Elevate the song

Megan Hutton to lead songwriting workshop

Megan Hutton has been writing music since she was about five or six years old. Together with her brother Caleb, they make up the duo Instant Rivalry, which they started about 15 years ago as teenagers. They have gone on to win multiple awards, and their first independent CD, Whiskey and Lead, was released late in 2019. As with every other musician, Instant Rivalry’s touring schedule and show appearances came to a screeching halt when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. Megan is a graduate of the prestigious NYU Clive Davis Institute and TISCH School of Arts, where she learned how to create a viable music career based upon who she was as an artist. Throughout the pandemic, she remained active as a volunteer in the community, as a radio host on County FM, as well as occasionally performing when circumstances allowed. However, it wasn’t until she was awarded some studio space in the Armoury by the Prince Edward County Arts Council as Artist in Residence in October 2021 that she threw herself into songwriting again. “Music is a big passion of mine. I used those 31 days in October to reconnect myself to songwriting after a year and a half of living in Covid,” she says. “During that time I got to work with a bunch of other homegrown musicians and musicians that I’d met through school. The Arts Council saw and heard what I was doing, and they approached me about teaching a workshop.”

That workshop, called Elevate the Song, begins in March and is geared towards existing songwriters who want to take their craft to the next level, although new songwriters would be welcome too, as the workshop will cover everything from the basics upwards. “We will cover a little bit of musical theory, but it’s less about the theory and more about telling a story. People will be learning about the components of songwriting, from verses and choruses, to the things that make up a pop song, or make up a folk song,” says Megan. “It’s going to be a six-week crash course in how to take wherever your songwriting level is right now and elevate it to a more professional level. It is my goal that every single student that enrolls will write one complete song in those six weeks.” Megan says the elements of a good song have to blend seamlessly together. “From the lyrics to the music, does it paint a picture that you could just close your eyes and listen to the song and be submerged in that story? As a songwriter, we have one goal, and it’s to tell a story. If it’s a song about heartbreak, the music has to match that. For me, it’s about elevating the song to a place where it’s believable.”

With more than a handful of tunes receiving regular radio play, Megan is no stranger to writing successful songs. She says that her inspiration for songwriting comes from many different places—from movies, other people’s music, events in real life. “One of the biggest things that does inspire me is really just living in Prince Edward County. We have so much natural beauty and such diverse people. People will tell me their stories whether I’m at a grocery store or a show. People’s stories really inspire me, and what they don’t tell me I can make up and take it to the next level.”

Whether it’s a clichéd pick-up line in a bar or a story about the family farmhouse, Megan can turn it into a catchy tune. She says that one of the more special songs for her was the track Worn Out My Welcome from Instant Rivalry’s CD. “It was the first time in a long time that I wrote a song that was about myself and what I was going through. And from the first time that I wrote it, it was a magical moment where literally I just sang and I was holding my guitar—and how it sounded on the record is how it sounded the first time it came out of my mouth. When we went into the studio we worked really hard making sure all of the instrumentation reflected the feeling that I wanted the listener to get. Musically and lyrically it all just tells a story.”

The songwriting workshop begins on March 3 at the Armoury in Picton. The fee for the six-week course is on a sliding scale to make it accessible to as many people as possible. “It’s going to be a very open, intimate classroom,” says Megan. “It’s not going to be formal, like you’re going back to school. You will most certainly learn something, and better yet, you will create something.” For information about the workshop, please visit countyarts.regfox.com/songwriting-workshop.