlasela 
Mahlasela has dedicated his life to using music and words to inspire change. As a young boy in South Africa, he was routinely watched by the police because of his anti-apartheid poetry and his open support of student protest. During the final fight against apartheid, his songs of protest and solidarity became anthems— stirring the South African people to create their new nation. His lyrics touch on themes of love, family, hope and pride. 

Tap to watch: Thula Mama

• Rosanne Cash 
Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash has released 15 albums of extraordinary songs, earning four Grammys and 12 nominations. She's the author of four books including the best-selling memoir Composed. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Oxford American, The Nation and more. Along with many other honors and awards, Cash received the 2021 Edward MacDowell Medal, awarded since 1960 to an artist who has made an outstanding contribution to American culture. And she tours regularly.

Tap to watch: The rhythm and rhyme of memory, solitude and community

• Luke Sital-Singh
Luke Sital-Singh is an internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter from the UK. In 2012 he released his debut single Fail For You, which first introduced to the world his deft ability to craft songs with a mesmerizing piercing emotional quality. At the end of 2013, Sital-Singh was featured in the BBC's Sound of 2014 list and signed to Parlophone records, who released his debut record The Fire Inside later that year. In 2017 Sital-Singh released his sophomore record Time Is A Riddle, which featured the stand out song Killing Me. His songs are rich and somber and have the tendency to stop you in your tracks. 

Tap to watch: Afterneath and Killing Me

• Esha Alwani 
Esha Alwani's passion for singing, songwriting and performing started young and gained priority in her life when she realized that music had the ability to help manage the symptoms of her neurological disorder, Tourette's syndrome. She shares a message of positivity, hope and perseverance to people in similar situations. Alwani wrote and recorded her first EP, Beautiful, with a desire to share her music and awareness of the healing effects of music. Soon after the release of her second EP, Dangerous,  Alwani began performing as the opening act for international superstars like Alicia Keys and Maluma. 

Tap to watch: What it's like to have Tourette's and how music gives me back control

• Stew 
Singer/raconteur Stew combines elements of cabaret, soul and subversive pop to create a unique style he's dubbed "Afro-baroque." Frequently likened to Cole Porter and Burt Bacharach, Stew spins songs with hook-filled melodies and taut poetic narratives: "Sophisticated songs that are not likely to be heard on the radio," writes the New Yorker.

He may be underplayed, but he's far from undiscovered. Entertainment Weekly twice awarded him "Album of the Year."

Tap to watch: Black Men Ski

• Jorge Drexler 
Born to a German-Jewish exile father and a Uruguayan mother, Drexler grew up in Uruguay, traveled widely across Latin America and eventually settled in Spain. Drexler started his career as a physician, but at the age of 30, he decided to pursue music full-time. He wrote the closing song for the 2004 film Motorcycle Diaries. Al Otro Lado del Río (The Other Side of the River), won Drexler an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Drexler has produced 12 albums, received 15 Latin Grammy nomination (with two wins in 2014 Record of the Year and Best Singer-Songwriter Album), four US Grammy nominations, 5 ASCAP Latin Awards, and his Academy Award. 

Tap to watch: Poetry, music and identity

• Somi 
In late 2011, East African vocalist and songwriter Somi moved from New York City to Lagos, Nigeria. The result: her chart-topping 2014 major label debut, The Lagos Music Salon (Sony Music). The album, with guests Angelique Kidjo, Common and Ambrose Akinmusire, straddles the worlds of African jazz, soul and pop with a newfound ease and voice that Vogue Magazine calls "powerful." Referred to as a modern-day Miriam Makeba, JazzTimes magazine describes her performance as "the earthy gutsiness of Nina Simone blended with the fluid vocal beauty of Dianne Reeves."

Tap to watch: Brown Round Things

• Jill Sobule 
She first found her place in music history with the controversial 1995 hit I Kissed a Girl, breaking new ground as the first Top 40 hit to deal with overtly gay themes. Packaging hard-hitting social commentary in a wrapper of whimsy has defined Sobule's career. Her endearing story-songs veer from fanciful storytelling to forceful satire and back again. Her winning combination of memorable characters, clever lyrics and catchy tunes has inspired comparisons that range from Burt Bacharach to Gertrude Stein. It also makes her performances and recordings a delight.

Tap to watch: The Jill and Julia Show (with Julia Sweeney)

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• PS from PS—  WAIT! WHAT? WATCH THEM ALL...

In the on-line world today when so many sites are seeking to sell (sell, sell, sell) knowledge and entertainment, TED.com continues to stand out by offering the most amazing array of high-quality content for FREE. Please, make and take the time to watch all of these Recommended TED Talks. I know. 'All of them'. That's crazy. Well...

I'll recommend you at least watch these two Roseanne Cash and Björn Ulvaeus. Each one will make you think... and feel... and will reaffirm your commitment to being a Singer Songwriter.

One of the things I'm most proud of with New Music Lives™ is that we're always seeking to bring you the best content we can find that's designed to help you develop your music career. This collection of TED Talks are without a doubt a rich resource and really should be required viewing for all new artists coming into the music business.

We have lots of exciting developments planned for 2024. We're nearly done with 'Coming Soon. Not Ready Yet.' So as we use to say back in the day on the radio... Stay Tuned!  

Thanks for reading. Give us your feedback.

And PLEASE, if you've got any Singer Songwriter friends, pass the AMP on, because... It’s Time... for a Change. Big Time. Past Time...