There’s no denying Michael Anderson’s songwriting bona fides — he’s penned tunes for Pam Tillis, John Fogerty and a slew of other notable artists. He became an instructor at Musicians Institute’s Hollywood location in the early 2000s, and his Songwriting 101 class is part of the school’s core curriculum. After recently moving to Nashville and starting a new band, Michael will be leading the MI Summer Songwriter Club here at Guitar Craft Academy Nashville as a 10-week Saturday morning workshop starting July 13. (Registration is open now; email michaelp@mi.edu to sign up.)
Michael says classes are a mixture of writing sessions, performances with critiques and a background on pop music fundamentals. Songwriting 101, he says, gives students a forum to discover their personal songwriting style and engage their creativity: “People only know what you tell them. You can’t assume that they’ll read your mind. It sounds so simple, but if you’re an artist, you have to touch the listeners where they are somehow.”