Category: Music

You and Me and Her or Him

This song was one of three songs written for the 3rd Annual Capital Region / Berkshires 24-Hour Theatre Project. For more information on that event and the process of writing the songs for it, see Songwriting for a 24-Hour Theatre…

Songs Make Me Smile

This song was written from scratch on July 30, 2007, during the second test run, the first with all kids, of the Potluck Creative Arts Songwriting Workshop. It took 135 minutes with breaks, starting only with music as the topic.…

Our Place By the Sea

This song was written from scratch on July 27, 2007, during the first test run of the Potluck Creative Arts Songwriting Workshop. It took 90 minutes, starting only with the topic of Mystic, CT, where the participants have for many…

How I Xanadu

Here’s me playing the song Xanadu on the piano, and starting with the second verse I start messing with the musical style a bunch. According to the website for the Broadway musical, Xanadu means “to express oneself through the arts…

Our Whole Lives

This song was written as a submission for American Idol’s first songwriter contest. Howard and Mark used Appreciative Inquiry to tailor the song for the program — the first time either of them had created a song fully through the…

Come Out

This song was written for a compilation album of songs inspired by the work of Daniel Quinn. Mark wanted to throw things for a loop with this song about being true to who you are. The appreciative approach he took…